Cannabis in 19th Century India: The Central India Agency

Based on the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's report of 1893-94, this article includes: 

• My overview of cannabis usage in the Central India Agency of 1893-94
• The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's findings regarding the Central India Agency
• Memorandum by Mr. R. H. Gunion on Hemp Drugs in the Central India Agency
• Indore State Memorandum

Overview

(Image source: Wikipedia)

The Central India Agency of 19th century India consisted of the Indore Residency, Gwalior Residency, Dewas, Bhopawar Agency, Bhopal Agency, the Malwa Agency, the Bundelkund Agency and the Baghelkund Agency. The Central Indian States were closely interlinked geographically with the British-controlled North-Western Provinces, Rajputana, Ajmere-Merwara, Berar and the adjoining Central Provinces. 

Wikipedia says 'The Central India Agency was created in 1854, by amalgamating the Western Malwa Agency with other smaller political offices which formerly reported to the Governor-General of India. The agency was overseen by a political agent who maintained relations of the Government of India with the princely states and influence over them on behalf of the Governor-General. The headquarters of the agent were at Indore.'

The Central India Agency and the Central Provinces mark the area of separation of India - on the north-south axis - between those who primarily consumed cannabis as the beverage bhang and those who smoked cannabis as ganja. From Central India southwards, India's population primarily consumed cannabis smoked as ganja, with the proportion of bhang-drinkers falling sharply as one went further south. The Bombay Presidency, Mysore State, Coorg, Hyderabad, Madras Presidency, etc., were all primarily ganja-smokers. To the north of the Central Provinces and Central India, i.e., Punjab, Sind and the North-Western Provinces, were cultures that were primarily bhang-drinkers. Assam, Rajpuana, Ajmere-Merwara, Berar and Bengal had about an equal number of ganja-smokers and bhang-drinkers.  Charas was, of course, quite prominent in the north and north-west of India, primarily in Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan and the North-Western Provinces, besides Nepal.

The Central Indian States of Indore and Gwalior appear to have had an extensive cannabis cultivation and consumption culture. Even the other states in the Central India Agency - Bhopawar, Dewas, Bundelkund and Baghelkund appear to have had a significant cannabis culture in 19th century India. The close interlinking of the Central India Agency with the British-controlled regions, as well as the strong cannabis culture of the Central India Agency - especially of ganja - appears to have created problems for the British whose primary aims, when it came to ganja, were the reduction in cultivation and consumption of ganja and, at the same time, increased revenue from it. The introduction of excise regulations in the Bengal Presidency with its tightly-controlled baluchar ganja, and the cultivation restrictions imposed on the North-Western Provinces and Assam - in order to supply baluchar ganja  from Bengal to cater to the ganja needs of these states  - were affected by the availability of ganja from Central India and the British-controlled Central Provinces. 

The ganja from the native Central India Agency and the British-controlled Central Provinces was popularly called 'pathar' ganja, and it was stated to be markedly different from the varieties of ganja available from the Bengal Presidency, namely 'baluchar' and 'garjhat'.  Mr. Drake-Brockman, Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Central Provinces, says 'The ganja raised in the Central Provinces, as well as that from Indore, is known in Upper India as "pattar," a word the etymology and primary signification of which I have not been able to discover.'  Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'Pathar, whether from the Central Provinces or Gwalior, &c., is most largely used in the central districts of these provinces and in those western districts where ganja is consumed at all.'

This 'pathar' ganja from Central India - mainly Indore and Gwalior - and from the Central Provinces - mainly the Khandwa depot in Nimar - competed with the 'baluchar' and 'garjhat' ganja from Bengal for supply to the North-Western Provinces, Rajputana, Ajmere-Merwara and Berar. The Hemp Commission states that 'Indore, Gwalior, and the Central Provinces appear to be the main sources of ganja supply for the whole of Central India and Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces. The evidence and general information tend to show that Indore and Khandwa are being supplanted by Gwalior, though Khandwa still exports largely.' The importance of the Khandwa depot had grown greatly in the preceding few years. The surplus in ganja in the preceding three years before the Hemp Commission's study, meant that the Khandwa depot was overstocked. The government decided to impose a storage fee at the government storehouses. It also decided to impose a permit fee on all wholesale vendors who came from outside the Central Provinces to purchase ganja from the Khandwa depot. Mr. Drake-Brockman, Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Central Provinces, states that "The part played by the Khandwa store as an entrepôt for the supply of the ganja demand of those provinces is quite insignificant when compared with its use as a mart for the convenience of foreign purchasers. To it throng traders from Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Ratlam, Dhar, Jodhpur, Oodeypur, Rewa, Panna, Baroda, and other States of less note, and licensed vendors from the North-West Provinces compete with contractors from Berar for the purchase of the cultivators' stock. Between 6,000 and 7,000 maunds of ganja have, on the average of the last four years, been annually exported from Khandwa to other provinces and to Native States. For the convenience thus afforded to them all these foreign purchasers pay absolutely nothing." Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'The three main localities from which ganja is imported are — 1. Bengal. 2. Khandwa in the Central Provinces. 3. (a) Gwalior. (b) Bundelkhand Native States.' In its report on the North-Western Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'The ganja consumed in the province is mainly derived from Bengal, the Central Provinces, Gwalior, Bundelkhand, and, in small quantities, from Nepal and Indore, possibly also from Rewah. Where the production of this ganja is under excise management, these imports are of course subject to such management.'

With the introduction of regulatory measures across the British-controlled provinces, 'pathar' ganja from Central India and the Central Provinces appears to have gradually supplanted the 'baluchar' ganja from Bengal, especially in the North-Western Provinces which primarily imported its ganja. Price seems to have been one of the key determining factors for the shift to pathar ganja from baluchar ganja among the people of the North-Western Provinces. Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'The result of my enquiries was to show that the consumption of baluchar was falling off because of (1) the successive increases of the duty levied in Bengal and the consequent enhancement of price; (2) the increasing competition of the cheaper "pathar" ganja from the Central Provinces, Gwalior, &c.; (3) extended use of charas. No doubt cause (2) is greatly fostered by cause (1), and is a consequence as much as a cause. But I think in any case the cheaper drug was bound to assert itself and gradually supplant the dearer article. The difference in price is considerable. Baluchar has lately been generally retailed in our towns at six annas per tola, while pathar sells at one anna and half an anna.' In its report on the North-Western Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'It is mentioned that within the last ten years ganja has been imported from Holkar's Territory, Berar, Mewar, Nasik, Nasirabad, and Khandesh, and perhaps other places in the Bombay Presidency; but latterly "the proximity of Khandwa and Gwalior, and the cheapness of the drug there, seem to have given them a monopoly of the business in pathar."' In its report on the North-Western Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'As regards quality, Mr. Stoker's information places Gwalior ganja on the same footing as the pathar of Khandwa, and it is known by the same name. Both these drugs are far cheaper than that of Bengal with its high duty, and this appears to be a sufficient reason for their having superseded it. In the retail trade pathar sells at 1 and 1/2 annas, while baluchar sells at 6 annas the tola. There is reason to believe that pathar is frequently passed off as the better quality of drug, and is used also for adulterating it. The form in which the drug is sold in the shops, the smokable part being picked off the stems, renders such practices possible. The two articles are readily distinguishable on the branch. Mr. Stoker has some interesting remarks on attempts which have been made, apparently with more or less success, to get the cultivators of Nimar to turn out their drug so as to resemble baluchar. The latter is consumed principally in the districts of the Gorakhpur and Benares Divisions, but a little of it still finds its way further west, where its superior quality secures for it a certain, though small, demand in spite of its much higher price. The name pathar, pathiyara, or pathiyala may possibly be derived, Mr. Stoker thinks, from the leafy character of the inferior drug.' In its report on the North-Western Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'Khandwa and Gwalior ganja inferior to that of Bengal.'

The entire Central India region, including the Central Provinces and the Central India Agency native states, appears to have been suitable for cultivation of ganja. Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'But that it can be grown and with some perfection in this tract also is shown by the occasional presence of plants and by the existence of considerable cultivation in Gwalior and in some of the Bundelkhand Native States which interlace with British territory.' The method of cultivation is stated to be similar to that of the Central Provinces. The Hemp Commission states that 'In these States the cultivation is not carried on by any particular class, but it would appear that in Rewah the Kachis alone undertake the industry.' The Hemp Commission states that 'There is cultivation of the hemp plant for the production of ganja in Indore, Baghelkhand, Dewas, Bhopawar, and Gwalior, and possibly also in Bhopal and Western Malwa. There appears to be no restriction of cultivation in the Central India Agency, and Mr. Gunion thinks that there is no system of licensing sale of the drugs except in Indore and Rewa, though the Commission have ascertained from other sources that sale is licensed in Gwalior and Bhopal. Mr. Gunion's opinion that there are no restrictions on manufacture or on import and export of the drug, but that duties are levied on it as on other merchandise, appears to be correct.' Mr. R. H. Gunion, in his memorandum on Central India, submitted to the Hemp Commission, says that ganja was planted in July-August and harvested in November.

There was competition not only between the pathar ganja of Central India and the Central Provinces and the baluchar ganja of Bengal. There was competition also between the pathar ganja of the British-controlled Central Provinces - produced in the Nimar District and supplied to various regions from the government depot in Khandwa in Nimar - and the pathar ganja of Central India - produced in Indore, Gwalior, Bundelkund, Bhopawar, Baghelkund.  

Indore State

The Hemp Commission reports, regarding cultivation in Indore State, that 'The return from the Indore State shows that from 1873-74 to 1878-79 the area of cultivation exceeded 300 bighas. It then fell suddenly to below 100 bighas, and never reached that figure again until 1888-89. The average of that and the following four years is 180 bighas (5/8 acre). The cultivation has during this period been about stationary. It is confined to the few mahals in the Nemad district bordering on the Narbada, and to a small tract north of Indore.' The Hemp Commission states that 'Indore. — The cultivation of the Indore State is on the average about 115 acres, which would hardly yield 1,000 maunds of ganja. Mr. Gunion puts the figure for ganja and bhang together at 900 maunds. There is an average import of 153 maunds of ganja and 7 maunds of bhang, and an export of 377 maunds of ganja. The volume of transport within the State is 452 maunds of ganja and 399 maunds of bhang.' In the memorandum submitted by R. H. Gunion, he says 'The plant is cultivated in the Indore State in the mahals that border on the Narbada for its fibre and for the production of ganja and bhang. None is cultivated for the production of charas. The fibre is got from a variety of the plant known locally as san. In the Indore State last year 193 bighas were under hemp cultivation.' The Indore Memorandum says that 'The cultivation is confined to a few mahals in the Nimar district, bordering on the Narbada, and in Sanwer a few miles to the north of Indore. Thus it will be seen that although the State puts no restriction on the cultivation, or controls it in any way whatever, the ryot has not found it to his advantage to grow it largely, although the plant is capable of thriving almost everywhere in the State.' 

The seed of Dhakalgaon, a village in Indore territory, was considered to be of very good quality. In his Note on Ganja Cultivation in Nimar of the Central Provinces, Mr. Robertson, Deputy Commissioner, Nimar states that 'Seed is raised in the villages of Karki, Punjhria, and Chhirbel in this district. But the best seed comes from Dhakalgaon in Holkar's territory. The latter gives a stouter and more branching plant than the local seed. Both seeds are used all over the ganja-growing tract, but Dhakalgaon ganja is more specially produced towards Dhangaon in the north. The price of ordinary seed is 8 annas a ser and of Dhakalgaon Re. 1. The production of the latter is limited, and it is much sought after and is therefore high-priced.'

Ganja from Indore State was exported to Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces. Bikanir, Jodhpur, Shahpura and Bundi in the Rajputana Agency imported ganja from Indore. In its report on Rajputana, the Hemp Commission says, 'Bikanir.— Some 13 maunds of bhang are produced locally, but no ganja or charas. The three drugs are all imported from the Punjab, Indore, and Jeypore... Charas is of two kinds, Indori and Yarkandi; the former name would indicate manufacture in Indore, of which there is no decided proof. The only places in Central India where there is information of any manufacture of this drug are Gwalior and Bhopawar. The import of charas appears to be about 16 maunds and of ganja 4. It is possible that this ganja is what is known in the State as Indori charas; for the two drugs are mixed up in the accounts, and in one place it is stated that there is no import of ganja.' In its report on Rajputana, the Hemp Commission says, 'Jodhpur.— Besides a small local production of ganja and bhang, the former drug is imported from Indore and the latter from Bhartpur... The import of ganja and charas under parwana from the Residency amounted to 1,735 maunds during the ten years 1883-84 to 1892-93. The imported ganja mostly comes from Indore... Ganja is mostly brought from Indore, and consequently it goes by the name of Indore ganja.' In its report on Rajputana, the Hemp Commission says, 'Shahpura.— Ganja and bhang are reported to be brought from Bhilwara, and the former drug is called Indori ganja. These names would point to the country west of Indore as the place of production.' In its report on Rajputana, the Hemp Commission says, 'Bundi - The above are imported from Indore and Ujjain and are sold together with the quantity locally produced.' In its report on the North-Western Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'It is reported that a little ganja still comes from Indore.'

It is interesting to note that Indore had surplus produce between 1873 and 1879, but that this produce fell to nearly half in the next decade till 1888. The reason for this sudden fall in output from Indore was the pressure exerted on it by the Central Provinces administration. Excess produce from Indore meant that the demand for ganja from the Khandwa depot of Nimar Nimar in the Central Provinces would fall. 1878-79 was an exceptional year of produce for Indore while it saw a corresponding low output from the Khandwa depot in the Central Provinces. Mr. Drake-Brockman, Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Central Provinces, states that 'All appear to have refrained from raising ganja in 1881 in consequence of their failure to obtain the terms they had insisted upon; their energies were directed throughout the year to agitating for reconsideration of the orders passed, and after unsuccessfully moving the Government of India they memorialized the Secretary of State. No certain explanation of the sudden diminution of area under ganja in Nimar can now be given: it is, however, known that the Indore crop of 1879 was unusually large (4,000 maunds against 1,000 in the preceding season), and that exports from Nimar in 1880-81 did not exceed 75 maunds, and the knowledge of these facts and of the existence of a large stock in the hands of the provincial contractors must have made cultivators doubtful whether a local crop, if raised in 1881, would find any purchasers.' Subsequent to this, reports show that for nearly a decade between 1878 and 1889, the area of cultivation in the Indore State reduced greatly. The fact that 1885-1886 was a year of exceptional produce from the Khandwa Depot in the Central Provinces indicates that the reduction of cultivation in the Indore State greatly benefited the Khandwa Depot and the Central Provinces. In its report on the Central Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'At that time the Commissioner of Excise states that the export was between 6,000 and 7,000 maunds. In making this calculation, he includes the figure of the year 1885-86, which reached the exceptional amount of 13,380 maunds. There is reason to suppose that a little business is done in the sale of seed from the crops grown at Khandwa for that product. There is information as to its being used by the hemp cultivators of Hyderabad, the Berars, Bombay, and Indore.'

