Based on the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's report of 1894-95, this article includes:
- My overview of cannabis usage in the Ajmere-Merwara Province of 1894-95
- The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's findings regarding Ajmere-Merwara
- The Ajmere-Merwara Memorandum submitted to the Commission by the Assistant Commissioner and Collector of Excise Revenue
- Questions by the Hemp Commission to witnesses
- List of Ajmere-Merwara witnesses who deposed before the Hemp Commission
- Individual witness statements of the witnesses from Ajmere-Merwara.
Overview
(Image source: Wikipedia)
In the case of the Ajmere-Merwara province, it appears that by the time the study was carried out in 1894-95 by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, the cannabis culture in the province had been more or less well and truly snuffed out. The Ajmere-Merwara Province was regulated by the same Excise Act XXII of 1881 that regulated cannabis in the North Western Provinces and Punjab. The contractor was king, securing his monopoly of vend through auction, importing charas from Punjab and ganja from Gwalior, most probably, as stated by the Hemp Commission. The Assistant Commissioner and Collector of Excise revenue states, in his memorandum submitted to the Hemp Commission that 'The system in force in Ajmere-Merwara is shortly as follows. The contract for drugs is put up every year to auction, and it is sold to the highest bidder, provided that there is no objection to the man. The contractor maintains shops for the retail sale of drugs at places fixed by the Collector with reference to the requirements of the people. But very little hemp is cultivated in AjmereMerwara, although, subject to certain rules, the cultivation is not prohibited and but a small quantity grows wild. The hemp plants are sold to the contractor. Bhang and majum are the only preparations made locally, ganja and charas being imported from other provinces, usually from the Punjab. The retail shops are supervised by the preventive establishment, who also patrol the district and successfully prevent smuggling on any large scale.' G. Bennet, Abkari Inspector, Ajmere, says 'There has been a decrease within the last eight years. The drug contractor offers such a low rate for the bhang grown within the district.' He further says 'No restriction to cultivation, but that the produce must be sold to the Government Contractor.' At least in the Ajmere Province the cannabis contractor is referred to as 'contractor' unlike in other places where confusing terms such as 'licensed farmer' are used.
From what we see, the homestead growing of cannabis was limited to a few plants grown by malis or gardeners and sadhus or religious mendicants. I assume that the influential contractor working closely with the preventive establishment would have gradually eliminated all cannabis cultivation by farmers through spies and informers.
The only notable cultivation of cannabis appears to be in the Pushkar region. This was consumed as the beverage bhang, primarily by the Brahmins of Pushkar, who were primarily the priests in charge of the Brahma Temple there. Myths such as ganja is consumed only by the lowest castes, prostitutes and outcasts, that ganja caused insanity, and that smoking cannabis as ganja was prohibited by the scriptures would most likely have been propagated by the upper castes and the British administration in the preceding decades to such effect that the reported cultivation and consumption of cannabis is quite low.
The Brahma Temple in Pushkar is one of the few places in India where Brahma is worshipped. Brahma is the creator god of the Vedic and Vaishnavite trinity, besides Vishnu the preserver and Siva the destroyer. One of the interesting stories associated with Brahma is that he had five heads in the first place, four heads facing four directions and the fifth head facing upwards. The story goes that Brahma's arrogance caused Siva to cut off the head facing upwards, resulting in Brahma being left with only four heads. Since the beheading of a Brahmin is considered the most grievous of sins, the severed head of Brahma fastening itself to the palm of Siva's hand and he was fated to wander the universe with the skull in his hand till he was cleansed of the sin. Now, taken from a cultural perspective, this story reveals the conflict that arose when the caste-based Vedic and Vaishnavite societies came face to face with the casteless societies of the indigenous communities that inhabited India before their arrival. Siva was Mahadeva, the great god of the casteless societies. In order to arrive at a reconciliation between the two cultures, it appears that one head of Brahma had to be sacrificed and in doing so, Siva got demoted from great god and assimilated into the trinity to become an equal of Brahma and Vishnu. Siva, however, remained outside the caste system, i.e., he was an outcast whereas Brahma and Vishnu were Brahmins, the highest castes of the caste system of Vedic and Vaishnavite religions. From this point, it did not take long to gradually weaken the status of both Brahma and Siva until Vishnu reigned supreme, at least among the followers of the caste-based religions. However, a significantly large proportion of Indians still have their roots in the casteless cultures of Siva and nature worship. So, even though the worship of Brahma diminished greatly among the caste-based societies, the worship of Siva still remains strong among the descendants of the earlier casteless societies. Both caste-based and the earlier casteless societies today split their devotion between Vishnu and Siva. Since wealth and power are increasingly the greatest desire of most humans today, it can be said that Vishnu is worshipped more ardently than the outcast Siva who has no attachment to wealth or power. It appears that this is unfortunately not the case for Brahma. His worshippers have diminished after he lost the favor of the high priests of the caste-system who write the religious scriptures.
