Two years ago, we visited Diu island off the western coast of Gujarat. Diu is known for its many beaches, and we started our trip by visiting the farthest beach, Gomtimata, at the Vankabra village thirteen kilometres from Diu. On the way back from Gomtimatch beach, en route Nagoa beach, our auto-rickshaw driver told us we should visit an unusual tree.
So, we stopped by the road and made our way towards habitation to find a large tree standing close to a village home.
I could recognise this tree as a Baobab (Adansonia digitata), a native of Africa and found now in different parts of India. The Baobab at Diu may have been many hundred years old and was towering in its circumference and spread. That Baobab would have been planted by the Portuguese who ruled Diu for more than four centuries after conquering it in 1546. Our pictures beneath the tree made us look puny in front of its enormous trunk.
The most striking character of Baobabs is their trunk which keeps growing to resemble a squat bottle. The tree stands out from its surroundings when it sheds leaves as the vast trunk of old trees becomes visible. The estimated age of many ancient Baobabs at Africa is more than two thousand years ago making them the oldest living Angiosperm type of plants.
Diu’s Baobab is one of many such trees across India. There is no official census of these trees, but online resources show that Baobabs occur in India including at Mandu, Chennai, Mumbai, Diu, Ranchi, Orchha, Mandu, Mount Abu, Hyderabad. The tree has a fascinating history in India with no clear information on who introduced to our country. Researchers have analysed the genetic material of Baobabs in India and been able to link the Indian Baobabs to trees in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and West Africa.
Baobab is also known as monkey-bread tree as its soft, dry fruit is edible, an upside-down tree, as the bare branches resemble roots and cream of tartar tree as the dried fruit pulp resembles cream of tartar. Fruits of Baobab are large, egg-shaped capsules and do not open when ripe. The fruit pulp hardens when dry and resembles powdery, dry bread.
There is a four-thousand-year-old history of travel between Africa and India which are separated by the Indian Ocean. Indians have had a long relationship with people of Sudan, Ethiopia and Horn of Africa from where some cereals and legumes got introduced to India. Swahili-speaking Arabs then expanded the trade relationship between India and Africa over the Indian Ocean. More recently, English and Dutch recruited soldiers from West Africa to serve in India and South East Asia.
We don’t know now whether Baobabs were first brought to India by Portuguese or by Africans who have come to India over thousands of years. The Portuguese brought some Baobabs to India as places like Diu, Mumbai, Thane, Vasai are ones where Baobabs occur today. Also, most Baobabs in India seem several hundred years old and thus appear to be ones that have been growing after the Portuguese started rulings some parts of India.
Mumbai has the most number of Baobabs in India, and there are claims the city has two hundred Baobabs. The Rani Bagh or Zoo at Byculla is an excellent repository of Baobabs and so too is the St Johns Baptist Church inside SEEPZ at Andheri. At Mumbai, Baobabs are d at Bandra, Santacruz, Malad, Colaba and Mulund. There are social media groups which are documenting Baobabs across Mumbai and creating awareness to save these magnificent specimens, many of which are more than a century old.
I have spotted one Baobab on the road leading out from east of Mulund Railway Station by the footpath. I have also located two giant Baobabs on LBS Marg where they are growing next to a famous Santoshi Mata Mandir. Close to those two Baobabs, there is one inside the compound of the Indraprastha Hall, which I spotted when I went to attend a wedding!
These are three Baobabs close to us from Thane. Here is information on those three trees which you too can visit easily and take a look.
Across Gadkari Rangayatan: This giant Baobab is growing inside the compound of a bungalow.
You can spot it very easily as the bungalows residents have built around the trunk of the tree. As the tree has a large trunk, you can see the wall reshaped into an arch around the trunk. Only the portion of the tree above the boundary wall is visible. The tree on Dr Moose Marg is the largest among the three Baobabs I have noted at Thane, and this tree may be more than one hundred years old.
At Vasant Vihar Circle: On Smt. Gladys Alvares Marg, you can find a giant Baobab inside Lok Upvan Phase I. This tree too is inside a compound wall and behind a large hoarding but is easily visible from the road. The Baobab at Lok Upvan is the second-largest of three Baobabs of Thane in my list. This tree too may be a centenarian or in its eighties or nineties.
At Joggers Park, Hiranandani Estate: This tree is the smallest of the three Baobabs of Thane I have shared here. This tree is on the far side of the main entrance and likely to be just about six to eight years.
You can see it up close and also find it share attributes of giant Baobabs. It loses leaves and is leafless about half the year and has a bare trunk. Right now, the trunk looks conical, but as the tree grows, you will find the stem becoming bulbous or like a bottle.
The most compelling character of Baobabs I found was that, though very large, they tend not to grow their branches too wide. So, you are likely to see even decades and century-old trees in small spaces that other similar-aged species would not be able to grow in. Ability to grow compactly is an endearing feature of Baobabs which Indian cities should put to use. It should be possible to grow avenues of Baobabs along Indian streets without having to use a lot of space on footpaths and alongside roads.
Likely, Thane which like Mumbai had a strong connection with the Portuguese has more Baobabs.
Happy Baobab spotting and share with me details of any Baobab tree other than the above three.