It is ironic that while the administration of the Central Provinces sought to reduce cannabis cultivation in Indore State - in order to promote the cultivation in Nimar for supply to the Khandwa depot - Nimar and the Central Provinces still depended on the seed from Dhakalgoan in Indore State for its cannabis cultivation. Mr. Drake-Brockman, Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Central Provinces, in his memorandum on the cultivation and manufacture of ganja in the Khandwa Tahsil of the Nimar District in Central Provinces, states that 'Ganja is sown yearly in about 100 villages, and about 600 or 700 licenses are issued each year. Seed is locally raised in the villages of Lohari, Karki, Panjhria, and Chhirbel; this seed produces a comparatively thin plant which does not branch off so freely as that raised from the seed obtained from Dhakalgaon in Indore. Dhakalgaon seed is sold at a minimum price of Re. 1 per ser; it has, on several occasions, gone as high as Rs. 2 per ser. The ordinary price of local seed is Re. 0-12-0 per ser. Seven or eight villages in the Dhargaon station-house circle use Dhakalgaon seed, and the ganja raised in them commands the best price at the Government storehouse.'

Gwalior State

Most of the information regarding Qwalior State was obtained from memoranda submitted by other states and British-controlled provinces, especially the North-Western Provinces and Rajputana. The Hemp Commission reports, regarding the cultivation in Gwalior State, that 'From Gwalior, where there is a considerable amount of ganja produced, no information has been received except that which has been furnished through the North-Western Provinces.' In the memorandum submitted by R. H. Gunion on Central India, he says 'The plant is said to be extensively cultivated at Ujjain and Sipri, but unfortunately the Gwalior State has furnished no information.'  Gwalior appears to have had considerable production of ganja, especially in Kalaras and Antri, in addition to Ujjain and Sipri. The Hemp Commission states that 'Gwalior.— The memorandum on cultivation in the Gwalior State gives a total area of 400 acres. This might yield as much as 3,500 maunds of ganja and bhang together. These drugs are largely exported to the North-Western Provinces and the States of Rajputana and Central India.'

Cannabis cultivation seems to have been carried out in Gwalior as a summer crop between July and December, with wheat grown as a winter crop in the same ganja fields. Mr. R. H. Gunion says, 'The cultivation covers the season from July to December.' The Hemp Commission states that 'The Commission have heard of the extirpation of male plants in the cultivation of the Gwalior State, and the same information is furnished by Mr. Gopal Ram in the appendix to the North-Western Provinces memorandum. The latter authority also mentions that the crop is irrigated, and that "some cultivators sow wheat in the ganja fields in the months of October and November." 

The variety of ganja from Gwalior was 'pathar' and seemed to be of similar quality as that of Nimar in the Central Provinces and the Indore State. Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'The Gwalior ganja is of the same character and appearance as the Central Provinces "pathar." It is known here by the same name and is used in the same places and by the same people, in fact it stands on exactly the same footing as the latter. Like the latter, too, it seems to vary considerably in quality. On an average I should say, it is neither better nor worse than that which comes from Nimar. It is the product of careful cultivation and preparation. Colonel Pitcher, Director of Land Records and Agriculture for the Gwalior State, has kindly supplied a memorandum on this point prepared by his Assistant, Pandit Gopal Ram, which will be found as an appendix to this report. The State duty of Rs. 5 per maund must be calculated on the drug stripped from stalk and waste and ready for use.'

It was stated by the Hemp Commission above that, in recent years, the output from Gwalior had surpassed both Indore and Khandwa ganja. It said that 'The evidence and general information tend to show that Indore and Khandwa are being supplanted by Gwalior, though Khandwa still exports largely.' The construction of the Indian Midland Railway appears to have greatly helped Gwalior to export its ganja more easily to the North-Western Provinces and Rajputana. Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'From what some of our contractors have told me, I think Gwalior ganja has been gaining ground, as it has latterly been rather cheaper owing perhaps to bad crops in the Central Provinces and the heavier railway freight to many of our districts. The construction of the Indian Midland Railway has apparently improved the market for Gwalior ganja.' Mr. T Stoker, further says that 'GANJA PATHAR. GWALIOR, &C. Wholesale. Rs. 7 to Rs. 14 per maund, including duty and exclusive of railway freight.'

The availability in the North-Western Provinces of ganja from Gwalior was detrimental to both baluchar ganja from the Bengal Presidency and pathar ganja from the Central Provinces, both British-controlled provinces that had fine-tuned their excise systems to serve as the chief suppliers of ganja to the other British-controlled territories in North and Central India. The British had almost completely stifled cannabis cultivation in Assam, North-Western Provinces, Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, Ajmere-Merwara and Berar in order to supply these provinces with, mainly, baluchar ganja from Bengal and, secondly, pathar ganja from the Khandwa depot in the Central Provinces. Baluchar ganja was the most expensive, and the British hoped to reap greater revenues from its export, followed by the pathar ganja from the Central Provinces. However, the pathar ganja from Gwalior, and also Indore - which was as cheap as the pathar ganja from Khandwa, and much cheaper than baluchar ganja from Bengal - was disrupting the carefully constructed ganja excise system of the British, especially with the availability of railway connectivity between Gwalior and the North-Western Provinces and Rajputana. The Hemp Commission recommended tighter control of Gwalior ganja in order to protect British-promoted baluchar ganja from Bengal and pathar ganja from the Central Provinces. The Hemp Commission, in the North-Western Provinces, states that 'Mr. Stoker is of opinion that the Gwalior ganja is gaining ground in the North-Western Provinces, and is being substituted for the Khandwa ganja, while both together are ousting the supply of Bengal ganja. The cultivation is said to be confined to three tahsils of the State — Antri, Sipri, and Kalaras; so the control of cultivation would probably be a simple matter; and if such control can be brought about, it would greatly facilitate the North-Western Provinces administration'

In its report on the North-Western Provinces, the Hemp Commission states that 'Taking the average import then at 4,774 maunds — Mr. Stoker estimates it at 4,000 to 4,500 maunds — it must be concluded that 2,719 maunds, or the greater part of it, are imported from Gwalior and the Bundelkhand States. The Bundelkhand States named by Mr. Stoker are Dattia, Sampthar, Chatarpur, and Kadaura (Baoni), to which he would add Dholpur in the Bhartpur Agency. He is not sure that all the ganja brought from these States is of local growth. Some of it, he suspects, comes from Gwalior or Khandwa originally. From other sources it is ascertained that Dholpur does not grow any ganja. Regarding the volume of the import for the Bundelkhand States, Mr. Stoker writes that it is inconsiderable and irregular. Gwalior must therefore be the locality from which nearly the whole of the balance of import now under consideration is derived. And in this view it becomes the most considerable source of the ganja supply of the province, larger than Khandwa, and far larger than Bengal. It is reported that a little ganja still comes from Indore. It is to be noted that in certain years the Khandwa imports have been uncommonly large. In 1883-84 they were 2,472 maunds, in 1885-86 4,223 maunds, and in 1889-90 3,237 maunds. These figures, of course, raise the importance of Khandwa as compared with Gwalior, but still they do not affect the conclusion that the latter provides the greater amount of ganja to the North-Western Provinces at the present day.'

Rajputana also appears to have favored pathar ganja from Gwalior over baluchar ganja from Bengal and pathar ganja from Khandwa in the Central Provinces. The arrival of the railways appears to have benefited export of ganja from Gwalior to Rajputana, in addition to export to the North-Western Provinces. In its report on Rajputana, the Hemp Commission says, 'The imports are by rail and road from British districts, Gwalior and Patiala, under passes granted by the Collectors or Political Agents concerned. The traffic is not large. Dholpur adjoins the North-Western Provinces.' This evidence of export of Gwalior ganja to Rajpura is seen in Kotah, Kerowli and Dholpur. In its report on Rajputana, the Hemp Commission says, 'Kotah.— A small quantity of bhang is locally produced. Ganja is imported from Jhallawar, Gwalior, and Tonk. No charas has been imported for some years.' The Hemp Commission says, 'Kerowli.— The imports are small: ganja to the extent of 10 maunds from Gwalior'. It further says, ' Dholpur.— There is no local production. Some 39 maunds of ganja are imported from Antri in Gwalior'.

Bhopawar, Dewas, Bundelkund and Baghelkund Agencies

The Hemp Commission states, regarding Bhopawar, that 'The Political Agent of Bhopawar gives the following description of the desultory kind of cultivation employed in that part of Central India: "Hemp seed is sown in poppy or maize fields. When the plant is above two-and-a-half feet high, the main stem is split near the root and a piece of tile thrust in. This prevents the plant from setting seed freely and makes the tops fit for ganja.' In the memorandum submitted by R. H. Gunion, he says 'All over the Bhopawar Agency the plant is cultivated for bhang and ganja, rarely for charas; but the production is limited and, except in the parts adjoining British Nimar, only for the personal use of the cultivators.'

The Hemp Commission states, regarding Dewas, that 'Dewas.—The yearly output in Dewas is reported to be 156 maunds of ganja and 64 maunds of bhang derived from 30 acres of cultivation.' In the memorandum submitted by R. H. Gunion, he says 'In the State of Dewas the hemp plant is cultivated for ganja (39 bighas) at one village and for bhang (9 bighas) at another.'

The Hemp Commission states, regarding the Baghelkund Agency, that 'Baghelkund Agency - The greater part of the population are Vaishnavas, and the population in general are said to be opposed to the use of the drug.' In the memorandum submitted by R. H. Gunion, he says 'In Baghelkhand there is a limited cultivation of the plant for the production of ganja only.' 

Regarding the Bundelkhand Agency, Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'Of the same class as the Gwalior ganja is that imported from some of the Bundelkhand Native States. I give in the margin the name of those States (Dattia, Chattarpur, Sampthar, Kadaura (Baoni)) from which ganja has been from time to time procured by our contractors. To these may be added Dholpur, which is under the Bhartpur agency. The plant is cultivated in Dattia, Sampthar, and Chattarpur to some extent, and the drug is not, so far as I could observe, distinguishable from Gwalior ganja. In all these States there is some duty on export, but it seems to be variable and unequal. In one place I am told it is two annas per rupee of the price of the drug which would be about Re. 1 to Rs. 2 per maund. In another place it is said to be Re. 1-9-0 on each purchase irrespective of quality. But these rates require confirmation. I am not sure that all the ganja brought from these States is of local growth; some of it, I suspect, comes from Gwalior or Khandwa originally.'

Classes that consumed cannabis in its various forms

Regarding the classes that smoked cannabis as ganja in Central India, Mr. R. H. Gunion says, in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission, that 'All over Central India the cultivators of the hemp plant, where they are found, are also the manufacturers of bhang and ganja. The more luxurious preparations, such as majum, etc., are made by Bhalbigaras and confectioners. At Rutlam and elsewhere majum is also known as ankoli.' Mr. R. H. Gunion says 'Most cultivators in Bhopawar smoke ganja occasionally; but nowhere else in Central India are the cultivators said to be ganja-smokers. The Indore Minister particularly says that the agricultural classes rarely use ganja. In the Baghelkhand, Bhopal, West Malwa, and Guna Agencies, the ganja-smokers (other than fakirs, etc.) are said to be chamars, mehters, and other low caste people. Some witnesses give figures. In Dewas about 1 per cent. of the population are said to be ganja-smokers. In Rutlam (population 89,160) there are said to be 500 ganja-smokers and 50 charas-smokers. In Indore it is supposed that 2 per cent. of the male population smoke ganja and that barely one in a thousand smokes charas. The smoking of both is generally more common in towns than in villages. In Charkhari (Bundelkhand) all sadhus, etc., 30 per cent. of the low caste people, and 5 per cent. of the rest of the population are said to smoke ganja.' 

Regarding the classes that ate or drank cannabis as bhang in Central India, Mr. R. H. Gunion says, in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission, that 'Bhang is to some extent eaten and largely drunk all over the Agency. Some figures are given. In Indore 5 per cent. of the population are said to be drinkers and one in 5,000 eaters, of bhang. In Rutlam (population 89,160) 1,500 people are said to drink and 500 to eat bhang. The drinking of bhang is supposed to be common among all the higher castes of Hindus — Brahmans (especially those of Malwa), Banias and Rajputs — at times of rejoicing, and for a cool drink in the hot weather. Ujjain and Maheswar are mentioned by one of the Indore witnesses as places where bhang is largely drunk. In Charkhari bhang is said to be "eaten only by hardened drinkers of the drug." In the Dattia evidence it is said that the same people who would drink bhang in the hot weather would eat it in the cold whether or the rains. In Bhopal about 100,000 are said to use one or other of the hemp drugs; charas being expensive is said to be the least used of the three. '

Regarding charas, the Hemp Commission states that 'no charas is prepared in Central India except a little in the Bhopawar Agency for the personal use of the cultivators, or for presents from them to religious mendicants." The method of preparation is thus described by the Political Agent of Bhopawar: "Charas is prepared by rubbing ganja (sometimes mixed with bhang) violently for several hours on rough woollen blankets, which afterwards are scraped with a knife. The substance thus scraped off is first class charas. An inferior kind is then obtained by washing the blanket with the least possible amount of water, and then evaporating the liquid." The report of Gopal Ram at the close of the North-Western Provinces memorandum contains no information of special interest regarding the preparation of the drugs in Gwalior except that relating to charas as a bye-product of ganja cultivation.' Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'It was stated incidentally that some charas is made by the ganja cultivators in Gwalior. Colonel Pitcher has kindly verified this through his Assistant, Pandit Gopal Ram, who reports that "a certain amount of charas is obtained in this (Gwalior) State by scraping off the resin which adheres to the hands in cutting the ganja plant. In tahsil Antri the cultivators do not care much about the charas. In tahsil Kalaras, district Narwar, I hear charas is obtained in small quantities by the same process as in Kumaun and Garhwal." The second locality is in the Kumaun Tarai and Bhabar, where the practice was possibly introduced by the hill men who come down to cultivate there. The method is the same as that employed in the hills. The flowers of the wild plant are rubbed in the hands and the resin which adheres is scraped off. No record can be kept of the amount so prepared, but it does not as yet seem to be considerable. I have obtained specimens' of this charas from both Gwalior and Kumaun, and will submit them to the Commission.' The memorandum submitted by Mr. Gunion, states that charas collection using men clad in leather suits running through fields was a thing of the past. Charas was now mainly produced in small quantities, just enough to meet the needs of the worker harvesting the crop at the end of the day. Mr. Gunion quotes the Superintendent of the Senior Branch of Dewas as stating 'At the time of cutting the flowers the juice that sticks to the instrument or the hand is collected and is called charas. The labourers who cut the flowers usually take away this charas for themselves. ' Mr. Gunion says 'No charas is prepared in Central India except a little in the Bhopawar Agency for the personal use of the cultivators, or for presents from them to religious mendicants. What charas is consumed in other parts of Central India is mostly imported from the Punjab.' 

