37
18. Evidence of ALAM CHAND, Superintendent, Bastar State.
1. When I was tahsildar at Khandwa, in the
Central Provinces, I have bad opportunities to
inspect the cultivation of hemp in the Khandwa
district, and its adjoining districts and States,
such as Indore, etc. Other opportunities I have
had when I was Diwan of Kanker and Chhuikha
-dan, and Manager of Kawardha and Superintend
- e n t o f B a s t a r . T h e e x p e r i e n c e s I h a v e o b t a i n e d
from the people and their associates, who smoke
ganja, are embodied in my answers. At Kawar
- d h a t h e r e i s a r e l i g i o u s s o c i e t y o f K a b i r P a n t h i s ,
and ascetics from many parts of India, such as
North-Western Provinces, the Punjab, Bengal,
and China, do frequent these religious associations,
and the effects that I could perceive upon these
persons are given in my answers.
2. No charas or bhang is prepared from hemp
here or used. I simply confine myself to ganja.
Formerly hemp used to be cultivated for produc
-tion of ganja.
The definitions given by Dr. Prain can hold
good in respect of ganja.
Cultivation of hemp and production and pre
-paration of ganja have been stopped by the Gov
- e r n m e n t , b u t t h e p r o c e s s w h i c h t h e p e o p l e h a d
resort to when they bad cultivation to a little
extent in the compounds of their houses is as
follows: It was not being trodden under foot in
order to give a flat shape, but the people used to
stack it, putting the flowering tops one above
the other, grass or straw intervening to save it
from damp, and then pressing it with some heavy
timber or other heavy thing. This process used
to give it a flattened shape. No steps had hither.
to been taken here to procure "round" or "chur"
ganja.
3. Here I have never seen hemp growing spon
-taneously.
4. It is generally known by the name of
"ganja" only.
5. Wild hemp does not grow here, so I cannot
relate the conditions necessary for its growth.
7. None of these products is now being manu
-factured, nor hemp is cultivated in Bastar.
8. Formerly, i.e., two years ago, people used
to cultivate hemp, but as its cultivation has now
been stopped by the Government, there is now
no area under hemp cultivation.
9. Formerly the people did not prepare fields,
but scattered a few seeds in their compounds or
raised a little crop by transplanting the seedlings.
They consider the plant fit for preparing ganja,
when its leaves become yellowish and its heads
resinous. When the plants had grown one foot
or one-and-a-half feet, they cut the top of the
plant and clear up the big leaves in order to
enable it to give out more branches and getting
kalis.
10. The cultivators did not form a special class,
but they belong to the class of agricultural culti
-vators (i.e., Murias, Gonds, etc.).
11. Here we have no wild hemp. Ganja has
hitherto been produced from cultivated hemp.
12. I have never seen ganja having been manu
-factured from wild hemp.
13. Its cultivation has now been entirely stop
- p e d i n t h i s S t a t e . B a s t a r i s w e l l s u i t e d t o t h e
growth of ganja on account of being tableland and
excessive rain. In the hilly parts or soil saturat
- e d b y w a t e r , I t h i n k i t s c u l t i v a t i o n w o u l d n o t b e
possible.
14. Ganja used to be prepared from hemp
plant. I would estimate its product at about 400
seers.
15. Here ganja is not eaten, nor drunk. It is
used for smoking only after cleansing, taking out
its seeds and rubbing it on palms of hands, mix
-ing some water.
16. Bhang is not used; nor was it formerly
used. Wild hemp does not grow here.
17. Here agricultural cultivators or Murias
(aborigines). They used to cultivate it.
19. Charas is not used here for smoking; ganja
is only used for smoking. It is not applied here
to any other use except for medicines, as will be
stated hereafter.
20. The ganja smokers are very few; because
the aborigines of this State satisfy the desire of
intoxication by having recourse to the use of tari,
sulphi, sindhi and landha (fermented mixture of
kosrá seeds).
Day-labourers and sadhus use ganja by filling
it in leaf-pipes or chilam. More is used in the
head-quarters of tahsil. Rural population use it
very seldom. The proportion of the consumers
is •06.
21. Flat ganja imported from Raipur is pre
-ferred. No other kinds of ganja are used here.
25. No bhang or charas has ever been used here.
Only ganja is used, but its use is on the decrease
owing to the imported ganja being dear.
The statistics of ganja are given below, as could
be ascertained from this office:—
Years. Place o
f p u r c h a s e .
Rate. Quantity sold.
R E M A R K S .
Rs. a. p. Mds.srs.ch.
1891 . Bastar . 0 12 0 2 20 0 As cultivation of
hemp was stopped
in 1891, and the
raiyats had their
own ganja, sale
was less in
1891-92 as com
-pared with 1893,
in which orders
were issued to
burn the produce
of Bastar, if any.
1892 . Raipur . 0 12 0 3 27 0
1893 . Raipur . 0 12 0 5 15 0
26. The proportion of the consumers of the class
(a), (b), (c), and (d), is as follows
(a) 8.
(b) 2.
(c) 2.
(d) 1.