In parallel with the powerplay between the gods is the powerplay between those who drank cannabis as bhang and those who smoked cannabis as ganja. The ones who drank cannabis were the upper castes of the caste-based religions and the ones who smoked cannabis became the lowest castes and outcasts. Unfortunately, the upper-castes who sought to deride Siva and those who smoked cannabis did not factor in the British colonists who wanted to eliminate cannabis itself altogether. When the British saw how things were in India, they exploited the tension between the caste-based societies and the casteless societies to achieve their goal. They did this by first associating themselves with the upper castes and spreading the propaganda that those who smoked cannabis were not only the lowest castes and outcastes, they were the very dregs of society, criminal, insane and evil. They, along with the upper castes, even managed to portray bhang and ganja as two entirely different drugs. Seeing the opportunity to further repress the lower castes and outcastes, the Indian upper castes worked effectively with the British to almost entirely suppress the smoking of cannabis. They, however, only later understood, if at all, that the primary aim of the British colonists was to prohibit the cannabis plant entirely, when with the elimination of ganja there was no more bhang...
Today, we see in the state of Rajasthan - to which the Ajmere-Merwara Province belonged - that bhang has been legalized. Government-approved retail outlets sell cannabis as the beverage, bhang. But, if you are seen smoking the same cannabis, as ganja, then you will be treated exactly like the lowest castes and outcasts have been treated in the past. The British left, but the underlying conflict between the caste-based and casteless societies of India remains, mainly due to the ignorance of the upper castes of the Vedic and Vaishnavite religions who dominate the political, social, and cultural narratives in India. Opium has also been long associated with the people of Rajasthan, though the Hemp Commission does not speak much about it in its report. Opium, was and still is, after all the favored drug of the British colonists...
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's findings
THE EXISTENCE, PREVALENCE, AND CHARACTER OF THE SPONTANEOUS GROWTH
EXTENT OF CULTIVATION, AND ITS TENDENCY TO INCREASE OR DECREASE.
METHODS OF CULTIVATION AND MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
PREPARATION OF THE RAW DRUGS FROM THE CULTIVATED AND WILD PLANT
TRADE AND MOVEMENT OF THE HEMP DRUGS
EXTENT OF USE AND THE MANNER AND FORMS IN WHICH THE HEMP DRUGS ARE CONSUMED
SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS
447. Major Gaisford, Deputy Commissioner, states that among the Hindu sect called Bam Bargis the consumption of bhang is regarded as essential.
PROVINCIAL SYSTEMS EXAMINED
Progress in Ajmere must depend upon co-operation with the British system in surrounding States. Ultimately it is probable that the system can be assimilated to that in force in the rest of British India.
Memorandum on hemp drugs in Ajmere-Merwara, by the Assistant Commissioner and Collector of Excise Revenue
With reference to your office endorsement No. 3330-R., dated the 26th September 1893, and in continuation of my letter No. 724, dated the 16th October 1893, regarding the collection of certain information required by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission I have the honour to state as follows.
2. As already reported in my letter quoted above, printed copies of the questions were sent to —
Answers from Nos. (1), (2), and (4) have been received and are herewith submitted. These answers will, I fear, generally not be of much assistance to the Commission. The fact is that, so far as I can ascertain, there is no one in Ajmere-Merwara who has made a study of the subject or who desires any alteration in the existing system. The Revd. Dr. J. Husband, who laid the questions before the Committee of the Ajmere Total Abstinence Association, informs me that the questions asked do not come within the scope of the operations of the society.