Ganja and bhang are one and the same thing

We see in the Central India Agency, just like all over India, the confusion that exists between what is ganja and what is bhang. In different contexts, people attribute the terms 'ganja' and 'bhang' to different things, even though the fact is that both are essentially the cannabis plant, including its flowering buds and resin. The fact that the people of north India drank cannabis as a beverage and called it 'bhang'  and that the people of central and south India smoked cannabis and called it 'ganja' eluded the Hemp Commission and almost all its witnesses. The entire understanding of what is bhang and ganja is derived by most witnesses, as well as the Hemp Commission, from the inaccurate definition given by Dr. Prain, the Calcutta botanist, who defined ganja as the flowering buds of the cannabis plant, and bhang as the leaves of the cannabis plant. Mr. Gunion, even though he initially agrees with Dr. Prain's definition that bhang is the leaves of the cannabis plant, and ganja the flowering buds, quotes the Superintendent of the Senior Branch of Dewas in his memorandum on the Central Provinces as stating 'The object of this 'parkhai' is to root out the bhang plant from amongst the ganja plants. If only one bhang plant is allowed to remain in the field, it has the effect of turning the whole field into bhang plants. The operation is continued until the ganja plant grows big enough.' Here, the name bhang is being used to describe Cannabis Sativa L., or industrial hemp, and the threat that it poses to a field of Cannabis Sativa. The term bhang used here is completely different from Dr. Prain's definition of bhang being the leaves of the cannabis plant and ganja the flowering buds. We see, again, another description that renders the theory - that bhang is the cannabis leaf and ganja the cannabis flower - redundant in the statement of Mr. Drake-Brockman, Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Central Provinces. He says 'What is locally termed "desi bhang" is the refuse rejected when the ganja manufactured by cultivators and stored in the Government godown is cleaned for issue to wholesale vendors. The word "bhang" applied to this refuse seems to be derived from the Sanskrit root meaning "broken," and so to be identical with the ordinary signification of the word "chur,." But chur as a kind of ganja is not produced in the Central Provinces: I notice in this connection that according to Dr. Prain the quantity of chur obtained from flat ganja in Bengal is infinitesimally small, and as only flat ganja is manufactured here, this probably accounts for chur being locally unknown.' Here we see bhang being the name given to the left-over residue after processing the ganja harvest. This residue will consist mainly of the leaves and buds that have broken off during flattening of the ganja crop for packaging. This residual ganja was called 'chur' in Bengal and was in high demand because of its perceived higher quality, potency and reduced presence of twigs. So here, the word bhang is used to describe ganja residue, which is completely different from Dr. Prain's definition of what is ganja and what is bhang.  In the Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in Central India submitted by Mr. G. H. Gunion, he states, regarding the post-harvest processing followed in the Indore Residency, as described by the Minister of Indore that, '"Nearly the whole of the plant is cut, and all the plants so cut are stacked in the threshing floor. After allowing them to dry for a day or two, bunches of the plants are rubbed by the hand on the ground. The seed is then separated from the crushed leaves. The crushed leaves with tender twigs are called bhang, which is then ready for use." ' It is quite obvious here that when only the seed is removed after the plants have been crushed on the ground, the remainder will consist of flowering buds, leaves and resin, along with tender twigs. The Minister of Indore describes this as bhang, which is similar to the description of chur in Bengal, a form of ganja sold in retail outlets, consisting of the fine residue after flattening or rolling the ganja for packaging. Chur was in high demand in Bengal. So, here we see again a description of bhang that is contrary to the definition provided by Dr. Prain. Here we see that the bhang also contains ganja and charas...

Overall, throughout the Hemp Commission's report, we see numerous witnesses agreeing with Dr. Prain's definition - that bhang is the leaves and ganja the flowers of the cannabis plant - only to later describe situations that completely render this definition inaccurate. We saw in Punjab and Sind that the cultivators broke off flowering buds from the cannabis plant and kept it aside before harvest, calling it 'bhang gundi' to be smoked later. We saw various descriptions of bhang recipes showing the use of the flowering buds in the preparation of the beverage. We saw the use of the word 'bhangi' in Canarese in the Mysore and Coorg States to describe the flowering buds. All these, and numerous other facts, completely refute Dr. Prain's definition of what is ganja and what is bhang, but absurdly the people of India - especially its lawmakers - continue with the inaccurate definition, having embedded it in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. 

Interestingly, we also see a witness here, like Mr. Bocarro in Sind, stating that bhang, i.e. cannabis drunk as a beverage, is more harmful than ganja, i.e. cannabis smoked, contrary to what most witnesses who belonged to the upper-castes and upper-classes said. One of the key premises of the upper-class and upper-castes of India was that bhang was harmless and even healthy, whereas ganja was harmful and evil. Oneo f the primary reasons for discriminating against the lower-castes and classes was that they smoked ganja. Mr. Gunion says 'The tendency of the moderate habit to develop into the excessive is said to be more marked in the case of bhang than of ganja.' The truth of the matter here, however, is that the same effects are produced, whether one has cannabis as a beverage or as a smoke. It is only a question of how quickly one feels the effects. Whereas the smoker smokes only the flowers or the resin, the bhang-drinker drinks the juices of both the flowers and leaves, and often in quantities that will match, and even exceed, the amount of cannabinoids ingested by the smoker. So, let's get this straight... Bhang and ganja are one and the same... Neither is better or worse... It is only a question of one's taste...

Regulatory systems in the Central India Agency

The regulatory systems in the Central India Agency appear to have treated cannabis as just another commodity, without discriminating against it. Regarding the excise system followed in Central India, Mr. R. H. Gunion, in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission, says 'In none of the States in Central India do there appear to be any restrictions on the manufacture or on the import and export of hemp drugs. Duties are charged on importation as on the other articles of merchandize. In some States the sale of the drugs is to some extent restricted. In Indore, as the Minister states, the wholesale dealer requires no license; there is no maximum limit to the quantity he may sell at a time, but there is a minimum limit, viz., 60 seers. The right to sell the drugs in retail is farmed out by public auction, and the retail sale is confined to the farmer and his agents. At present the retail farmer has one shop of his own in the city, and fifteen tobacconists in the city and twenty-five more in the mofussil, sell the drugs as his agents, there being as a rule a shop at the head-quarters of every mahal. The only other state in which there appears to be any restriction on the sale of the drugs is Rewah, where the "contractors" (meaning apparently the wholesale importers) are said to pay a fixed duty and license fees to the State. Shops in which there is consumption on the premises are not mentioned as existing anywhere. In the State of Bhopal there is a licensed contractor for each pargana, who makes retail sales in his own shop and authorizes others to do so as his agents.' 

The Indore Memorandum states that 'The central administrative power rests with the Darbar. The executive head of customs and excise for the Indore city and Indore zillah is the Muntazim Sayar and for the other zillahs the Subha of each zillah. The present excise system in respect to hemp drugs in the State, so far as it may be so called, is based upon a few standing circular orders promulgated by the Darbar in the State Gazette from time to time. Some of these have already been noticed in their proper places in this memorandum. The system is on the whole working fairly relatively to the importance of the interests involved and no modification of it is contemplated.' The Indore Memorandum describes in some detail the excise system followed in that State. Showing evidence of how cannabis was just another commodity in the Central India Agency, the memorandum says, 'Under the excise system prevalent in Indore, the import and export of the hemp drugs are not shown under a separate head denoting the hemp drugs, but are included under the general head of 'kirana ' (i. e., drugs, spices, etc.), and cannot therefore be accurately given. There is no doubt that the drugs are both imported into the State and exported from it, but not to that extent which would make it desirable to assign special heads in the State accounts to their traffic. As in the case of cultivation, so here there are no restrictions on either the importation or exportation of any of the hemp drugs. They can be imported or exported by any body to any extent without a license on the payment merely of the fixed duty. Practically the trade is so limited as not to require its regulation by the State. The importers of ganja and other drugs are generally the banias and there is no limit fixed to the storing and transport of these drugs, by them.' The Indore Memorandum states that 'The right to sell in retail is farmed out by public auction, and none but the leaseholder or his agents can make retail sales. The ijardar or leaseholder is at liberty to open any number of shops at any place which may be convenient to him, In practice, however, it is understood that he follows the advice of the customs officers of the State. As a matter of fact at present the retail farmer has only one shop of his own in the city of Indore, and has commissioned fifteen tobacco-sellers, to whom he sells a quantity not exceeding half a seer at an interval of two or three days, to sell for him. In the mofussil the contractor usually has one shop at the head-quarters of every mahal, making about forty shops in all in the districts. Although it cannot be said that the number of shops is determined deliberately with a view to area and population, it naturally adjusts itself to the demand, and therefore indirectly to area and population.' The Indore Memorandum states that 'The average amount of the retail contract for the last eleven years is Rs. 5,140 per year. The law prescribes no limit, maximum or minimum, in point of quantity to the retail sales to, or possession by, a consumer. But it has fixed the rates of the retail sale of each of these drugs, which are as follows: ganja, at half a seer a rupee in Indore city and one seer a rupee in the mofussil, bhang at four seers a rupee throughout the State, and charas at five tolas a rupee throughout.' The Indore Memorandum states that 'No license is required for wholesale, and there is no maximum limit to the quantity a wholesale dealer may sell at a time. There is, however, a minimum limit, namely, 60 seers, prescribed by a regulation of the State below which the wholesale dealer may not sell on pain of liability to confiscation of his commodity and a fine up to Rs. 50 by the customs officer and to unlimited amount by the Darbar. The occasions on which the darbar have exercised its powers in this respect are very rare indeed, and have done so extremely moderately. The State prescribes no minimum or maximum price of sale, and the wholesale dealer may dispose of his ware at any price it may fetch.' The Indore Residency of 19th century India practiced a cannabis policy similar to the opium policy followed by the modern state of Madhya Pradesh.  But the additional difference - besides the drug in question being cannabis here, and not opium - was that the policy was directed at the wholesaler in the Indore Residency whereas the policy is directed against the cultivator of opium in modern Madhya Pradesh. In 19th century Indore, the wholesaler had to sell a minimum guaranteed quantity of ganja - 60 seers - each time he made a sale. If his sale was found to be less than the minimum quantity, his entire stock was likely to be seized and a fine imposed on him by the State. In modern Madhya Pradesh, the opium cultivator must produce a minimum quantity of opium, called the Minimum Qualifying Yield (MQY) in order to retain his license for opium cultivation the next year. If it is found by the opium cultivator that his opium produce is not going to meet the MQY for the season, the only choice he has is to notify the government and seek permission for the destruction of the entire crop. If it is found that the opium cultivator has made a sale of this crop, his opium cultivation license will be revoked. How much opium is produced that is below the MQY, and how much is actually destroyed without ending up in the black market is anybody's guess. Comparing the excise regulations of 19th century Indore and the modern Madhya Pradesh, I vote for 19th century Indore, where the drug in question was the wonderful herb, cannabis, and not the dangerous opium. Also, excise regulations in 19th century Indore rightly targeted the wholesaler and not the poor cultivator. The Indore Memorandum states that 'Besides the amount realised from the ijara or monopoly of retail sale, which is Rs. 5,140 yearly on an average as stated before, there are two duties levied on these drugs known as "katati" or inward, and "bharati" or "nikasu" or outward. These terms include the import and the export duty proper, that is, the duty levied on goods brought into the State from, or sent out of the State to, foreign territory as well as the duty levied on goods transmitted from one mahal to another within the State itself at each mahal.' 

Although it is stated that the Central India Agency had few restrictions on cannabis cultivation, sale was definitely restricted through the wholesaler and the network of retail outlets opened by person who secured the right to retail sales through auction. It is not clear from the report if the cultivator in the Central India Agency could sell his produce directly to the consumer or the retail outlets without having to approach the wholesaler. If it was the case that the cultivator could only sell his produce to the wholesaler, then that would present a bottleneck in the system and a definite hurdle to the cultivator. It is possible that all the excise rules were aligned for the export and import of ganja outside the Agency by the wholesaler and its local sales through the retailer, with the cultivator remaining completely free to sell his produce to whoever he chose. That is, however, unlikely, since such a move would have been strongly opposed by the wholesalers and retailers of the Central India Agency, besides the administration of the British-controlled provinces, as it would bring down their revenue.

