True Ceylon cinnamon is the dried bark of the perennial tree Cinnamomum zeylanicum of the Lauraceae family. The history of cinnamon dates back to about 2800 B.C where it can be found referenced as “kwai” in Chinese writings. Cinnamon is even mentioned in the Bible when Moses used it as an ingredient for his anointing oil in ancient Rome. It was burned in Roman funerals perhaps partly to ward off odours, and Emperor Nero is said to have burned a years’ worth of the dry supply of cinnamon at the funeral of his wife Poppaea Sabina. Ancient Egyptians used it in embalming mummies because of cinnamon’s pleasant fragrance and its preservative qualities.

The modern chapter of the cinnamon saga begins with the discovery of the sea route to India and the landing of Vasco-da-Gama near Kerala of India on 20th May 1498. In the decades that followed the Portuguese gradually established their hold on spice trading. By the beginning of the 16th century the Portuguese started direct trading with the Malabar Coast, and with this the Arab supremacy over the spice trade came to an end. In 1506 the Portuguese forced the Sinhala kings to undertake the supply of about 11,000 kg of cinnamon bark annually. In the process of fulfilling this undertaking the cinnamon forests came to be ruthlessly exploited. By the end of the century the Portuguese had secured for themselves a monopoly on the worlds Cinnamon trade. Cinnamon was the Holy Grail of foreign invaders to the island Ceylon. Even with the stiff resistance from Portuguese, Dutch navigators established trade relations with island spice traders and established their supremacy. In the 17th century saw the rise of British naval supremacy and occupation of Ceylon in 1796 and the monopoly of cinnamon trade changed hands once more. Large scale plantations were established in Ceylon.