3. The statement called for in paragraph 4 of Mr. McIntosh's circular No. 28 of 11th August 1893 has been filled in as far as possible and is herewith submitted. The only information available, which has been given in the statement in question, is the number of shops and the amounts realized by the sale of the contract of drugs for the past twenty years.
I regret that I am unable to furnish the other information required to complete the statement in respect of import, export, and sale of drugs, as no such accounts have hitherto been kept, and the present and the former contractors are unable to furnish the required figures.
The hemp plant is cultivated in Ajmere-Merwara to only an exceedingly limited extent, and here and there a few plants grow spontaneously. The total amount of hemp grown in these districts is insignificant.
No license fees or fixed duty are levied in these districts: the revenue is derived by selling the monopoly of the sale of drugs.
4. The points mooted in the memorandum referred to in paragraph 3 of Mr. McIntosh's circular of the 11th August 1893 are dealt with below:
(1) Care is taken that the hemp plants are sold to the contractor. In the case of wild plants they are either destroyed or sold to the contractor. A copy of the rules regulating the cultivation, &c., of hemp is appended.
(2) With the exception of bhang and majam, no hemp drugs are manufactured in these districts. Ganja and charas are imported from other districts, chiefly from the Punjab.
(3) No duty is levied on the importation of any drugs -
(a) The controlling authority is the Collector of Ajmere. There is one uniform system in Ajmere-Merwara, which is carried on under the Excise Act, XXII of 1881.
(b) A few wild plants are found here and there, but not to any large extent. The possession and sale of these plants are regulated by the rules referred to above. The plants being so few, no difficulty is experienced in controlling their possession and sale.
(c) The cultivation of the hemp plant is permitted under the rules already referred to. As a matter of fact, however, but very little hemp is cultivated, and that principally by malis and the Brahmins of Pushkar.
(d) The sole importer of the drugs is the contractor, to whom a license for the exclusive right of the sale of the drugs is granted. The import is covered by rawannas from the authorities of the districts whence the drugs are exported. On arrival the consignments are weighed and checked with the rawannas by the Excise officers and the police
(e) There are no wholesale vendors here, and the contractor is the only person permitted to sell drugs by retail; he has his own shops in the district, which are under the supervision of the preventive staff: all shopkeepers employed by the contractor are supplied with 'nokarnamas' under the countersignature of the Collector.
(f) The drugs contract is sold yearly to the highest bidder; no rates or other tax are fixed. In case of failure on the part of the contractor to pay the contract money, the contract is resold and the deficiency, if any, is recovered from the original purchaser.
(g) As already stated the drug shops in the district belong to the contractor. Their number and sites are fixed by the Collector on application of the contractor with reference to the requirements of the people.
(h) The contractor supplies the drugs to his shops in the district. The average retail prices (to consumers) are as follows:—
The prices do not vary appreciably in the different parts of Ajmere-Merwara.
(i) The maximum amount of drugs for sale and possession is bhang or any preparation or admixture thereof, one-quarter of a seer: ganja or charas or any preparation or admixture thereof, 5 tolas.
(j) The average number of persons prosecuted during the past three years for smuggling drugs is nine. The preventive establishment patrol the district and check smuggling on any extensive scale satisfactorily.
(k) No modifications of the present excise system in respect to hemp drugs are under consideration.
(l) The required statement is annexed. Explanations in regard to it have been given in paragraph 3 of this letter.
(m) The system in force in Ajmere-Merwara is shortly as follows. The contract for drugs is put up every year to auction, and it is sold to the highest bidder, provided that there is no objection to the man. The contractor maintains shops for the retail sale of drugs at places fixed by the Collector with reference to the requirements of the people. But very little hemp is cultivated in AjmereMerwara, although, subject to certain rules, the cultivation is not prohibited and but a small quantity grows wild. The hemp plants are sold to the contractor. Bhang and majum are the only preparations made locally, ganja and charas being imported from other provinces, usually from the Punjab. The retail shops are supervised by the preventive establishment, who also patrol the district and successfully prevent smuggling on any large scale.
Questions by the Hemp Commission to witnesses
List of Ajmere-Merwara witnesses who deposed before the Hemp Commission
Individual witness statements of the witnesses from Ajmere-Merwara
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