Use of Spices in Ancient India has been one of the important parts of Indian cooking. It indicates not only the types of spices used but also their cultivation in India. As the society was largely agrarian it cultivated a large variety of spices. Along with popular spices like cardamom, it also cultivated some specific spices in the form of seeds. Indian spices formed a major part of spice trade along with rest of the world. These highlight the popularity of Indian spices all over the world.Use of spices in India continued to remain popular in every age. The cultivation of spices in India began from pre-historic days. While some of the spices like cardamom, long pepper, black pepper, Turmeric and Asafoetida were commonly found in every generation, it also included some special types of spices that were imported from Afghanistan and other countries of the world. Cultivation of spices forms a major part of agriculture in India which formed the backbone of the Indian economy. Along with cultivation of vegetables and a number of pulses, ancient Indian society also cultivated spices which were used for both self consumption as well as trade. Use of spices in ancient India began with the Indus Valley Civilization which largely used spices like long pepper, black pepper, asafoetida along with salt. Among the Buddhists and Jains five varieties of salts were popular which included sea salt, black salt, rock salt, kitchen salt and red salt along with spices like pepper, long pepper, Cumin, Asafoetida, myrobalan, dry ginger and turmeric, Mustardand Clove. Vinegar and sour gruel was also used to garnish the food.
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