Regulatory concerns between the Central India Agency and the Central Provinces

The fact that Bengal ganja was excessively taxed in comparison to the ganja from Central India meant that there was a huge price difference between the two. The lower price and taxes on ganja from Central India meant that the region did not have to worry about smuggling into its territory, but its neighbours - especially the British-controlled Central Provinces and North-Western Provinces, and possibly Bengal itself - would have worried greatly about ganja from Central India entering their territories and eating into the revenues of Bengali baluchar ganja and the Central Provinces pathar ganja. Regarding the problem of smuggling, the Indore Memorandum states that 'The temptation to smuggle is greatly checked by the smallness of the duty and by the comparatively heavy liability to punishment. An enormously excessive tax like that of Rs. 335 per maund levied in Bengal (see page 324, volume V of Dr. Watt's Dictionary) would, in the very nature of things, invite smuggling, whereas the small rates levied by Indore cannot be expected to operate in that direction. There is still a reason to believe that these drugs are smuggled into the State from Ujjain; and from Sanowad they are possibly smuggled into the adjoining British territory or other Native States. Excepting at these two points, smuggling is seldom heard of.' 

The neighbouring Central Provinces - which aimed to dominate ganja exports in middle India through its Khandwa depot - found the cheap ganja from Central India particularly troublesome. Nimar, in particular, was affected by the untaxed ganja from Indore. Mr. Drake-Brockman, Officiating Commissioner of Excise, Central Provinces, states that 'Next to Khandesh comes Indore, in the Sanawad Pargana of which ganja is largely grown. That pargana divides the Kanapur-Beria tract from the rest of the Nimar district, and there is thus a considerable area into which introduction of the untaxed drug is practically inevitable.' He says 'Nimar and Betul continue to be the districts where the consumption of taxed ganja is most noticeably short: in the former district cultivators can no longer secrete much of their crop, but ganja is still largely grown in Indore, while in Betul much Berar ganja is undoubtedly consumed.' It faced situations where its surplus stock could not be sold locally because of cheaper ganja smuggled in from the Central India Agency. Mr. Drake-Brockman, states that 'The arrangements for raising the revenue in 1879-80 were peculiar, owing to the position in which Government found itself as holder of almost the whole provincial stock of ganja. In five districts the circles of vend were not sold at all, but farms were given to men of capital and position, who engaged to find retail vendors and to keep them supplied with ganja taken as it came in the uncleaned state from the Government stores, paying only duty at certain fixed rates on removal from the Stores'. All these measures led to an increase in ganja smuggled in from Sanawad pargana of Indore which was not under the Central Provinces. Mr. Drake-Brockman, states that 'In Nimar only 6 maunds 24 seers of ganja were sold under the sanctioned arrangements, but there can be no doubt that this amount was quite insufficient for the wants of the district, and smuggling from the Sanawad pargana of Indore is known to have gone on to a great extent.' The railway line that connected Sanawad with Nimar was a key channel of movement of ganja from Indore and Gwaior to the Central Provinces and beyond. The threat posed by ganja through this resulted in increased surveillance of ganja movement from Central India through the Central Provinces by rail. Mr. Drake-Brockman, states that 'Ganja was cultivated in particular in the Indore territory south of the Nerbudda, 7 villages in which the plant was raised forming a group round Sanawad on the railway line between Khandwa and Indore and constituting what was almost an island of foreign territory within the Nimar district. The amount of ganja raised annually was about 1,500 maunds, and this could be bought on the spot at from Rs. 2-4 to Rs. 2-8 a maund, no pass or permit being required. The badness of the roads and the insecurity of life and property throughout Central India rendered it practically impossible for traders in this ganja to reach a market otherwise than by rail and therefore by passing through British territory. It was obviously essential to keep a watch on consignments so sent, and rules 7 and 8 of the Notification of November 1878 were meant to be read, with Forms VII and X, as requiring imports from outside the Central Provinces to be taken to a Government store-house under one license (Form VII) and then exported under another (Form X). But Form VII merely required that imported ganja should be delivered at the Central Store, "to be there disposed of according to the orders in force for the produce of cultivators resident beyond the Central Provinces." It was therefore found necessary to provide specifically for the examination of consignments booked to railway stations within the Central Provinces, and the revised Form VII contained the necessary conditions. At the same time Form X, which in its original shape was practically useless, was altered so as to render all ganja, whether purchased within the Central Provinces or in course of transit through them for sale in other parts, liable to examination by any Provincial Excise officer at any time.' In order to reduce the inflow of untaxed ganja from Indore, the British administration of the Central Provinces asked the Durbar of Indore fix a duty on ganja exported from Indore into Nimar, and that this be permitted only under a formal pass. It appears that the Durbar of Indore agreed to this. Mr. Drake-Brockman, states that 'In 1879 the Commissioner of Excise, with the approval of the Chief Commissioner, suggested to the Agent to the Governor-General in Central India that exports from Holkar territory should be taxed and only permitted under formal pass; a duty of Rs. 7 per maund was accordingly fixed by the Darbar.' On the same subject, the Hemp Commission states that 'Accordingly in 1879 a suggestion was made to the Agent to the Governor-General that exports from Indore territory should be taxed and only permitted under formal pass, and a duty of Rs. 7 per maund was fixed by the Darbar. This seems to have checked smuggling, for the evidence from the Central Provinces is against its prevalence, though some still exists. Mr. Gunion's estimate of the amount of ganja and bhang annually produced is 900 maunds. The right to sell by retail is auctioned. There were 45 licenses in 1892-93. The income from this source appears to be on the increase, and this is the case also as regards the fixed duties since 1886-87. In  the latter year they amounted to Rs. 461. In 1892-93 they were Rs. 3,111. It is evident that the Indore State possesses considerable facilities for the production of ganja and for its distribution in British territory, and in the interests of the system of administration proposed for British provinces it is extremely desirable that the production of the drug in this State should be brought under control.' The years 1879 to 1888 mark the period in which the ganja output of Indore State became half of what it was prior to that. The pressure from the administration of the British-controlled Central Provinces in 1879 appears to have been a strong reason for the abrupt decline in cultivation in Indore in the subsequent decade.

Regulatory concerns between the Central India Agency and the North-Western Provinces

While the Central Provinces found cheap ganja from Indore flowing into its main cannabis-cultivating region, Nimar - where the Khandwa depot was located -, the North-Western Province found cheap ganja from mainly Gwalior and Bundelkund in the Central India Agency flooding the market and competing strongly with the pathar ganja from the Khandwa depot of Central Provinces, as well as with the expensive baluchar ganja of Bengal. Just like ganja from Indore flowed into the Central Provinces through the Indian Midland Railway, ganja from Gwalior flowed through the Indian Midland Railway into the North-Western Provinces. Just like the British administration of the Central Provinces pressurized the Indore Residency into increasing its duty on ganja imported into the Central Provinces, the British administration of the North-Western Provinces pressurized the Gwalior Residency to increase duty on ganja exported from Gwalior to the North-Western Provinces. Gwalior Residency responded by doubling the duty on ganja exported to the North-Western Provinces, thus doubling its own revenue from exports to the North-Western Provinces. This does not appear to have affected the export of Gwalior ganja to the North-Western Provinces. The convenience provided by the Indian Midland Railway appears to have offset the cost of paying double export duty. Mr. T Stoker, Commissioner of Excise, in his Memorandum on Hemp Drugs in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, says that 'My enquiries here show that our contractors pay duty to the farmer at the rate of Re. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2 per 100 bundles. The fact seems to be that the farmer, paying a lump sum to the State, collects the duty in the way he finds most convenient to all concerned, and is not very particular provided he gets a fair offer. The incidence of the duty on weight of the drug is very much a matter of conjecture or estimate. I have no doubt myself that the actual incidence on the cleaned stuff comes in the end to less than Rs. 5 per maund. Some of the contractors I have spoken to have been under the belief they paid less dues in Gwalior than Khandwa. The Gwalior ganja as a rule is despatched by rail from Antri on the Indian Midland Railway, The State is bound by treaty not to permit the export of intoxicating drugs, &c., by any route or direction formerly barred by the Inland Customs line. This restriction had been disregarded, but the attention of the Darbar was called to it in 1887, and they took measures to enforce it. The principal measure, curiously enough, was to double the duty on ganja exported to British territory. The convenience now afforded by the Indian Midland Railway, added to the above restriction, now confines the conveyance to the railway, but I have no doubt that if the inducement existed, it would be quite easy to smuggle in the drug at many points of our land frontier.'

Besides Gwalior ganja supplying markets in the North-Western Provinces through the Indian Midland Railway, the Bundelkund Agency presented problems for British-controlled ganja, because a large part of Bundelkund was right in the middle of the British-controlled North-Western Provinces, with hostile terrain that was impossible to police or administer. The Hemp Commission desired that regulation be increased in the Bundelkund Agency, in order to protect the cannabis interests of the North-Western Provinces. The Hemp Commission states, regarding the Bundelkund Agency, that 'Bundelkund Agency - But Mr. Stoker mentions the Agency as one of the main sources for supply of ganja to the North-Western Provinces... The capital and a great part of the Chirkari State is situated in the middle of the Hamirpur district in the North-Western Provinces. The country is wild and mountainous, and prevention of smuggling is impossible. From the Panna State there is considerable smuggling into the Damoh district of the Central Provinces. It is very desirable in the interests of the excise administration of the North-Western Provinces that the cultivation and production of the drug should be controlled in this Agency.'

The Hemp Commission, in its assessment of the defects of the excise system in the North-Western Provinces, states that 'The weak point in the North-Western Provinces system of supply is that the ganja which comes from the different provinces and States abovementioned is taxed before it reaches the frontier at widely different rates, and there is no equalization of this taxation after it has reached the province. Bengal ganja pays from Rs. 6 to Rs. 9 per sér, the Khandwa ganja pays no duty but small fees which may amount to Rs. 2 per maund, Gwalior ganja less than Rs. 5 per maund, and Bundelkhand ganja possibly as much as Rs. 2 per maund. And these different kinds of ganja are freely available under existing regulations to the licensed vendor, who has it in his power to play them off on the consumer in such a way as will best repay him without damaging his credit. In addition to this, the cultivation and manufacture of ganja locally is under no legal control. It is unnecessary to say more on this subject, as the Excise authorities have recorded their opinion that the present system needs reform, and proposals have been made which will be considered further on.'

Rise of alcohol and opium

We saw in various memoranda, from all over India, that alcohol was a growing menace, increasing as cannabis regulations increased, making ganja dearer to the common man. The upper-classes and upper-castes were almost always the first to move towards western alcohol, mimicking the British colonists. The lower sections of society were driven to alcohol - usually the cheap, often adulterated versions of western alcohol, because besides ganja, natural alcohol like toddy and arrack were also facing increasing regulation. The story was the same in Central India. In the memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission on Central India, by R. H. Gunion, he says 'In Indore and Dewas there is reported to be a slight decrease in the area under hemp cultivation. In Indore the decrease is said to be due to an increased consumption of liquor and in Dewas to the increased cultivation of hemp in Nimar.' Mr. Gunion says 'Taking Central India as a whole, the use of hemp drugs appears to be either stationary or on the decrease. In Rutlam the decrease is said to be due to the fact that the use of the drugs is disreputable; in Rewah to the fact that the drugs, being imported, are dear; and in Indore the Minister thinks that the clear decrease is due to the increased use of cheap adulterated liquor.'  Mr. Gunion says 'The majority are of opinion that ganja-smoking is not easily learned and that a man can break himself of it without difficulty. It is said to be easier to give up either ganja or bhang than it is to give up opium or liquor'. Regarding the question of complete prohibition of cannabis and its repurcussions, Mr. Gunion says 'the Political Agent in Bhopawar writes:— "Prohibition would probably be as ineffective as were the numerous attempts formerly made in all countries to prohibit the use of tobacco. The drug would certainly be consumed whether permitted or not. Interference would undoubtedly cause discontent, but any political danger would mainly arise from the opportunity afforded to the authorities for harassing the people. It is also possible that the Bhil tribes might show their resentment by open resistance. Witnesses are unanimously of opinion that prohibition would be an act of arbitrary injustice, and this would probably be the general popular feeling. The prohibition of ganja might lead to increased consumption of alcohol. The bhang-consuming classes generally disapprove of the use of alcohol, and would not be likely to take to it." ' 

As it was stated in the memoranda of the Central Provinces and Rajputana, this entire region was suitable for opium cultivation. We see reports of cannabis being interplanted with opium poppy in a number of places. The cultivators of the Central India Agency, like the Central Provinces, North-Western Provinces and Rajputana, were being slowly pushed away from cannabis cultivation to opium cultivation. Even though, at the time of the Hemp Commission's study in 1893-94, the Khandwa Depot in the Central Provinces, Gwalior, Indore and the Bundelkund Agency together supplied much of the cannabis requirements of north and central India through the regulatory mechanisms set up by the British colonists, over a period of time, cannabis cultivation and supply were being systematically cut down, as the opium cultivation and supply ramped up in these regions. Cultivation of opium was greatly encouraged and incentivised. Wholesalers or contractors with the right to purchase and vend opium and cannabis had complete control over the legal supply of these drugs. The contractor was a powerful and influential person, there being often not more than one contractor for an entire province. The contractor worked closely with the British administration and law enforcement to ensure that opium production and supply flourished in this region. The effects of these actions were clear to see then, as it is today in the 21st century. A number of knowledgeable persons in the 19th century predicted that cannabis prohibition would drive the upper-classes and upper-castes to opium and the lower-classes and lower-castes to alcohol. Mr. Gunion says 'The matter of bhang is not so serious, its users belonging, as a rule, to a better class; but in this connexion it has been pointed out by more than one witness that both opium and drink are dearer than bhang; that Kshattriyas are the only twice-born Hindus to whom strong drink is not prohibited; and so that Brahmans, for instance, if they wanted an intoxicant, would take to opium; while Sudra users of hemp drugs, to whom strong drink is not forbidden, would not be able to afford it.'

The situation today

All the states that constituted the Central India Agency became a part of the modern Indian state of Madhya Pradesh eventually. Wikipedia says 'Upon the British withdrawal from India in 1947, the rulers of the princely states in this area all chose to accede to the new Union of India. The eastern portion of Central India Agency, including Bagelkhand and Bundelkhand agencies, became the new state Vindhya Pradesh. The western portion, including Bhopal, Malwa, and Bhopawar agencies and the Gwalior and Indore residencies, became the new state of Madhya Bharat. Bhopal became a separate state. Makrai was transferred to Madhya Pradesh, which had been created from the former Central Provinces and Berar in 1950. In 1956, the states of Vindhya Pradesh, Madhya Bharat, and Bhopal were merged into Madhya Pradesh. Later another state, Chhattisgarh, was formed from the area that was formerly Madhya Pradesh.'

