Medieval Spread of Sugarcane Cultivation

Timeline

1. 701–750Egypt and Syria · EgyptDuring the Umayyad period, Egypt, Syria, and other regions continued Byzantine- and Sasanian-era sugarcane cultivation and raw sugar processing, maintaining cane groves via the Nile and irrigation canals, with products exported through Mediterranean and Red Sea trade.
2. 750–800Basra · IraqThe Abbasid dynasty rebuilt irrigated agriculture in southern Mesopotamia, expanding sugarcane acreage; Arab agricultural treatises and geographical works recorded local cane groves and molasses production, forming a new West Asian sugar center.
3. c. 710–800Iberian Peninsula · al-AndalusAs Islamic power advanced westward, sugarcane cultivation techniques spread through North Africa into al-Andalus, and seedlings were carried along Persian Gulf–Indian Ocean trade routes; by the late 8th century West Asian sugar was closely tied to long-distance commerce.