Mango The Sweet Diplomat, From Mughals To Modern India

He visits my town once a year.

He fills my mouth with kisses and nectar.

I spend all my money on him

Who, girl, your man?

No, a mango.

Sufi poet and scholar Amir Khusro's riddle on mango.

We are in that season. The season of mangoes. The king of fruit has inspired some of the most prominent writers, poets and philosophers. Khusro to Ghalib to Tagore, all have written mouth-watering odes to the pulpy fruit.

This season, it's the Americans who can't get enough of mangoes. India's iconic Kesar mangoes have now made it to the stores in Seattle and are flying off the shelves. Indians and Americans are posting joyous reels and posts on the new arrival of the season.

Mango's American tryst began in 2006 during the visit of then President George Bush to India. As he tasted an Alphonso mango at the state dinner, Bush reportedly turned to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said, "This is a hell of a fruit." The US next year lifted the long-standing ban on Indian mangoes. In the bargain, India allowed US' iconic Harley Davidson bikes into India. In the subsequent year, India-US signed the historic nuclear deal. The importance of mango can never be overstated.

But mangoes, apart from being India's favourite fruit, have always been a great diplomatic sweetener. Mango's love affair with the power has been an old one -- going on strong from the Mughal era to the modern days.

Read | Kesar Mangoes To Pashmina Stole: What PM Modi Gifted Leaders During 5-Nation Tour

"Mangoes, when good, are very good. They are usually plucked unripe and ripened in the house. Unripe, they make excellent condiments, are also good preserved in syrup. Taking it all altogether, the mango is the best fruit of Hindustan."

First Mughal emperor Babur wrote in his memoir 'Baburnama'.

His son and the next king, Jahangir, had this to say in 'Jahangirnama'

"...in spite of the excellence of the fruits of Kabul, not one among them is as delicious as the mango".

Akbar got more than a lakh mango trees planted at a garden in Darbhanga and called it Lakhi Bagh.

It was during the Mughal period that mango also turned into a diplomat.

Aurangzeb is believed to have offered mangoes to Shah Abbas of Persia to placate the king after he had proclaimed himself Emperor. Later on, the King of Balkan too had offered Aurangzeb 200 camel loads of dry fruits and mangoes as a peace treaty.

Modern day rulers in the subcontinent - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - have carried on the tradition of gifting mangoes and use it as a tool of diplomacy to sweeten ties.

Pandit Nehru was known to be a great gifter of mangoes to visiting foreign dignitaries. Although his personal favourite was guava from his hometown Allahabad, he knew the potential of mango as a builder of ties.

In the mid-1950s, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai gifted Nehru animals, including a spotted deer and a red-crested crane. In return, Nehru sent for Zhou prized Indian mango saplings. Mangoes till then were unknown to China.

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev became a mango lover after Nehru gave him some during the latter's 1955 visit to India.

Nehru didn't just gift mangoes, he also offered etiquette lessons to foreign leaders on how to properly eat them. Nehru would instruct them on the best slicing, spooning, and squeezing techniques to enjoy the fruit.

Read | Odisha Farmer Grows World's Most Expensive Mango Worth Rs 3 Lakh Per Kg, But Now He Has A Big Problem

Mango Diplomacy In the Neighbourhood

In 1981, Pakistan President General Zia ul Haq, who was known for his weakness of mangoes, sent 'Anwar Rataul' variety to Indian PM Indira Gandhi. This variety got its name from a place near Meerut in North India, where it is grown. As a reminder to Zia that it was originally an Indian mango, Indira Gandhi reciprocated the gesture with a gift of Rataul mangoes to Zia, reportedly with a note "enjoy the original Rataul".

Zia's weakness for mangoes also took his life when a basket of mangoes, with hidden bomb in it, exploded in his plane midair.

Later Pakistani Prime Ministers continued with the mango diplomacy. On Eid 2015, then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent mangoes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In March 2021, in what is known as Dhaka's "mango diplomacy" move, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent over 2,600 kgs of 'Haribhanga' mangoes as gifts to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb. This came at a time when Bangladesh worried about India's decision to cease vaccine exports in late March.

PM Modi appreciated the gift in a letter to Hasina. Addressing her as 'Hasina Di', PM wrote: "I like the mangoes you sent. I heard about Rangpur's 'Haribhanga' mangoes, but I never had the opportunity to taste one... The mangoes brought with them your love and the essence of Bangladesh."

Last year, Mohammad Yunus revived the Hasina-era "mango diplomacy" when he sent 100 kgs of Haribhanga mango to PM Modi at a time where political and diplomatic ties were under considerable strain.

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee started the tradition of gifting mangoes to Prime Ministers after she came to power in 2011. She carried on the tradition with PM Modi and would every year send hand-picked mangoes in the summers. Right after the 2021 bitterly fought election that saw Trinamool Congress beat the BJP, she again kept her tradition of gifting mangoes to the PM. This year is a test of the mangoes' ability to sweeten the bitter rivalries as the Trinamool Congress has lost the Bengal polls, BJP is in power, and the political acrimony is at its peak. Will the humble mango do the trick again? Track the parcel from Kalighat to Lok Kalyan Marg. If it is dispatched.