The model of opium cultivation and production being practiced in these regions is much the same today as when the British set it up in the 19th century. With the so-called independence of India, management of these opium centers only shifted hands from the British colonists to their faithful Indian slaves - the Indian upper-castes and upper-classes. 

As a results of the actions carried out by the British colonists and their accomplices - the Indian upper-castes and upper-classes - today, Rajasthan (formerly the Rajputana Agency), Madhya Pradesh (formerly the Central Provinces and the Central India Agency) and Uttar Pradesh (formerly the North-Western Provinces) are together India's main opium-producing states. Wikipedia says 'The NDPS act empowers the Central Government to permit and regulate cultivation of opium poppy for medical and scientific purposes. The Government of India notifies the tracts where opium cultivation can be licensed as well as the General Conditions for issuance of license every year. These notifications are commonly referred to as Opium Policies. Opium cultivation is permitted in the notified tracts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.' It says 'The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) under the Narcotics Commissioner issues licenses to the farmers to cultivate opium poppy. Some places where opium is grown are Pratapgarh in Rajasthan; Mandsaur, Ratlam, Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh; and Barabanki, Bareilly, Lucknow & Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh.' Together, these three states have made India the world's largest legal producer of opium, supplying it to global pharmaceutical companies and catering to the opium addiction of the western nations, especially their erstwhile colonial masters, Britain, and their progeny, the USA. Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh is the second largest producer of opium after Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. Wikipedia says ''All the opium procured is sent to Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories situated at Neemuch and Ghazipur. Opium is dried and processed at these factories for export and is also used for extraction of various alkaloid products like Codeine phosphate, Thebaine, Morphine sulphate, Noscapine that are sold for pharmaceutical operations.' Neemuch appears to have been a British military station before it got converted to India's second largest opium production facility, housing the world's biggest opium receptacle that has featured in novels and films. Regarding the Neemuch facility in Madhya Pradesh, Wikipedia says 'The Neemuch factory was founded in 1933. In 1976, it began extracting alkaloids in addition to processing opium. The Nimach factory, also known as Neemuch factory, is an acronym for Northern India Mounted Artillery and Cavalry Headquarters. The opium factory is known to have the largest opium receptacle in the world, resembling a large backyard swimming pool. It holds 450 tons of opium''. Quite appropriate that the colonial masters left their slaves with the facilities and the means to continue producing their opium for them, which the slaves continue to do faithfully today, completely disregarding Siva's ganja.

The illegal trade of opium from these opium-producing regions in India has made India, allegedly, the world's third largest trafficker of illegal opium after Burma (now Myanmar) and Afghanistan, according to Wikipedia. While the legal trade supplies opium to the world's upper-castes and upper-classes through synthetic pharmaceutical companies, the illegal trade wrecks whole societies of the lower-castes and classes through the black market, especially in the local regions where this opium cultivation is carried out. The Madhya Pradesh webpage on Narcotics says 'India is the largest producer and exporter of Opium in the world. The opium Poppy is being cultivated in 22 Districts of the states of M.P., U.P., and Rajasthan under the licenses granted by the Central Govt. In M.P. licenses for the cultivation of Opium are given in all the 5 Districts of Ujjain range namely; Ujjain, Mandsour, Ratlam, Neemuch, Shajapur, Rajgarh distt. of Bhopal range and Jhabua district of Indore range. The licensed farmers are required to surrender the entire produce to the Govt. However, given the price difference between what the Govt. pays and the price Opium fetches in the illicit market, a portion of legally produced opium is diverted to illicit channels. Substantial portion of this diverted opium is converted into Smack/Heroin in the makeshift laboratories in and around the opium growing areas.'

The conditions under which opium is cultivated in India is one where a licensed cultivator must produce a minimum yield in order to retain his license for the next season. This is because the global legal and illegal demand for opium is so great that the Indian government needs to keep producing and supplying increasing amounts of opium to the world in order to meet its addictions. Wikipedia says 'Each year the Central Government notifies the selected tracts where such cultivation will be permitted, and the general conditions for eligibility of the licence. The essential condition for issue of licence is, fulfillment of minimum qualifying yield (MQY) criterion, specified in number of kilograms per hectare. Cultivators who have tendered at least this quantity in the previous year are eligible for licence. The licence among other conditions, specifies the maximum area in which the opium crop can be sown. If farmer realizes that the yield will be less than MQY then they have only an option of destroying the entire crop with government permission. If a farmer produces less than MQY then they may face legal action and will lose their license.'

On the one hand, there is the pressure from the administration of losing one's opium cultivation license if the minimum yield is not produced. On the other hand, the administration is actively seeking to increase the number of cultivators and the opium yield by offering incentives and rewards to cultivators whose opium yield exceeds expectations. The number of farmers opting in for opium cultivation has only increased substantially in 2025, by about 23.5 percent. In September, 20205, Economic Times reported that 'The government on Friday announced the annual licensing policy for the 2025-26 crop year for opium poppy cultivation in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Nearly 1.21 lakh farmers are eligible to receive licenses -- a 23.5 per cent rise in farmer licenses -- with the inclusion of 15,000 additional farmers over and above the previous crop year in these three states.... The government proposes to incentivise high-performing farmers, who have achieved yields of 900 kg/hectare and above of unlanced poppy straw, by offering them the option to switch to the traditional method of opium gum cultivation. "This transition is intended to promote higher yields of opium from their holdings, while also serving as a positive reinforcement mechanism to reduce the risk of diversion from the field," the statement said.' - https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/govt-announces-annual-licensing-policy-for-opium-poppy-cultivation-for-2025-26-crop-year/articleshow/123850290.cms

The cultivators of Madhya Pradesh are effectively being held hostage by the Union Government of India in order to maintain its position as the world's number one supplier of legal opium. The repurcusions of this emphasis on opium will surely have had a tremendous adverse impact on the societies of this region. Surely, opium addiction is a serious menace in Madhya Pradesh, as much as it is in Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. When one cultivates opium on such large scales, the poisoning of one's immediate surroundings is inevitable. It is possibly the adverse impact of opium that has led Madhya Pradesh, like Rajasthan, to legalize cannabis as the beverage, bhang, in government-owned retail outlets. Deep within the psyche of the people of Madhya Pradesh, and its leaders, there is the knowledge that only cannabis can counter the harms of opium, and also alcohol. 

Besides the legalization of cannabis for bhang, Madhya Pradesh has also legalized cannabis cultivation for industrial and medical purposes. About five years back, India Times reported that 'Even as the Central Government is yet to decide on legalizing the cultivation of cannabis, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allow the farming of hemp in the state.  Madhya Pradesh Law Minister PC Sharma, however, made it clear that the cultivation will be only for medical and industrial purposes.' - https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/madhya-pradesh-set-to-legalize-cultivation-of-cannabis-for-medical-purposes-500887.html. See also - https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/madhya-pradesh-govt-to-legalise-cannabis-cultivation-778282.html

The government crackdown on cannabis however continues unabated, if it is not for government-approved purposes. For the government of Madhya Pradesh and the Union Government of India, it is crucial that farmers keep producing opium. Legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes would severely disrupt the government's opium plans. For one thing, farmers would switch to cannabis cultivation when they see the market demand for it and the profit to be made. When the farmer realizes that he can use the entire cannabis plant for multiple purposes - intoxication, medicine, paper, clothing, construction, biofuels, animal feed, wellness, cosmetics, tourism, etc., - the attraction of opium cultivation will diminish. That would be a serious concern for the legal and illegal trade of opium from India, especially to the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, the medical industry and the richest people in the world. The use of cannabis by the people would sharply reduce the demand for opium, western alcohol and tobacco. None of these outcomes are desirable to the current leaders of Madhya Pradesh and India. 

Cannabis is one of the crops best suited for agriculture in a water-stressed state like Madhya Pradesh. The traditional cannabis-growing regions of Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, Bundelkund, Nimar, etc., can be revived to make Madhya Pradesh one of the cannabis-growing powerhouses of India. Cannabis exports can contribute greatly to the economy. One of the vibrant aspects of India's cannabis landscape is the number of start-ups that are entering the field for cannabis as medicine, wellness, fabrics, construction, etc. Most of these startups are headed by a younger generation that has been able to look beyond the anti-cannabis myths and understand the latest scientific findings and business opportunities in the cannabis world. The rise of the cannabis-based start-ups is largely due to the partial legalization by states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Kashmir that enables the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes, thus providing the valuable crop for use by these startups.

The cooling properties of cannabis in summer can provide vast relief to the people, especially the labouring and working classes, indigenous communities, spiritual mendicants and the poorest sections of society, even as Madhya Pradesh sees increasing warming through climate change. Cannabis as an industrial crop has vast applications, including construction, fabrics, paper, biofuels, footwear, etc. The additional income secured from cannabis can boost the livelihoods of vast numbers of people in both agriculture and industry. The medical benefits of cannabis can replace entire synthetic pharmaceutical industries and opioid industries. The medical benefits of cannabis for animals has been described in the medical uses of cannabis in 19th century India. Cannabis as intoxicant can keep alcohol, opium and dangerous synthetic drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and novel psychotropic substances at bay. It can reduce the use of tobacco. The ignorant attitude that cannabis drunk as a beverage called bhang is good, whereas cannabis smoked as ganja is evil, lies at the root of Madhya Pradesh's cannabis policies, an upper-caste attitude that has at its source the falsehood that only the lower-castes smoke cannabis as ganja, whereas the superior upper-castes drink it as bhang. The herb, cannabis, that can generate much more revenue for India than opium, besides serving as medicine for the people, including weaning them out of the opium menace that grows with each passing day, continues to be ignored by the politicians who care two hoots for public health and national welfare.  The upper-castes of the state of Madhya Pradesh dominate the narrative and oppress the majority of the people of the state through their love of opium. But then, it is not only at the state level that control over opium production is exerted. It is more at the national level. India's national leaders choose to peddle opium to the world, even as the people in the opium-growing societies die of addiction, instead of cultivating cannabis, Siva's herb. The global pressure on India's national leaders by the pharmaceutical industry and countries like the US, UK, and Russia to continue, and even increase, its legal output of opium, and even pressure from the black market to divert more produce into it is counterbalanced by the enormous wealth that the legal and illegal trade entails. And our leaders - both at the national level and at the state level of Madhya Pradesh - have chosen opium over cannabis...

A shift to cannabis with reduced emphasis on opium can boost the economy of Madhya Pradesh tremendously. This will be sustainable living, and it will heal the harms of the opium addiction that the state has seen for more than 150 years now, from the time that the leaders shunned cannabis and picked up opium...

The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's findings

THE EXISTENCE, PREVALENCE, AND CHARACTER OF THE SPONTANEOUS GROWTH

Central India.

78. Mr. Gunion has collated the information furnished in the official memoranda from the States of the Central India Agency, and these have not been forwarded, with the exception of a memorandum of the Minister to His Highness the Maharaja Holkar. Mr. Gunion reports that "there appears to be no spontaneous growth of the hemp plant in Central India." The Minister says that "here and there a plant may be seen by road or river side or near the huts of fakirs, etc., due to the dropping of the hemp seed by consumers." There is no reason, except perhaps the somewhat greater prevalence of cultivation, why the accidental growth should be more common in the States of the Central India Agency than in those of Rajputana. It may safely be assumed that there is no material difference between the two Agencies in this respect.

EXTENT OF CULTIVATION, AND ITS TENDENCY TO INCREASE OR DECREASE.

Central India.

142. The information from the Central India Agency is scanty. The return from the Indore State shows that from 1873-74 to 1878-79 the area of cultivation exceeded 300 bighas. It then fell suddenly to below 100 bighas, and never reached that figure again until 1888-89. The average of that and the following four years is 180 bighas( 5/8a cre). The cultivation has during this period been about stationary. It is confined to the few mahals in the Nemad district bordering on the Narbada, and to a small tract north of Indore. The State puts no restriction on the cultivation whatever.

METHODS OF CULTIVATION AND MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.

Central India.

215. Mr. Gunion's memorandum contains a description of the methods of cultivation for ganja and seed in the Indore and Dewas States. The same field is cultivated for bhang and seeds in Indore, but in the Dewas State the male plant is removed from the bhang field. They do not materially differ from that of the Nimar district in the Central Provinces, and it may be doubted if the elimination of males in the Dewas bhang cultivation is a correct description of the selection which is made. It may be noted, however, that the Indore cultivator, unlike the Khandwa cultivator, does not trust himself to buy the seed or exterminate the male plant. Experts are employed for these purposes. In Mr. Gunion's account mention is made of "inferior and unhealthy plants" to be exterminated apart from the removal of males, and it would appear from this that the cultivator, or it may be the Indore reporter, had not such clear ideas of the various sexual forms of the plant as the Nimar cultivator was found to possess. In the Indore cultivation gaps caused by faulty sowings or failure of seed to germinate are filled up with new seed. The soil on which the plant is grown in Dewas is described as "dry, stony, elevated loam." In these States the cultivation is not carried on by any particular class, but it would appear that in Rewah the Kachis alone undertake the industry. The Political Agent of Bhopawar gives the following description of the desultory kind of cultivation employed in that part of Central India: "Hemp seed is sown in poppy or maize fields. When the plant is above two-and-a-half feet high, the main stem is split near the root and a piece of tile thrust in. This prevents the plant from setting seed freely and makes the tops fit for ganja. When particularly strong ganja is required, each hemp plant is watered once with half a tola of opium dissolved in water. The cultivators believe that by transplanting the young plant into the mouth of a dead venomous snake (cobra preferred) the ganja becomes unusually strong." The Commission have heard of the extirpation of male plants in the cultivation of the Gwalior State, and the same information is furnished by Mr. Gopal Ram in the appendix to the North-Western Provinces memorandum. The latter authority also mentions that the crop is irrigated, and that "some cultivators sow wheat in the ganja fields in the months of October and November." The cultivation covers the season from July to December.

