It is scorching heat in many areas of India and around the world including the capital Delhi. With the onset of summer, people often like to drink cold water. Because cold water gives relief to the body in summer. But the question is that when there were no refrigerators in homes, how did the British and Mughals bring chilled water and ice. Today we will tell you how and from where snow used to come in earlier times.
Snow in summer
Snow provides a lot of relief during summer. But have you ever wondered how the kings and maharajas used to get ice in India at a time when there were no fridges and machines? You will be a little surprised to hear that during the British era, ice was largely brought from abroad by sea ships. However, its story is quite interesting.
Let us tell you that in India, kings and rich people used to get pieces of ice from the mountains. In India, Mughal emperor Humayun started breaking ice from Kashmir and importing its ingots in 1500. After which the Mughal kings used to send the fruit juices to the snow laden mountains. There they used to freeze those juices and make sherbet. Then it was drunk as a summer cure.
Preventing ice from melting
Let us tell you that apart from the kings and emperors, during the period of Mughals, ice was To prevent melting, saltpeter (potassium nitrate) was sprinkled on it. According to the information, Kulfi started being made in India since the Mughal period. During the reign of Akbar, ice was brought from the Himalayan valleys. For this, the help of elephants, horses and soldiers was taken.
Where did the snow come from for the British
According to the information, in 1833 Snow came to Delhi from America. At that time the then Governor General himself had thanked the captain of the ship for the ice. However, the British found this method of getting ice very expensive. After which he made arrangements to freeze snow in Delhi itself. By digging trenches from Delhi Gate to Turkman Gate and filling them with water mixed with salt, a crust of ice was prepared in winter with the help of sackcloth and straw, which was kept safe in special pits till summer. >How was the water ice making machine made? According to the information, Wayne Pierce and his colleagues had made a machine on March 14, 1950, which made ice. The company was granted a patent in 1954. He had installed some ice making machines, but he could not take his ice making business very far. In 1956 he sold his company and the patent rights to the snowmaking machine to the Emhart Corporation. After this, James Harrison made the first ice making machine in 1851. To build the machine he used ether vapor compression. In 1855 Harrison was granted a patent for an ether vapor-compression refrigeration system. Harrison’s machine could make 3,000 kg of ice daily.
How did the ice making machine come to India
The question is how to make ice in India? The machine had arrived. According to the information, the work of selling the frozen ice was done by Bill Tudor. He was born in Boston into a wealthy American family. Although initially he was disappointed in this business, but later he became successful. Tudor’s biggest client came in the form of Samuel Austin, a merchant who frequently traded in India. Although it is said that in 1808, Benjamin Roebuck had demonstrated ice making in Madras, but neither information is available about it nor did people show interest in it.
At the same time, Austin knew. That the British in India were struggling with the perennial heat. Selling ice to them can be a good business. After which he formed a partnership with Tudor, loaded his ships with ice and headed towards Kolkata. On May 12, 1833, the first batch of 100 tons of ice from the Tudor Ice Company landed in dusty and hot Kolkata. It was sold at three pence per pound (2 pence equals Rs 2.12 and 1 pound equals 450 grams). Which was much cheaper than any other ice merchant at that time. It is said that this is why Tudor’s ice empire in India grew for the next 20 years, earning him a profit of more than $2 million (Rs 16 crore). Ice houses are still standing in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
After this, in 1844, Dr. John Gorrie invented the air conditioner. After which the ice making machine was invented again. This started affecting not only the Tudor Ice Company but the entire ice industry. Although the refrigerator was invented in 1913. This had badly hurt the business of selling ice. Now people could make ice at home through freezer. However, the true freeze in middle class homes in India reached only in the 90s.
