History of alcoholic drinks but would compound the situation by creating additional problems wherever it was implemented. Alcoholic beverages played an important role in the Thirteen Colonies from their early days. For example, the "Mayflower" shipped more beer than water when it departed for the New World in 1620. While this may seem strange viewed from the modern context, note that drinking wine and beer at that time was safer than drinking water - which was usually taken from sources also used to dispose of sewage and garbage. Experience showed that it was safer to drink alcohol than the typically polluted water in Europe.
Indian wine Nashik in the state of Maharashtra is called the "Wine Capital of India." Viticulture was believed to have been introduced to India by Persian traders sometime in the 4th millennium BC. Historians believe that these early plantings were used mostly for table grapes or grape juice rather than the production of an alcoholic beverage. During the Vedic period of the 2nd and 1st millennia, the Aryan tribes of the region were known for their indulgence in intoxicating drink and it seems probable that wine was a current beverage. The religious text of the "Vedas" mentions at least one alcoholic drink