PREPARATION OF THE RAW DRUGS FROM THE CULTIVATED AND WILD PLANT

Central India

269. Mr. Gunion's memorandum furnishes an account of the manufacture of ganja in Indore and Dewas. The processes com¬ prise the same three principal features as elsewhere, viz., drying, kneading with the feet, and removal of leaf. They occupy three or four days. In Indore the manufactured produce is kept under pressure till sold. From the description of the preparation of bhang in these States, it would seem that it is made from a crop grown for seed or bhang and not from the ganja crop. The plants are bodily dried and threshed, and the seeds are separated from "the crushed leaves and tender twigs, which are called bhang." It seems that "no charas is prepared in Central India except a little in the Bhopawar Agency for the personal use of the cultivators, or for presents from them to religious mendicants." The method of preparation is thus described by the Political Agent of Bhopawar: "Charas is prepared by rubbing ganja (sometimes mixed with bhang) violently for several hours on rough woollen blankets, which afterwards are scraped with a knife. The substance thus scraped off is first class charas. An inferior kind is then obtained by washing the blanket with the least possible amount of water, and then evaporating the liquid." The report of Gopal Ram at the close of the North-Western Provinces memorandum contains no information of special interest regarding the preparation of the drugs in Gwalior except that relating to charas as a bye-product of ganja cultivation. "A certain amount of charas is obtained in this (Gwalior) State by scraping off the resin which adheres to the hands in cutting the ganja plant. In tahsil Antri cultivators do not care much about the charas. In tahsil Kolarus, district Narwar, I hear charas is obtained in small quantities by the same process as in Kumaon and Garhwal."

TRADE AND MOVEMENT OF THE HEMP DRUGS

Central India.

331. The information about production and trade in the Central India Agency is far from complete.

Indore. — The cultivation of the Indore State is on the average about 115 acres, which would hardly yield 1,000 maunds of ganja. Mr. Gunion puts the figure for ganja and bhang together at 900 maunds. There is an average import of 153 maunds of ganja and 7 maunds of bhang, and an export of 377 maunds of ganja. The volume of transport within the State is 452 maunds of ganja and 399 maunds of bhang. 

Dewas. — The yearly output in Dewas is reported to be 156 maunds of ganja and 64 maunds of bhang derived from 30 acres of cultivation. 

Gwalior. —The memorandum on cultivation in the Gwalior State gives a total area of 400 acres. This might yield as much as 3,500 maunds of ganja and bhang together. These drugs are largely exported to the North-Western Provinces and the States of Rajputana and Central India. 

Other States. — There is no information as to the production in other States of the Agency, or the volume of their trade in the hemp drugs. 

Indore, Gwalior, and the Central Provinces appear to be the main sources of ganja supply for the whole of Central India and Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces. The evidence and general information tend to show that Indore and Khandwa are being supplanted by Gwalior, though Khandwa still exports largely. As in Rajputana, so in Malwa, charas is for the most part imported from the Punjab by Kabuli traders. Rewah is said to get its supply from Patna. The Indore statistics show no import of this drug. A small amount is said to be made in Gwalior as a bye-product of the ganja harvest, but it must be quite inconsiderable.

EXTENT OF USE AND THE MANNER AND FORMS IN WHICH THE HEMP DRUGS ARE CONSUMED

Hyderabad, Mysore, Rajputana, Central India, and Baroda

407. It is hardly worth while to examine in detail the statistics and evidence relating to the extent to which the hemp drugs are used in the great Native States and Agencies. These territories are surrounded and intermingled with British territories, regarding which the question has been fully discussed, with the result that the statistics were found in most cases to be far from an accurate index of consumption, and the evidence did not justify very precise conclusions. More definite results, or equally definite, will certainly be obtained from the information supplied by Native States. The extent of use in each part of these territories may be taken to resemble that in the neighbouring British provinces.  The use of ganja will be found to prevail over the States of the Central India Agency as it does in the North Western Provinces, Bengal, and the Central Provinces. The use of bhang will be more common than that of the other drugs in Marwar and the north-western parts of Rajputana, and it will extend southwards towards the Bombay Presidency, and eastwards towards the States of Central India, gradually meeting with more competition from ganja. A moderate use of charas will be found all over the States which are within easy reach of the Punjab and the North-Western Provinces.  The extent of use of ganja in Hyderabad will be fairly well indicated by the estimates of Berar, the Bombay Presidency, and Madras as regards the parts of the State contiguous to those provinces, and a similar process of examination will give the consumption of Mysore. In these two States bhang as a separate form of the raw drug has practically disappeared, but charas finds a few consumers in Hyderabad. Baroda consumption is the same as that of the northern part of Bombay Presidency. 

SYSTEMS OF THE NATIVE STATES

Central India Agency.

703. The information regarding the excise administration of the Native States in Central India in respect of hemp drugs is very incomplete. From Gwalior, where there is a considerable amount of ganja produced, no information has been received except that which has been furnished through the North-Western Provinces. Through the courtesy of the Agent to the Governor-General, a useful memorandum has been recorded by Mr. R. H. Gunion, of Indore, which puts in a compendious form all the information obtained from the other States in the Agency. The Minister to His Highness the Maharaja of Holkar has also given a full account of the administration of that State.

There is cultivation of the hemp plant for the production of ganja in Indore, Baghelkhand, Dewas, Bhopawar, and Gwalior, and possibly also in Bhopal and Western Malwa. There appears to be no restriction of cultivation in the Central India Agency, and Mr. Gunion thinks that there is no system of licensing sale of the drugs except in Indore and Rewa, though the Commission have ascertained from other sources that sale is licensed in Gwalior and Bhopal. Mr. Gunion's opinion that there are no restrictions on manufacture or on import and export of the drug, but that duties are levied on it as on other merchandise, appears to be correct.

Indore.

704. In Indore the average cultivation, which is said to be on the decrease, is reported by the State officials above mentioned to be about 181 bighas. or 113 acres, and the average imports and exports of ganja 153 maunds and 377 maunds respectively; but in 1892-93 the imports amounted to 84 maunds and the exports to 1,318 maunds. It is therefore clear that the exports exceed the imports. Mr. Stoker says that a little ganja is imported into the North-Western Provinces from Indore. Mr. Drake-Brockman says that ganja is largely grown in the Sanawad pargana of Indore, which separates the Kanapur Beria tract from the rest of the Nimar district in the Central Provinces, and there is thus a considerable area into which the introduction of Indore ganja is practically inevitable. Accordingly in 1879 a suggestion was made to the Agent to the Governor-General that exports from Indore territory should be taxed and only permitted under formal pass, and a duty of Rs. 7 per maund was fixed by the Darbar. This seems to have checked smuggling, for the evidence from the Central Provinces is against its prevalence, though some still exists. Mr. Gunion's estimate of the amount of ganja and bhang annually produced is 900 maunds. The right to sell by retail is auctioned. There were 45 licenses in 1892-93. The income from this source appears to be on the increase, and this is the case also as regards the fixed duties since 1886-87. In  the latter year they amounted to Rs. 461. In 1892-93 they were Rs. 3,111. It is evident that the Indore State possesses considerable facilities for the production of ganja and for its distribution in British territory, and in the interests of the system of administration proposed for British provinces it is extremely desirable that the production of the drug in this State should be brought under control.

Gwalior.

705. All that is known about the administration of the hemp drugs in Gwalior is that the cultivation is reported to be about 400 acres; that a duty of Rs. 5 per maund is levied on all ganja exported to British provinces, and Rs. 2-8-0 per maund on ganja transported from one place to another in the State; and that the cultivator may only sell to a licensed vendor. The Commission also have information that the cultivator pays Rs. 12 per acre over and above his fixed rent; but whether this payment is made to the State is not clear. There is a fixed rate for retail sale, 4 annas per sér. Mr. Stoker is of opinion that the Gwalior ganja is gaining ground in the North-Western Provinces, and is being substituted for the Khandwa ganja, while both together are ousting the supply of Bengal ganja. The cultivation is said to be confined to three tahsils of the State—Antri, Sipri, and Kalaras; so the control of cultivation would probably be a simple matter; and if such control can be brought about, it would greatly facilitate the North-Western Provinces administration. Some charas is produced, but apparently in very small quantities; bhang of a superior quality is produced at Ujjain and Sipri. The State is bound by special arrangement to prevent export into British territory. (Gwalior Salt Agreement, Aitchison, No. XXI, Article 6.)

Bhopal.

706. All that has been ascertained in regard to Bhopal is that there is a licensed contractor for each pargana who sells by retail in his own shop, and authorises others to do so as his agents. Mr. Drake-Brockman says that local transit dues are levied, but they are not sufficiently high to check transport into the neighbouring districts of the Central Provinces. Mr. Gunion says that about 100,000 persons are said to use one or other of the hemp drugs. The Commission have no information regarding cultivation in this State. It adjoins the Central Provinces, and control of the hemp drugs is very desirable from this point of view.

Baghelkhand Agency.

707. The principal State in the Baghelkhand Agency is Rewa. There is some cultivation for ganja, but no particulars have been ascertained. There are contractors for sale of the drugs who are said to pay a fixed duty and license fees to the State. The greater part of the population are Vaishnavas, and the population in general are said to be opposed to the use of the drug. A little charas is said to be imported from Patna. The Agency lies between the North-Western Provinces, the Central Provinces, and Chota Nagpur, and any want of control in the matter of hemp drugs would probably have a serious effect on the excise administration of those provinces.

Bundelkhand Agency.

708. There is no information in the memorandum regarding the administration of the States of the Bundelkhand Agency. But Mr. Stoker mentions the Agency as one of the main sources for supply of ganja to the North-Western Provinces. In all the States, he adds, there is some duty on export, but it is variable and unequal. In one place it is 2 annas per rupee of the price, which would be about Re. 1 to Rs. 2 per maund. In another it is said to be Rs. 1-9-0 on each purchase irrespective of quality. But these rates require confirmation. Mr. Stoker is not sure that all the ganja which comes from these States is of local growth, and he suspects some of it comes from Gwalior or Khandwa originally. The plant is, however, said to be cultivated to some extent, and the produce not to be distinguishable from Gwalior ganja. Mr. Stoker notes that this source of supply is capable of extension. The capital and a great part of the Chirkari State is situated in the middle of the Hamirpur district in the North-Western Provinces. The country is wild and mountainous, and prevention of smuggling is impossible. From the Panna State there is considerable smuggling into the Damoh district of the Central Provinces. It is very desirable in the interests of the excise administration of the North-Western Provinces that the cultivation and production of the drug should be controlled in this Agency.

Bhopawar Agency.

709. Mr. Gunion says that all over the Bhopawar Agency the hemp plant is cultivated for ganja and bhang, rarely for charas. The production is limited, and, except in the parts adjoining British Nimar, only for the personal use of the cultivators. No other information has been obtained. Mr. Robertson, Deputy Commissioner of Nimar, says that ganja smuggling from the Native States which border on Nimar, though it no doubt exists, has never been a prominent matter in Nimar. It is the general opinion, however, that a good deal of petty smuggling exists.

Western Malwa Agency.

710. Mr.Gunion mentions a kind of ganja called 'gorakhi,' which is said to be made from the wild plant in the Jaora State of the Western Malwa Agency. The Commission are in possession of a statement made by Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Caldecott, Agency Surgeon, that there is cultivation for the production of charas, bhang, and ganja all over Malwa, but he is unable to say to what extent. The States of this Agency (Jaora and Rutlam) do not adjoin British territory.

MEMORANDUM BY MR. R. H. GUNION ON HEMP DRUGS IN CENTRAL INDIA. 

1. The definitions given in Dr. Prain's report are generally accepted in this Agency. In some parts of the west Malwa and Guna agencies bhang is also called vijayn, buti, and sabzi. In Bhopawar the name of bhang is given not only to the dry, but to the green leaves of the hemp plant (which appear to be sometimes eaten as a vegetable), and also to the decoction made by boiling the flowering-tops of the hemp plant in fresh butter or sweet almond-oil. In Indore the male plant is called hari and the female bhamgera. 

2. There appears to be no spontaneous growth of the hemp plant in Central India. The plant is cultivated in the Indore State in the mahals that border on the Narbada for its fibre and for the production of ganja and bhang. None is cultivated for the production of charas. The fibre is got from a variety of the plant known locally as san. In the Indore State last year 193 bighas were under hemp cultivation. In Baghelkhand there is a limited cultivation of the plant for the production of ganja only. In the State of Dewas the hemp plant is cultivated for ganja (39 bighas) at one village and for bhang (9 bighas) at another. All over the Bhopawar Agency the plant is cultivated for bhang and ganja, rarely for charas; but the production is limited and, except in the parts adjoining British Nimar, only for the personal use of the cultivators. The plant is said to be extensively cultivated at Ujjain and Sipri, but unfortunately the Gwalior State has furnished no information. 

3. In Indore and Dewas there is reported to be a slight decrease in the area under hemp cultivation. In Indore the decrease is said to be due to an increased consumption of liquor and in Dewas to the increased cultivation of hemp in Nimar. 

4. As regards the method of cultivating the hemp plant, the Minister of Indore writes:— 

A.—Ganja cultivation. 

"The kind of soil most favourable is rakhad, which is usually white or light brown and near villages. Black soil is not considered specially fit for the growth of the hemp plant, but the plant thrives fairly well in black soil. 

"Cowdung manure, with ashes where procurable, is mostly used. The average quantity per bigha is roughly ten cart-loads or 150 maunds. 

"The ground is prepared in the usual manner by two or three ploughings and harrowing. The field is not divided into rectangles as for poppy cultivation. 

