structural:scholar_edition
Distribution to the rest of the world

The rapid introduction of chilis to Africa and Asia was likely through the Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 16th century, though the details are unrecorded. The Portuguese introduced it first to Africa and Arabia, and then to their colonies and trading posts in Asia, including Goa, Sri Lanka, and Malacca. From there, it spread to neighboring regions in South Asia and western Southeast Asia via local trade and natural dispersal. At around the same time, the Spanish also introduced chilis to the Philippines, where it spread to Melanesia, Micronesia, and other Pacific Islands via their monopoly of the Manila galleons. Their spread to East Asia in the late 16th century is less clear, but was likely also through local trade or through Portuguese and Spanish trading ports in Canton, China, and Nagasaki, Japan. The earliest known mention of the chili pepper in Chinese writing dates to 1591, though the pepper is thought to have entered the country in the 1570s.