Spices and herbs go way backHerbs have many Biblical references, and the bitter herbs mentioned in the Bible are still used to day for medicinal purposes. Chaucer is supposed to have said that a pound of nutmeg was more expensive than a cow or three sheep. We can understand that, as nutmeg was used in those days to flavor beer. Cardamom, cinnamon, cummin, rosemary, tarragon, saffron and many more herbs and spices were widely used, by those who could afford them. Wars were fought, kingdoms were won and lost, overland passages through strange lands were established, and sea routes expanded. Not just for gold, although that was always handy, but for herbs and spices. These exotic rare and valuable herbs and spices traveled on the Spice Route. The Spice Route eventually stretched more than halfway around the world, from Europe to Asia, then to the Americas. By 500 BC Chinese and Korean junks were trading spices and herbs. Peppers and cinnamon from India was traded for silks and fine porcelain. Indian, Chinese, Arab and Indonesian traders had a flourishing trading Empire, while Europe still languished in the Dark Ages. The Middle East controlled it all, eventually spreading through the Mediterranean. When Alexander the Great expanded his Empire into India, he then controlled the Western end of the Spice Route. His great elephants of war pushed his influence towards Rome. As the wealthy Roman Empire grew, so did the demand for luxuries, and Roman fleets sailed to Arabia for frankincense, myrrh and the black pepper, even more valuable than gold. Towards the beginning of 1000 BC however, the Spice Routes had became taken over by the Arab traders. 
The Islamic culture then spread through the Middle East and into South-East Asia. The rest of Europe still remained in the Dark Ages. Wars, piracy, and civil disruptions constantly occurred, as Provinces and Cities vied for the lucrative trade.
When the Crusades started, around 1000 AD, Europe broke into the Spice Route, and by 1500 AD a new route to the East Indies was desperately needed. In 1492 Columbus discovered the Western Route, or America, but it was Diaz who was blown around the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived in India in 1497. After that there was no stopping the Spice trade. Active trading took place all along the Spice Route. When the Dutch formed the East India Company, they quickly established bases in Java, and Batavia, and seized the lions share of the spice trade. 
Following the Dutch came the English and war broke out between the English and the Dutch. From 1600 AD for the next 300 years or so, the East India Company grew into one of the most powerful trading companies the World had ever seen.
England became more interested in trading in textiles, while the Dutch continued to control the herb and spice trade. The Islamic Nations faltered, and the mighty Muslim Empire, founded on rare herbs and spices, went into decline. Now we have traveled the full circle. The rare, expensive herbs and spices eagerly searched for by the ancient travelers now grow in our own back yards. The only wars over herbs and spices are fought within governments and Senates, as powerful drug and medical interests attempt to control or denigrate the alternative natural medical field. 
Meanwhile herb nursery owners expand their nurseries to capitalise on the popularity of herbal plants, and farmers turn their attention to growing both medicinal and culinary herbs. Strangely enough, most of the herbs used in the commercial herbal and supplement industries in Western countries are still imported from the East. But now they arrive by supertanker, rather than on a galleon! Herbs and spices are a way of life for most of us. The formerly rare and expensive substances such as black pepper and cinnamon sit on every kitchen table. Cardamom, tarragon, rosemary grow in almost every garden. We use these spices and herbs every day in our cooking. Most of us couldn’t eat our meals without them. Many of us use herbal supplements for our health, every day of our lives. And yet it all started on the Spice Route, around three thousand years ago!
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