"Three to five seers of seed per bigha is then sown by means of an instrument called 'sarta' in rows about twenty inches apart. The instrument is drawn by a pair of bullocks. The sowing is done some time after the rains set in, that is, in the months of July and August. The seed used for sowing is procured through experts. Every cultivator is not able to distinguish the quality and kind required. The hemp plants germinate about the fourth day, and about the sixth day green rows appear on the surface. If there is a gap in any row, fresh seed is sown. After about a month the spaces between the rows are scratched, with the object of providing sufficient earth round the roots of the plant, by means of an iron blade drawn by bullocks. The furrows are next cleared of weeds and the superfluous growth of the hemp plant is removed, so as to leave a space from six to ten inches between one plant and another. The greater the room the healthier is the growth of the plant. If the field is too weedy, the operation of weeding and cleaning has to be done a second time, and the scratching operation is performed four or five times to preserve the ridges. All male plants are then removed and female ones are only kept. The female plants do not bear flowers in the popular sense of the word, but put forth tops called ghugarees (flowering tops), which appear two months after sowing. Any plant which does not bear healthy tops is removed, because, if allowed to remain, it is said to spoil the health of the neighbouring plants. The ganja field requires about three waterings after the cessation of the rains. Without these the crop is scanty and unhealthy. It is ready for collection in the month of November. The plants are not uprooted when ripe, but only the tops are cut off and gathered. When they begin to get sticky and look bright in the sunshine, it is a sure sign of the plant arriving at maturity.

"From the time of sowing to that of gathering weekly inspections are made of the field with the special object of removing inferior or unhealthy plants. It requires special knowledge to make this inspection and distinguish a superior from an inferior plant, and the work of inspection is entrusted to persons possessing practical experience of this matter, who are paid specially high remuneration—four annas a day and upwards. 

B.-Bhang cultivation. 

"When it is desired to obtain a crop of bhang from the hemp plant, a few male plants are retained at intervals to allow of impregnation and formation of seeds for the production of both ganja and bhang for the next year. 

"I understand that in this State cultivators do not specially grow hemp for the sole purpose of obtaining a crop of bhang, which is got as an article subsidiary to the seed, to obtain which alone the cultivator seeks. 

"The bhang ripens about the same time as ganja, but it requires no watering after the rains. 

"While on this subject of methods of cultivation, I may remark that I am aware that Mr. E. T. Atkinson, speaking of the ganja of the North-West Provinces, says in his Himalayan Districts, page 761, 'the pattar is imported chiefly from Holkar's territories and is of quality inferior to the Bengal ganja. It is purchased at from Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 a maund in Indore in the rough state, and pays a duty of about 4 annas per maund on exportation to British territories.' 

"I am also aware of Dr. Watt's saying at page 116, volume II of his Dictionary on the Economic Products of India, that charas is obtained in Central India by causing men clad in leather aprons to run through the hemp fields, and that it is made in cakes and sold. Both these things are a matter of history; for my enquiries satisfy me that neither patter, nor charas is now produced, in this State at least. 

"The average export of ganja annually does not exceed 377 maunds." 

The method followed in Bhopawar is thus described by the Political Agent:— 

"Hemp seed is sown in poppy or maize fields. When the plant is about 2 1/2 feet high the main stem is split near the root and a piece of tile thrust in. This prevents the plant from setting seed freely, and makes the tops fit for ganja. When particularly strong ganja is required each hemp plant is watered once with half a tola of opium dissolved in water. The cultivators believe that by transplanting the young plant into the mouth of a dead venomous snake (cobra preferred) the ganja becomes unusually strong. 

"The best (strongest) ganja is obtained from plants growing in the shade and sparingly watered." 

As regards Dewas, the Superintendent of the Senior Branch writes:— 

"The seed of bhang is used for the growth of ganja. Two seers of seed are required for one bigha. The land in which the seed is to be sown is ploughed twice and then the seed is sown. Before sowing the seed, it is soaked in water for one night. The instrument with which the seed is sown is called 'sarota.' The plant springs up in four days. Within a fortnight it grows about two or three inches. The operation of weeding and thinning the plants then begins. This is done thrice. At this stage the operation called 'parkhai' (examination of the plant) is also conducted. The object of this 'parkhai' is to root out the bhang plant from amongst the ganja plants. If only one bhang plant is allowed to remain in the field, it has the effect of turning the whole field into bhang plants. The operation is continued until the ganja plant grows big enough. When the plant attains its full size, its flowers are cut with a sickle. At the time of cutting the flowers the juice that sticks to the instrument or the hand is collected and is called charas. The labourers who cut the flowers usually take away this charas for themselves. 

"The seed of bhang is used for the growth of bhang. About two seers of seed are required for one bigah. The land in which the seed is to be sown is ploughed twice and then harrowed. Then a handful of bhang seed is taken and spread in the field. The land in which the seed is sown is harrowed once more. After four or five days the plant springs up. After a month the weeding and thinning of the plant commence. In the field of bhang, if a bhang plant named 'bhangria' grows it spoils the whole bhang field. The cultivators, therefore, root out this 'bhangria' plant from amongst the bhang plants. Within three or four months the bhang plant attains its full size. It is then cut with a sickle and spread in the field." 

5. The cultivators of the hemp plant do not appear to form a special class in Central India, except in Rewah, where the cultivation is confined to Kachhis. 

6. Opinions differ as to the special conditions necessary for the successful cultivation of the hemp plant. It is believed in Dewas that no soil in the State is suitable for the plant except that of the two villages, in which alone, as already stated, it is cultivated. The soil of those villages is said by the Superintendent to be "dry, stony, elevated, loam." The Political Agent in Bhopawar has seen ganja-producing hemp growing from near sea-level to an elevation of 4,000 feet. 

7. It appears that in Central India the preparation or manufacture of the products of the hemp plant is carried on at the place of cultivation, and that the bhang and ganja sold in the bazars are in the state in which they left the cultivator. No charas is prepared in Central India except a little in the Bhopawar Agency for the personal use of the cultivators, or for presents from them to religious mendicants. What charas is consumed in other parts of Central India is mostly imported from the Punjab. In the State of Indore about 900 maunds of ganja and bhang together are yearly manufactured. In Dewas territory the yearly output is 156 maunds of ganja and 64 maunds of bhang. 

8. The Political Agent in Bhopawar thus describes the process of making ganja, bhang, majum, and charas:— 

"Ganja is prepared by washing the dried tops well in water and rubbing them between the hands. It is here used only for smoking and is mixed with tobacco. 

"Bhang is not here used for smoking. The green bhang is occasionally used as a vegetable, but ordinarily the dry bhang is used for the preparation of a beverage. The leaves are roasted in a copper vessel, spread out on moist ground, well washed till they have lost their colour, strained and finally powdered. The powder is taken in water, sometimes sweetened or with milk added; and it is common to add pepper, anise-seeds, rose flowers, lilac flowers, cucumber-seeds, almonds, or cardamoms. 

"A special preparation is sold in the bazaars under the name of majum, which is an extract of bhang mixed with sugar and ghee and baked. 

"Charas is prepared by rubbing ganja (sometimes mixed with bhang) violently for several hours on rough woollen blankets, which afterwards are scraped with a knife. The substance thus scraped off is first class charas. An inferior kind is then obtained by washing the blanket with the least possible quantity of water and then evaporating the liquid." 

The Minister of Indore writes:— 

"The crop gathered from the field is brought to the threshing-floor, over which it is evenly spread. Great care is taken to see that no earth or dust is allowed to mix with it. Rows of men consisting of the ryot's family and hired labourers tread the produce under foot so that the tops assume a flattened shape. This process is continued for three whole days. On the fourth day the tops are turned upside down and again trodden under foot for another period of three or four days. This process of turning and treading under foot is repeated three or four times. After the completion of this the tops are made into heaps, a foot and a quarter high. These heaps are then pressed by men under foot for about three or four hours. Next day two or three of these heaps are made into one large heap about breast high, and a regular series of such large heaps is then formed, and very closely covered up with stalks, leaves, etc., and heavy logs of wood or stones on the top. The article thus formed is ganja ready for sale. 

"The round ganja is scarcely prepared in the State. This requires roiling under the foot instead of treading. 

"Nearly the whole of the plant is cut, and all the plants so cut are stacked in the threshing floor. After allowing them to dry for a day or two, bunches of the plants are rubbed by the hand on the ground. The seed is then separated from the crushed leaves. The crushed leaves with tender twigs are called bhang, which is then ready for use." 

The Dewas account is— 

"When the ganja flowers are cut they are taken to the threshing floor. There they are trodden under feet until they are dried. While being thus trodden, the flowers are stripped of the leaves. The dried flowers form what is termed ganja. 

"Ganja is prepared here simply for smoking purposes. 

"When the bhang plant is cut and spread in the field, it is taken to the threshing floor. There it is beaten with a piece of wood. The leaves with seed become separated from the stalks, and they then form what is called bhang. This is the only preparation of bhang which is used for eating and drinking here." 

9. All over Central India the cultivators of the hemp plant, where they are found, are also the manufacturers of bhang and ganja. The more luxurious preparations, such as majum, etc., are made by Bhalbigaras and confectioners. At Rutlam and elsewhere majum is also known as ankoli. Some witnesses think that none of the three products can be made from the wild plant. Others think that inferior bhang and ganja (not charas) can be made from the wild plant. In Jaora ganja made from the wild plant is said to be called gorakhi ganja. 

10. There is a difference of opinion as to the time the three drugs will keep. Two years is the maximum for ganja and bhang and five years for charas. In Bhopawar bhang is supposed to lose its virtue after one monsoon and ganja and charas after one year; and this is said to be so well understood that the dealers burn or throw away their old stock when the new crop comes in. 

11. Only two witnesses (both of Indore) report any other use of ganja than smoking it. One of them says it is used as a medicine both for men and cattle; the other says it is sometimes eaten with spices. Neither gives particulars. Charas is smoked only. The Thakur of Piplanda (in West Malwa) says that in his territory charas-smoking is punished. 

12. Inveterate smokers of charas appear to be found only among the religious mendicants, fakirs, gosains, sadhus, and viragis. Most cultivators in Bhopawar smoke ganja occasionally; but nowhere else in Central India are the cultivators said to be ganja-smokers. The Indore Minister particularly says that the agricultural classes rarely use ganja. In the Baghelkhand, Bhopal, West Malwa, and Guna Agencies, the ganja-smokers (other than fakirs, etc.) are said to be chamars, mehters, and other low caste people. Some witnesses give figures. In Dewas about 1 per cent. of the population are said to be ganja-smokers. In Rutlam (population 89,160) there are said to be 500 ganja-smokers and 50 charas-smokers. In Indore it is supposed that 2 per cent. of the male population smoke ganja and that barely one in a thousand smokes charas. The smoking of both is generally more common in towns than in villages. In Charkhari (Bundelkhand) all sadhus, etc., 30 per cent. of the low caste people, and 5 per cent. of the rest of the population are said to smoke ganja. 

13. The flat ("chapta") variety is the only ganja generally used in Central India. In Indore it is called hari. The Superintendent of the Sehore Bazaar says that chur is cheaper and that poor people sometimes use it for bhang. 

14. The little charas that is used in Malwa comes mostly from the Punjab or the NorthWest Provinces, being imported by Vilayatis or Afghans. What is used in Rewah comes mostly from Patna. It is only in Bhopawar that there is any manufacture of charas, and there, as has been already said, it is prepared for personal use only. 

15. In no part of Central India is bhang said to be used for smoking. Bhang is to some extent eaten and largely drunk all over the Agency. Some figures are given. In Indore 5 per cent. of the population are said to be drinkers and one in 5,000 eaters, of bhang. In Rutlam (population 89,160) 1,500 people are said to drink and 500 to eat bhang. The drinking of bhang is supposed to be common among all the higher castes of Hindus— Brahmans (especially those of Malwa), Banias and Rajputs—at times of rejoicing, and for a cool drink in the hot weather. Ujjain and Maheswar are mentioned by one of the Indore witnesses as places where bhang is largely drunk. In Charkhari bhang is said to be "eaten only by hardened drinkers of the drug." In the Dattia evidence it is said that the same people who would drink bhang in the hot weather would eat it in the cold whether or the rains. In Bhopal about 100,000 are said to use one or other of the hemp drugs; charas being expensive is said to be the least used of the three. 

16. Taking Central India as a whole, the use of hemp drugs appears to be either stationary or on the decrease. In Rutlam the decrease is said to be due to the fact that the use of the drugs is disreputable; in Rewah to the fact that the drugs, being imported, are dear; and in Indore the Minister thinks that the clear decrease is due to the increased use of cheap adulterated liquor. 

17. Occasional consumers of ganja are very rare and occasional consumers of bhang are very common. It is reckoned both for Indore and Dewas that 90 per cent. of those who use bhang or ganja are habitual moderate consumers, and 10 per cent. habitual excessive consumers. The habitual excessive consumers of ganja are almost all religious mendicants. The use of ganja by such men is said to enable them to endure abstinence from food and water, and also to resist malaria. Apart from its use by religious mendicants, ganja is largely used by labourers and by the lower orders of domestic servants. It is more easily prepared than bhang, and it produces a more immediate intoxication. The habitual use of bhang is said to be common among Pujaris and Brahman priests; otherwise bhang is a luxury of the well-to-do Hindu. Sometimes it is taken merely as an appetiser. A dose of it is supposed to enable a man to concentrate his faculties. It is largely used by Hindu jewellers, by whom it is supposed to steady the eye. 

18. The average allowance and its cost for bhang and ganja respectively are very variously stated. In Indore the habitual moderate allowance per diem is said to be half a tola, costing one pice; and the habitual excessive allowance one tola and a half, costing three pice. In Dewas the habitual moderate allowance is said to be one tola, costing three pies, and the habitual excessive allowance twelve tolas, costing three annas. In Indore the habitual moderate drinker of bhang is said to take three tolas, costing half an anna, every day; in Dewas the dose is said to vary from one tola, costing half a pie, to four tolas, costing two pies. In Bhopawar habitual moderate consumers of bhang are said to take daily a quarter of a tola which, with the various admixtures, costs one anna; while excessive consumers take as much as five tolas, the cost of which, with admixtures, is eight annas. In Charkhari two tolas of bhang are said to cost one anna, the same being the price of one tola of ganja. 

19. Ganja is smoked along with tobacco, the object of the mixture being, according to some, to bring out the full effect of the ganja, and, according to others, to mitigate its bad odour. The method of using the drugs in Bhopawar is thus described:— 

Ganja is for smoking mixed only with tobacco. 

Charas is generally put on the top of the filled hookah (five to twenty grains weight). 

