Book excerpt: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a self-pollinated leguminous crop, positioning third after dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and dry peas (Pisum sativum L.) in the world. Chickpea passes by a few basic names, including garbanzo beans, ceci beans, sanagalu, kala chana, and Bengal gram. (Gujrathi), and Chanaka (Sanskrit). The name Cicer is of Latin origin and is derived from the Greek word 'kikus' which means power or quality. It belongs to the Fabaceae family with subfamily Faboideae, having diploid (2n = 2x =16) chromosome number with a relatively small genome size of 740 Mbp. The genome of chickpea has been sequenced. The -738 Mb draft whole genome shotgun sequence of kabuli chickpea variety, CDC Frontier, which contains an estimated 28,269 genes and a few million hereditary markers. In view of seed size and shading, the developed chickpeas are of two primary sorts; desi chickpeas microsperma (seeds little in size, light to dim darker in shading, thick seed coat) and kabuli chickpeas macrosperma (seeds bolder than the Desi types, whitish-cream shading, slim seed coat). Desi chickpeas most noticeable, representing near 80% of worldwide generation. Desi assortments are developed principally in the Indian Subcontinent and in Ethiopia, Mexico and Iran while kabuli chickpeas are developed generally in Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Chile and too little degree in the Indian Subcontinent. The chickpea is likewise developed in Australia, Canada and USA, principally for send out. The chickpea is probably originated from South East Turkey. Four centres of diversity were identified in the Mediterranean, Central Asia, the Near East and India as well as a secondary centre of origin in Ethiopia.