While okra ’s migration around the humans frequently happen in tandem with the resettlement of the citizenry growing it , the precise history of okra ’s domestication remains unsealed . It ’s believed to have originated in Abyssinia in Ethiopia . It spread north and east to the Middle East and Asia and west to the Bantu who introduced it throughout Africa . striver trader contribute okra to North and South America .
Okra’s Shrouded Origins
Geobotanists consider that gumbo portion out its geographic origination with many cultivated plants , the isolated area of Abyssinia in Eritrea , Anglo - Egyptian Sudan , and Ethiopia . Because the country had fiddling striking with external field , though , the early account of howokra was developed as a cropremains unknown . Perhaps amazingly , linguistic cater many of the clues to okra ’s early migration .
The Arabic Connection
While it might seem logical that knowledge of Hibiscus esculentus would have entered Egypt from the area of Abyssinia located in the Sudan , both the Spanish Moors of the 12th C AD and the Egyptians used a name of Arabic origin , “ bamiya ” , for gumbo rather than a name from an African oral communication . The Egyptians still use the watchword “ bamiya ” for gumbo .
The Arabic word of honor for okra are “ bamya ” , “ bamieh ” , and “ bamia ” . In Hebrew , the Christian Bible for okra is the same as the Egyptian word , “ bamiya ” , while the word for okra in Greek is the Arabic Bible “ bamia ” and the Turkish word for Abelmoschus esculentus is the Arabic intelligence “ bamya ” .
therefore , linguistics propose that okra embark Arab lands by way of the Red Sea and was introduced to Egypt when it was conquered by the Arabs in the seventh century . From there , it was bring out to the easterly Mediterranean countries .
Okra Migrates Across Africa With the Bantu
The Bantu are groups of agrarian peoples who shared the Bantu nomenclature and a country of origin in west central Africa along the border of Nigeria in the area of Cameroon . They also shared sealed technical developments such as the power to make ceramic and , from around 500 BCE , the power to make branding iron weapons and agriculture implements .
The drive or causes behind the migration are unknown , although there is much speculation . The development of Department of Agriculture would have better the Bantu ’s solid food supply . Ceramic container would have provided forbetter food warehousing , which would have further meliorate the food provision . Improved food supply do result to increases in universe , and even if the land is n’t over populated , increases in population do run to a need to cultivate more land .
In addition , the ground to the south and east of the Bantu were good for growing their main crops – millet and sorghum , as well as crop like bananas and yams that they had tote up to the list of foods that they were raise .
The people they encountered were hunter - gatherer , foragers , and herders . So , the Bantu not only introduce them to gumbo but also to agriculture , the expression of lasting protection , the power to make ceramics and iron tool and artillery , and the thought of a centralised government . Through the sharing of the Bantu oral communication , they also enabled these disparate groups to communicate with each other .
The Bantu migration was a major formative event in the history of Africa , but it also leave in the displacement of some groups and the loss of the culture of the groups that the Bantu absorb .
Okra and the Slave Traders
After studying the food and cultivation of the people they were hunting and capturing , slave traders brought foods like lady’s-finger to the finish where the striver were sold to relieve their adjustment to their new milieu and shape . The woman in the households who owned hard worker see from their slaveshow to use Abelmoschus esculentus in their own preparation , and some created formula and wrote cookbooks about how to utilise this new veggie .
The spacious - spread result of the hard worker trade is evidenced by the fact that so many languages identify okra by a name that is based on the African Book for it . Among the Igbo masses of southeast Nigeria , okra is know as “ ókùrù ” and in the Bantu language and the spoken communication related to Bantu lady’s-finger is known by some variation of the words “ ( ki)ngombo ” , “ ngumbo ” , or “ gombo ” .
The languages that use variations of theses words as names for okra and Hibiscus esculentus include :
Some speech communication habituate row that chew over both the African and Arabic route of okra ’s migration . Among the French condition for okra are “ gombo ” and “ bamie - Hibiscus esculentus ” . The Italians call okra “ gombo ” , “ ocra ” , and “ bammia d’egitto ” . In Hungarian , the give-and-take for okra are “ gombó ” and bámia ” .
In the suit of okra ’s chronicle , okra ’s origins are revealed by the origins of words .
