471
for taxation. Bhang grows wild in jungles, fields,
kassis, etc. The thikadars sometimes, but very
rarely give a price to cultivators for the stuff.
I am talking of Rawalpindi. Charas is imported
in the hot season. Only the shop licensees buy it
from the importers.
60. Evidence * of NAWAB MOHAMED KHAN, Leghari, Zamindar and Tumandar of
the Leghari Tribe, Choti Zerin, Dera Ghazi Khan District.
1. I have had very little opportunity of obtain-
ing information, as a few persons say one or two
per cent. drink bhang here.
3. In the hilly tracts of my ilaka the wild hemp
grows here and there to a small extent, but no
one consumes it. Sometimes bad mashes, how-
ever, administer it, from evil motives, to another
person without his knowledge.
4. The wild hemp is known in this country by
the name of " Kola-bhang," and the cultivated
hemp is called bhang only.
7. Any one cultivating the plant does so for his
own use.
10. There is no particular class of cultivators
of bhang in this ilaka. The agricultural classes
sometimes cultivate one or two marlas of their
land with bhang.
19. In this ilaka bhang is only used for drink-
ing after being pounded. It is not used in any
other way; ganja and charas are, however,
smoked at Dera Ghazi Khan.
20. In the Dera Ghazi Khan district there is
no particular class (of people) who smoke either
ganja or charas. Debauchees and bad characters,
however, use the drugs. I am not acquainted with
any particular locality (where it is smoked).
22. Charas is imported by traders from Kabul
into this district. It is not manufactured here.
28. The entire amount of bhang consumed in
my ilaka does not exceed 2 seers.
80. Boys without guardians alone take to these
drugs in their boyhood by associating (with con-
sumers).
31. Even the moderate use of bhang for sis
months or a year confirms the habit,
32. In this district the use of bhang is pre-
valent among the Hindus. It is however not
known whether the custom is religious or social;
probably it is religious. The use generally being
moderate its injurious effects on the consumers
have not been heard off.
33. I know so far that the Hindus drink bhang
as an act of religious merit and call it sukha.
35. The prohibition of these drugs will cer-
tainly occasion discontent among the consumers,
but there is no possibility of the discontent
amounting to political danger. If the use of any
of the drugs were prohibited, the consumers would
probably have recourse to other intoxicants.
43. The moderate consumers are certainly in-
offensive.
* Translation.
61. Evidence* of BEHRAM KHAN, Zamindar and Honorary Magistrate, Rojhan,
Dera Ghazi Khan District.
3. As far as I have heard, the wild hemp grows
abundantly in some districts of the Punjab, such
as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Amritsar. It grows
to a small extent in the trans-Indus districts of
the frontier.
4. In this district the wild hemp plant is known
by the name of bhang. It is also called bhambor,
which is the correct name. I have seen the plant
myself, and it is known by the same name
throughout this district and among the Biluch
tribes.
5. As far as I have heard, humid climate is
necessary for its growth. It grows in tracts where
the rainfall is excessive, and the land is fertile and
brought under wheat cultivation.
6. Dense.
7. In this district the hemp plant is cultivated
for the production of bhang. Charas and ganja
are not manufactured. I do not know anything
of other districts.
10. There is no particular class of people who
cultivate the hemp plant. The consumers them-
selves cultivate it on their own lands and are
themselves cultivators.
14. Bhang and charas are prepared from the
hemp plant in this province. I know nothing
about ganja. I cannot state in which particu-
lar districts of the Punjab charas is manu-
factured. Bhang is, however, produced in almost
all the districts and is of two kinds: (1) cultivat-
ed and (2) wild hemp, which is called bhambor.
15. The hemp plant (bhang) is generally drunk.
If charas is manufactured, it is smoked in a huka.
If the preparation railed majun is prepared, it is
used in eating. These persons, however, eat majun.
Two things are produced from the cultivated hemp:
(1) bhang, and (2) majun; the former is drunk,
while the latter is eaten. Three drugs can, how-
ever, be prepared from the wild hemp : (1) bhang,
(2) charas, (3) majun. In this district and the
other frontier districts bhang is cultivated; but in
the trans-Indus districts the wild hemp called
bhambor grows. Charas is smoked in a huka.
16. Bhang or charas is prepared at houses, and
sometimes in the fields after the hemp plant is
reaped.
17. In this district bhang is cultivated by
agriculturists, who are themselves the consumers.
18. Bhang deteriorates if kept for two years.
According to the consumers of bhang it loses its
effects (by keeping). Care should be exercised to
keep it secure from drenching. I do not know
anything about charas and ganja.
* Translation.