Teak

Teak Forest

Teak (Tectona grandis) is a tall deciduos tropical hardwood tree species with a rounded crown placed in the flowering plant family Lamiaceae.

Variants of name

• Sanskrit: Shāka, Saka (शाक,सक)
• Hindi: Sagwan (सागवान)/ Sagon (सागौन)
• Scientific name: Tectona grandis
• English: Teak
• Tamil: Tekku (தேக்கு),
• Telugu: Teku (టేకు),
• Malayalam: Thekku (തേക്ക്),
• Sinhala: Thekka (තේක්ක),
• Kannada: Tega (ತೇಗ)
• Portuguese: Teca.
• Bangladesh/West Bengal: Segun (সেগুন).

Description

Teak is a large, long, deciduous tree up to 40 m tall with gray to grayish brown branches. These are mostly known for their finest quality wood. Leaves are ovate-elliptic to ovate, 15–45 cm long by 8–23 cm wide, and are held on robust petioles which are 2–4 cm long. Leaf margins are entire.

Fragrant white flowers are borne on 25–40 cm long by 30 cm wide panicles from June to August. The corolla tube is 2.5–3 mm long with 2 mm wide obtuse lobes. Tectona grandis sets fruit from September to December; fruits are globose and 1.2-1.8 cm in diameter. Flowers are weakly protandrous in that the anthers precede the stigma in maturity and pollen is shed within a few hours of the flower opening. The flowers are primarily entomophilous (insect-pollinated), but can occasionally be anemophilous (wind-pollinated).

Some forms of teak are known as Burmese teak, Central Province teak (CP teak), as well as Nagpur teak. T. grandis is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. It has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicles) at the end of the branches. These flowers contain both types of reproductive organs (perfect flowers). The large, papery leaves of teak trees are often hairy on the lower surface.

Uses

Teak wood has a leather-like smell when it is freshly milled and is particularly valued for its durability and water resistance. The wood is used for boat building, exterior construction, veneer, furniture, carving, turnings, and other small wood projects.

Distribution

Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh but is naturalised and cultivated in many countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Myanmar's teak forests account for nearly half of the world's naturally occurring teak. Molecular studies show that there are two centres of genetic origin of teak: one in India and the other in Myanmar and Laos.

In India it is found in Konkan and Western Ghats, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.

Central Province teak and Nagpur teak are named for those regions of India.

History

Shakadvipa (शाकद्वीप) is mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi.

V. S. Agrawala writes that Patanjali mentions names of two other janapadas, viz., Rishika and Jihnu. Rishika - The Rishika occurs in Mahabharata as part of Sakadvipa, Arjuna conquered Rishikas across the Vakshu (Oxus), which flowed through the Saka country. Rishikas were later known as Yuechis, whose language was called Ārśi. Jihnu is perhaps modern Jhind.

Jat History

According to Hukum Singh Pawar (Pauria) Some writers think that Saka (Scythian) is a Sanskrit word which means Sagwan or Teak (Tectona grandis), generally grown in monsoon region, the shape of which and that of its river deltas was like that of teak leaf , and the people popularly known as Sakas used to be the inhabitants of this land. S. M. Ali identifies Saka-dvipa with land mass in the south-east of Meru which falls climatically in the monsoon region and teak is its distinctive tree in its natural and artificial vegetation. The Sapta Sindhu, original home of Aryans, in the south of Meru, we find that the country fulfills all the requisites of Saka-dvipa, viz, teak leaf shape of the country as well as that of the deltas of Sarasvati and Indus river. The Mahabharata's reading, alluded to above, that there was Sakala-dvipa, the name of which is attributed to the Sakas, in the Sapta Sindhu, evidently carries much weight. There is every possibility that the people of Sapta Sindhu, as a whole, might have besides their eponymous and ethnoyms, been known as Sakas also.

In Mahabharata

Shakadvipa was the region occupied by Shakas during Mahabharata. The region called Shakadwipa is mentioned in Mahabharata (12:14) as a region to the east of the great Meru mountains.

Bhisma Parva, Mahabharata/Book VI Chapter 12 describes Shakadvipa, Seven Varshas, Shaka tree, Four provinces and Rivers in Shakadvipa. ....That island is of twice the extent of Jambudvipa. Sakadwipa is surrounded on all sides by the ocean.

Shaka tree: In the midst of that island is a large tree called Saka. In height and breadth the measure of that tree is equal to that of the Jambu tree in Jambudwipa. And the people there always adore that tree. There in that island are, many delightful provinces where Shiva is worshipped.

References

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