Why you owe your morning coffee to a Sufi saint?

There is something almost romantic about that first cup of coffee — the warmth of the mug between your palms, the heady aroma rising with the steam and that first bittersweet sip slowly bringing the morning to life. But did you know that your daily love affair with coffee may have begun with a Sufi saint and seven secret beans?

The Sufi saint behind your morning coffee

Long before coffee became a ritual in Indian homes, bustling cafés and sleepy mornings, legend has it that a 17th-century Sufi saint carried seven precious coffee beans from Yemen to India, carefully hidden during his journey. “This is a story I love telling everyone,” says Bhargavi S Sekar, resident naturalist at The Leela Coorg Forest Sanctuary, speaking to Indulge during a nature trail in the Scotland of India, Coorg. “Legend has it that Baba Budan, also known as Hazrat Shah Jamer Allah Mazarabi, was a 17th-century Sufi saint and traveller who encountered coffee during his travels through Yemen. By then, coffee had already become an important part of social and religious life in the region.”

But getting coffee out of Yemen was no easy feat. Arabia fiercely guarded its coffee monopoly, and only roasted beans were permitted to leave its shores. Live coffee seeds, which could be planted and cultivated elsewhere, were strictly forbidden from being exported.

That, however, did not stop Baba Budan. “According to the popular legend, while returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca, the saint managed to smuggle seven coffee beans out of Yemen, carefully concealing them on his person. He eventually brought them back to India and planted them in the hills of what was then Mysore, in present-day Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka,”adds Bhargavi.

Those seven beans would go on to shape India’s relationship with coffee. The region proved almost tailor-made for the crop, with its elevated terrain, moderate climate, generous rainfall and fertile soil providing ideal conditions for cultivation. The plants flourished, and the surrounding hills gradually became associated with the saint. The Western Ghats where Baba Budan is believed to have settled would eventually be known as Baba Budangiri in his honour.

Interestingly, the choice of seven beans may have carried its own significance. Seven is considered an auspicious number in Islamic tradition, adding another layer to a story. From those legendary beans, coffee cultivation began to take root in Karnataka. Today, Karnataka accounts for more than 70 per cent of India’s coffee production, making it the country’s coffee heartland.

So, the next time you cradle that warm cup in your hands and take the first comforting sip of your morning brew, spare a thought for Baba Budan, who is responsible for your cup of joe.

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