Baba Budan was a 17th-century

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

, revered by both Muslims and Hindus, whose shrine is at

Baba Budangiri Baba Budangiri (), also known as Chandradrona (, as the range naturally forms the shape of a crescent moon), is a hill and mountain range in the Western Ghats of India, located in the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka. The main peaks in th ...

Chikkamagalur Chikmagalur, known officially as Chikkamagaluru, is a city and the headquarters of Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri peak of the Western Ghats, the city attracts tourists from ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India. He is said to have introduced the coffee plant to India by bringing seven raw beans from the port of

Mocha, Yemen Mokha ( ar, المُخا, al-Mukhā), also spelled Mocha, or Mukha, is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until Aden and al Hudaydah eclipsed it in the 19th century, Mokha was the principal port for Yemen's capital, Sanaa. Long known fo ...

while coming back from

hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

in 1670. In those days coffee was exported to other parts of the world in roasted or baked form so that no one could grow their own and were forced to buy from the Yemenis. He brought seven beans because the number 7 is considered sacred in Islam. The coffee plants were then raised at the place that bears his name. Popular Indian lore says that on a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 17th century Baba Budan, a revered Sufi saint from Karnataka state, discovered for himself the wonders of coffee. In his eagerness to grow coffee himself at home, he smuggled seven coffee beans out of the Yemeni port of Mocha which were hidden in his beard. On his return home, he planted the beans on the slopes of the Chandradrona hills in Chikkamagaluru district,

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

(present day

). This hill range was later named after him as the

(Baba Budan Hills), where his tomb can be visited by taking a short trip from Chikmagalur.

References

* '' Coffee: A Dark History'' by Antony Wild. New York: Fourth Estate Press, 2004.
District: Chickmagalur – State: Karnataka
* Pendergrast, Mark, ''Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World,'' (New York: Basic Book, 1999). * Bhattacharya, Bhaswati.
Local History of a Global Commodity: Production of Coffee in Mysore and Coorg in the Nineteenth Century.
' Indian Historical Review 41, no. 1 (2014): 67-86. Indian Sufi saints Indian hermits Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Coffee in India {{karnataka-stub

See also

References