“Adafi kolhu”, “Hedhi bilehh gan’du” , “bilehh gan’du”, “foahh kolheh”, “dhufaa echethi”….all of these local terms are referred to one very persistent habit embedded in the Maldivian society.
Chewing areca (betel) nuts after a meal or in-between meals is as common in our culture as drinking water after meals.
Due to a social standing of associating areca nut chewing with an adult habit, it is often not permitted by parents for kids younger than 13 to 15 years to chew areca nuts in most of the urban districts and cities of Maldives.
However, in the more rural islands, kids as young as 7 to 8 years..or even younger.. are allowed to consume it.
This is how common it is.
While it may be the fact that education is the reason for having a negative stand when it comes to kids chewing areca nuts, it may entirely be that chewing areca nuts is viewed to be as much of a “bad habit” as is smoking.
In the more recent years, people have started giving up the habit of chewing areca nuts, given the health warnings and awareness on the many risks of sticking to it.
Regardless of whatever social attributes areca nut chewing has, the habit is still prevalent.
I myself do enjoy a good mouthful of areca nuts wrapped in a piece of betel leaf and doused with a generous pinch of “kick” (or Heera pannaa) after a meal….yumm!
Couple of days after I started researching on the tales of Ibn Battutah’s travels to the Maldives, I was surprised to learn of how he observed that the ancient Maldivians used to chew areca nuts too!
“The grand vezir took his seat on a dais, and near him sat the other vezirs and amirs. The slaves stood by with shields, swords and staves. The repast was brought in, then areca and betel nuts and finally a small dish containing muqasari sandal. As soon as a number of guests had dined, they were anointed with it.”
– Ibn Battoutah in his travel book, the “Rihlah”
This being covered in Battutah’s narratives means that even almost 675 years ago, chewing betel leaves and areca nuts was common for the Maldivians!
This really fascinated me and made me wonder about exactly when this habit came into existence in this country.
Like who introduced it? And how did it gain such popularity?
For the answer to this, we have to look at our past and the pre-Islamic era.
It is well proved from the accounts of the few travelers who came to the Maldives and studied our history (as much as they could) that Buddhism and Hinduism used to be the main religions in Maldives before Islam.
I’ll talk about the history of religion in Maldives in another blog post, but for now, lets look at our neighbors to the North (where winter is still not coming..haha!).
Chewing areca nuts/betel nuts is very common in the South Asia region. Especially in India.
So why do they do it?
Apparently, areca nut is regarded by Indians, or rather Hindhus, as a fruit of divine origin.
It is considered as an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and is consumed with betel leaf in religious ceremonies and when honoring individuals. Among the followers of the Hindu religion, areca nut is considered a vital ingredient in the food for their idols (Bhagwan).
In the absence of idols and other sacred images, the fruit (whole nut without its husk) is used while offering prayers.
They believe that their idols blesses the fruit which is then distributed to the idol followers.
(Williams S, Malik A, Chowdhury S, Chauhan S. Sociocultural aspects of areca nut use. Addiction Biology. 2002;7(1):147–154.)
So umm…yeah! No wonder people started chewing the thing!
Once Hinduism appeared and the stories of the areca nut being the food of their deity spread, people would’ve rushed to grow and eat the stuff!
With Hinduism being one of the religions of pre-Islamic Maldives, as found by H.C.P. Bell in his explorations of Maldives, it’s obvious that the Hindhu Maldivians also started chewing areca nuts as an act of worship!
Years and years passed on and after Maldives converted to Islam, the myth of the areca nut has become long forgotten, yet the consuming of it remains a habit.
Future generations, being used to the customs of the elders, have continued the habit until present day.
PHEW!
Talk about a shocking find!
To be honest I feel kind of put off with knowing the history behind this much addictive custom. Not sure if I wanna eat it anymore.
However, that’s just my personal view.
No matter how weird and crazy the origin of the habit of acera nut chewing may be, it is fascinating how the story of the areca nut turned into myth…and the myth, in time, has dissolved into a second-nature custom, with the truth to it.. completely forgotten.
But then again, such are the ways of human lives and human history.
*End*
Curls like Coral Polyp 