Pepper, anise-seed, cucumber seed, almonds, cardamoms, rose leaves, lilac flowers, are all classed as "bhang massala,"but ordinarily only the first two are used. Bhang is also taken with milk and sugar or boiled in milk. An infusion of one to two scruples in two or three small teacups full of water taken in three doses during the day is an efficient remedy in cases of painful gonorrhæa. Bhang tel, commonly called bhang, is a decoction of bhang in fresh butter or sweet almond-oil. It is a powerful narcotic. 

The Indore use of ganja and bhang is thus described by the Minister— 

"Ganja is prepared for smoking in the following simple manner:— 

"For each smoker about half a tola is taken each time. Any seed or large leaf or coarse fibre is carefully removed. The ganja is then soaked in water and placed on the palm of the hand. Some water is then poured upon it and the ganja frequently rubbed and pressed by means of the thumb of the other hand until the whole water is squeezed out. This process is repeated about a score of times until the water squeezed out is perfectly colourless. Tobacco to the extent of half the quantity of ganja is then added, and the mixture, with the water completely squeezed out, is then put in into a chilum (smoking earthen bowl) and ignited by means of a live ember, generally of cowdung cake, put over it. The bowl is wrapped in a wet piece of cloth and applied to the mouth for the purpose of smoking. 

"Bhang is prepared in several ways. The habitual, inveterate bhang-drinkers prepare it in the following way:— 

"To a moderate drinker three tolas of bhang is required. It is carefully cleaned, and kept in water for some time, varying from a few minutes to half an hour. It is then washed several times, and with the addition of five or six pepper seeds reduced to the finest pulpy state over a flat stone by means of a muller worked by the hands. The pulp is mixed with about a pound of water and the mixture strained through a piece of cloth. The mixture is then poured from one pot into another many times. The number of times this is done and the height from which the mixture is poured is a very essential feature in the preparation. The drinker believes that the potency of the mixture increases in the direct ratio of the repetitions and the height. The mixture thus obtained is ready for use by the bhang habitué, who never takes it without first offering to Shiv and pouring some of it over a lingam where one is at hand. There is no end to the ways in which bhang is drunk as a luxury and as a cooling drink. Sugar and milk are added in most instances. Dry rosebuds, poppy-seeds, almonds, cardamoms, aniseseed, saffron, musk, nutmegs, cucumber seeds, pistachios, and a number of other spices, with juice of various kinds of fruit, are added to the preparation to make it palatable. 

"Ganja is mostly neither eaten nor drunk, and bhang is never smoked nor eaten by itself. It is, however, the principal ingredient of several intoxicating preparations, such as gulkand, majum, yakuti, manohargutka, churans, bhajiyas, etc., and is eaten in the articles both on ordinary and festive occasions. 

" The above answer refers to bhang and ganja obtained by cultivation only." 

The spices usually combined with bhang are called bhang massala. The mixture of that name is sold in the bazar ready to be mixed with the bhang. The object of mixing dhatura with bhang is to increase the intoxication. A highly intoxicating compound known as punch-ratni, into which dhatura enters, is sometimes used in Indore. 

20. The consumption of these drugs, so far as appears, is not practised specially in solitude or specially in company. Ganja-smoking in company is not uncommon, the pipe being passed round. The smoking of ganja is practically confined to adult males, and is most common among the middle aged and the old. Except among sadhus and gosains, women never use ganja. Bhang drinking also is very rare among women, though women and even children may take a little on holidays and festive occasions. 

21. As to the ease with which the habit of using hemp drugs is formed and the difficulty of breaking it off there is great disagreement among the witnesses. The majority are of opinion that ganja-smoking is not easily learned and that a man can break himself of it without difficulty. It is said to be easier to give up either ganja or bhang than it is to give up opium or liquor. The tendency of the moderate habit to develop into the excessive is said to be more marked in the case of bhang than of ganja. 

22. There do not appear to be any particular religious customs connected with the use of ganja. When sadhus meet they pass the pipe round, whatever the occasion of the meeting. The votaries of Mahadev are said to consider the use of hemp drugs a part of their religion. At Dewas Shaivas are said to make oblations of bhang on days sacred to Shiv, especially on Maha Shivratri; and when they have made their oblation they drink what remains. This use of bhang is occasional and temperate, and is not at all likely to lead to the formation of the habit. The same may be said of the social habit of drinking bhang on holidays and at marriages. This custom appears to prevail all over Central India, except perhaps in Baghelkhand. In that part of the Agency the greater part of the population are Vaishnavas, and the Baghelkhand witnesses in general have no good word to say for any of the hemp drugs. 

23. No custom of worshiping the hemp plant is known in Central India. The only part of the Agency in which the use of all hemp drugs is said to be approved by public opinion is Bhopawar. In Malwa Rajputs, who are addicted to opium and drink, look down on people who use ganja and bhang. But it is only the smoking of ganja that is distinctly regarded as disreputable. The social drinking of bhang, referred to in the last paragraph, is of course not regarded as in any way reprehensible. 

24. It is generally agreed that for an habitual smoker to forego the use of ganja would be a serious privation. The habitual users of hemp drugs, and particularly ganja, are mostly ignorant and fanatical men. Among religious mendicants the habit of smoking ganja is hereditary and inveterate. Nothing can take the place of ganja to these men, and the deprivation of the drug that their order has used for so many centuries would, there is every reason to suppose, be a serious political danger. The matter of bhang is not so serious, its users belonging, as a rule, to a better class; but in this connexion it has been pointed out by more than one witness that both opium and drink are dearer than bhang; that Kshattriyas are the only twice-born Hindus to whom strong drink is not prohibited; and so that Brahmans, for instance, if they wanted an intoxicant, would take to opium; while Sudra users of hemp drugs, to whom strong drink is not forbidden, would not be able to afford it. On this point the Political Agent in Bhopawar writes:—

 "Prohibition would probably be as ineffective as were the numerous attempts formerly made in all countries to prohibit the use of tobacco. The drug would certainly be consumed whether permitted or not. Interference would undoubtedly cause discontent, but any political danger would mainly arise from the opportunity afforded to the authorities for harassing the people. It is also possible that the Bhil tribes might show their resentment by open resistance. Witnesses are unanimously of opinion that prohibition would be an act of arbitrary injustice, and this would probably be the general popular feeling. The prohibition of ganja might lead to increased consumption of alcohol. The bhang-consuming classes generally disapprove of the use of alcohol, and would not be likely to take to it." 

25. Generally speaking, there appears to be no reason to suppose that alcohol is to any extent taking the place at present of any of the hemp drugs. But the Indore Minister is of a different opinion. 

26. In none of the States in Central India do there appear to be any restrictions on the manufacture or on the import and export of hemp drugs. Duties are charged on importation as on the other articles of merchandize. In some States the sale of the drugs is to some extent restricted. In Indore, as the Minister states, the wholesale dealer requires no license; there is no maximum limit to the quantity he may sell at a time, but there is a minimum limit, viz., 60 seers. The right to sell the drugs in retail is farmed out by public auction, and the retail sale is confined to the farmer and his agents. At present the retail farmer has one shop of his own in the city, and fifteen tobacconists in the city and twenty-five more in the mofussil, sell the drugs as his agents, there being as a rule a shop at the head-quarters of every mahal. The only other state in which there appears to be any restriction on the sale of the drugs is Rewah, where the "contractors" (meaning apparently the wholesale importers) are said to pay a fixed duty and license fees to the State. Shops in which there is consumption on the premises are not mentioned as existing anywhere. In the State of Bhopal there is a licensed contractor for each pargana, who makes retail sales in his own shop and authorizes others to do so as his agents. 

For Cantonments and Agency head-quarters very little information about the sale of hemp drugs is available. In Mhow there is one "sanctioned" shop, and the Cantonment Magistrate reports that the daily sale is only about four seers. In Nowgong cantonment the Abkari contractor holds a license to sell hemp drugs, for which he pays specially. In Nimach there is one licensed vendor, who is said to sell the drugs at 50 per cent. over the price in adjoining native territory. In Sehore bazaar there is one licensed shop. In the Indore Residency Bazaar the right to sell hemp drugs retail is a part of the abkari contract, supposed to be worth Rs. 20 a month. 

INDORE STATE MEMORANDUM. 

Control on the growth of hemp

The cultivation of the hemp plant for the purpose of producing bhang, ganja and charas is so extremely limited in this State that there is no scope whatever for putting it under administrative control. The whole area under narcotic hemp plant cultivation is given in the appendix.* The figures given there show that the maximum area during the last twenty years was 354 bighas, minimum 66 bighas, and the average 181 bighas. 

The cultivation is confined to a few mahals in the Nimar district, bordering on the Narbada, and in Sanwer a few miles to the north of Indore. Thus it will be seen that although the State puts no restriction on the cultivation, or controls it in any way whatever, the ryot has not found it to his advantage to grow it largely, although the plant is capable of thriving almost everywhere in the State. 

There is no special rate of assessment charged on land under hemp cultivation; but is determined solely by the quality of the soil, and is usually Rs. 7 to Rs. 8 a bigha. 

No wild hemp is found in the State. Here or there a plant may be seen by road or river side or near the huts of fakirs, etc., due to the dropping of the hemp seed by consumers. 

Manufacture

The growth being thus limited the manufacture of ganja and bhang is necessarily so. 

Under the excise system prevalent in Indore, the import and export of the hemp drugs are not shown under a separate head denoting the hemp drugs, but are included under the general head of ' kirana ' (i. e., drugs, spices, etc.), and cannot therefore be accurately given. There is no doubt that the drugs are both imported into the State and exported from it, but not to that extent which would make it desirable to assign special heads in the State accounts to their traffic. As in the case of cultivation, so here there are no restrictions on either the importation or exportation of any of the hemp drugs. They can be imported or exported by any body to any extent without a license on the payment merely of the fixed duty. Practically the trade is so limited as not to require its regulation by the State. The importers of ganja and other drugs are generally the banias and there is no limit fixed to the storing and transport of these drugs, by them. 

Sale. 

The sale is either (1) wholesale or (2) retail. 

No license is required for wholesale, and there is no maximum limit to the quantity a wholesale dealer may sell at a time. There is, however, a minimum limit, namely, 60 seers, prescribed by a regulation of the State below which the wholesale dealer may not sell on pain of liability to confiscation of his commodity and a fine up to Rs. 50 by the customs officer and to unlimited amount by the Darbar. The occasions on which the darbar have exercised its powers in this respect are very rare indeed, and have done so extremely moderately. The State prescribes no minimum or maximum price of sale, and the wholesale dealer may dispose of his ware at any price it may fetch. 

The right to sell in retail is farmed out by public auction, and none but the leaseholder or his agents can make retail sales. The ijardar or leaseholder is at liberty to open any number of shops at any place which may be convenient to him, In practice, however, it is understood that he follows the advice of the customs officers of the State. As a matter of fact at present the retail farmer has only one shop of his own in the city of Indore, and has commissioned fifteen tobacco-sellers, to whom he sells a quantity not exceeding half a seer at an interval of two or three days, to sell for him. In the mofussil the contractor usually has one shop at the head-quarters of every mahal, making about forty shops in all in the districts. Although it cannot be said that the number of shops is determined deliberately with a view to area and population, it naturally adjusts itself to the demand, and therefore indirectly to area and population. 

There is no such thing in the State as "local option" firstly, because the matter is so small as not to require any such measure being adopted by the State; and, secondly, because the people themselves have never asked and have no need for it. The thing does not amount to an evil giving rise to complaints requiring a remedy. 

The average amount of the retail contract for the last eleven years is Rs. 5,140 per year. The law prescribes no limit, maximum or minimum, in point of quantity to the retail sales to, or possession by, a consumer. But it has fixed the rates of the retail sale of each of these drugs, which are as follows: ganja, at half a seer a rupee in Indore city and one seer a rupee in the mofussil, bhang at four seers a rupee throughout the State, and charas at five tolas a rupee throughout. 

The probable yearly consumption of these drugs in the State may be about 200 maunds of ganja and an equal quantity of bhang, leaving charas quite out of account as being inappreciable. These figures are the result of a very rough calculation, and not based upon reliable statistics. Having regard, however, to the probable number of consumers and the quantity consumed by an average consumer, they appear to be approximately correct. 

Duties. 

Besides the amount realised from the ijara or monopoly of retail sale, which is Rs. 5,140 yearly on an average as stated before, there are two duties levied on these drugs known as "katati" or inward, and "bharati" or "nikasu" or outward. These terms include the import and the export duty proper, that is, the duty levied on goods brought into the State from, or sent out of the State to, foreign territory as well as the duty levied on goods transmitted from one mahal to another within the State itself at each mahal. 

The "katati" and "bharati" are levied at the same rate at the place itself. But the rate varies in different districts, being maximum Rs. 3-12-0 per rás of 3 maunds or 120 seers and minimum annas 12 for ganja; maximum annas 15 for one rás and minimum annas 8 for bhang; and maximum Rs. 7-11-0 and minimum Rs. 5-8 per rás for charas. 

The duties are levied at the Sayar nakas by which every merchandize must pass. Evasion to pay the duty is punishable with confiscation of the goods smuggled and a fine up to Rs. 50 by the customs officer, or to an unlimited amount by the Darbar. The temptation to smuggle is greatly checked by the smallness of the duty and by the comparatively heavy liability to punishment. An enormously excessive tax like that of Rs. 335 per maund levied in Bengal (see page 324, volume V of Dr. Watt's Dictionary) would, in the very nature of things, invite smuggling, whereas the small rates levied by Indore cannot be expected to operate in that direction. 

There is still a reason to believe that these drugs are smuggled into the State from Ujjain; and from Sanowad they are possibly smuggled into the adjoining British territory or other Native States. Excepting at these two points, smuggling is seldom heard of. 

Administration. 

The central administrative power rests with the Darbar. The executive head of customs and excise for the Indore city and Indore zillah is the Muntazim Sayar and for the other zillahs the Subha of each zillah. The present excise system in respect to hemp drugs in the State, so far as it may be so called, is based upon a few standing circular orders promulgated by the Darbar in the State Gazette from time to time. Some of these have already been noticed in their proper places in this memorandum. The system is on the whole working fairly relatively to the importance of the interests involved and no modification of it is contemplated.