The Cinnamon Route: Sri Lanka's Secret Spice Monopoly

Before nutmeg and cloves dominated the spice trade, cinnamon was the most coveted luxury in the ancient world. This episode follows the shadowy 'Cinnamon Route' that connected Sri Lanka (Taprobane) to the Roman Empire, Egypt, and China. We explore how Sri Lankan kings like Gajabahu I exploited a natural monopoly on true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), how Arab middlemen guarded its origins with tall tales of giant birds, and how the trade shaped Sri Lanka's foreign relations with the Chola Empire and the Mediterranean. Lucas and Luna dig into the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Pliny the Elder's garbled geography, and the archaeological evidence from Mantai (ancient port of Manthai) that reveals a flourishing Indo-Roman trade network. They also examine the brutal labor behind cinnamon harvesting—mostly done by the low-caste 'Rodi' people—and the moment when the secret finally slipped, leading to European colonization. A story of monopoly, myth, and exploitation on the high seas. #History #FexingoHistory #Cinnamon #SriLanka #SpiceTrade #AncientTrade #RomanEmpire #IndianOcean #Taprobane #PeriplusErythraeanSea #PlinyTheElder #Mantai #Gajabahu #CholaEmpire #Ceylon #Archaeology #TradeMonopoly #IndoRomanTrade Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo