An Unholy Brew: Alcohol in Indian History and Religions

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James McHugh (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, University of Southern California)

An Unholy Brew

Alcohol in Indian History and Religions

James McHugh (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, University of Southern California)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
19 May 2022

Asian history; Buddhism; Hinduism; Social & cultural anthropology

The first comprehensive book on alcohol in pre-modern India, An Unholy Brew: Alcohol in Indian History and Religions uses a wide range of sources from the Vedas to the Kamasutra to explore drinks and styles of drinking, as well as rationales for abstinence from the earliest Sanskrit written records through the second millennium CE.

Books about the global history of alcohol almost never give attention to India. But a wide range of texts provide plenty of evidence that there was a thriving culture of drinking in ancient and medieval India, from public carousing at the brewery and drinking house to imbibing at festivals and weddings. There was also an elite drinking culture depicted in poetic texts (often in an erotic mode), and medical texts explain how to balance drink and health. By no means everyone drank, however, and there were many sophisticated religious arguments for abstinence.

McHugh begins by surveying the intoxicating drinks that were available, including grain beers, palm toddy, and imported wine, detailing the ways people used grains, sugars, fruits, and herbs over the centuries to produce an impressive array of liquors. He presents myths that explain how drink came into being and how it was assigned the ritual and legal status it has in our time. The book also explores Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain moral and legal texts on drink and abstinence, as well as how drink is used in some Tantric rituals, and translates in full a detailed description of the goddess Liquor, Suradevi. Cannabis, betel, soma, and opium are also considered. Finally, McHugh investigates what has happened to these drinks, stories, and theories in the last few centuries.

An Unholy Brew brings to life the overlooked, complex world of brewing, drinking, and abstaining in pre-modern India, and offers illuminating case studies on topics such as law and medicine, even providing recipes for some drinks.

By: James McHugh (Associate Professor Associate Professor University of Southern California)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 152mm, Width: 226mm, Spine: 31mm
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780199375943
ISBN 10: 0199375941
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 19 May 2022
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Introduction Aperitif - Sura, the Prototypical Liquor of India ROUND ONE: DRINKS AND DRINKING Cup One: Sura Made From Grains Cup Two: Sugarcane, Wine, Toddy, and Other Drinks Cup Three: Sura Brewing and Public Drinking Cup Four: Luxurious, Erotic Drinking in Literary Texts Cup Five: Drink, Health, and Disease in Ayurvedic Texts ROUND TWO: DRINK AND RELIGION Cup Six: Drink in Ritual, Myths, and Epic Cup Seven: The Filth of Grain and the Pain of Drink: Morality, Vice, and Law Cup Eight: Sura Regained: Drink in Tantra Cup Nine: Firewater and Corpse-Reviver: Alcohol in Later Sanskrit Sources Digestif: What Do We Do About This Stuff That Makes Everything Go Awry? Appendix: Soma, Ancient Drugs, and Modern Scholars Bibliography

James McHugh studies the history and religions of early India, working with texts in Sanskrit and related languages. He completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 2008, and is now Associate Professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. His book Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in Indian Religion and Culture explored the significance of odors, perfumes, and aromatics in India.

Reviews for An Unholy Brew: Alcohol in Indian History and Religions

What McHugh presents is not just a survey, but an animated adventure into the celestial realms and abysmal netherworlds of a little-known aspect of India's cultural history, with celestial dancers (apsarasas) and celestial musicians (gandharvas) partaking in divine spirits (sur=a), and a variety of demons (r=ak.sasas) in their natural drunken habitats. * Frederick M. Smith, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA, Asian Medicine 17 * James McHugh has done it again. After his widely acclaimed book on smell, Sandalwood and Carrion, he has now given us another gem. In An Unholy Brew, McHugh provides a thematically and chronologically comprehensive account of alcohol in Indian history: technologies of production, cultural appropriations and attitudes, and religious uses and censures. A book for both the ale lover and the teetotaler. * Patrick Olivelle, Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas at Austin *