Introduction of Fruit and Nut Crops in Medieval India

India grows a large variety of fruits and nuts (hard-shelled fruit or seed) which play an important role in the economy of the country. A large number of fruit and nut yielding species grown in India are introductions during the medieval period (1200-1800 A.D.) from foreign countries and centres of origin of cultivated plants. Some of these species introduced have been successful and later became important export crops such as cashewnut and groundnut. Much of the information on the early history of plant introduction is scattered in archaeological accounts, ethnographies, gazetteers and travelogues of several visitors and dignitaries to India, and in the classical works, memoirs and autobiographies of Moghul emperors published during the medieval period. The Present account deals with the introduction of fruit and nut crops in India during the medieval period. (1200-1800 A.D.). There is need for collaborative work between the plant systematist, horticulturist, linguist and biohistorian for compilation of an authenticated history of pomology and horticulture in India.