176
occupation, and therefore likely to attract more
land and labour towards it.
9. I have nothing to add to the particulars
given on this point in Watt's Dictionary of Eco¬
nomic Products. Babu Hem Chandra Ker's re¬
port deals with the subject at length.
10. I understand from my enquiries that there
are no special classes who cultivate the ganja plant
at Rajshahi, but the Muhammadan cultivators
preponderate over the Hindus.
11. This is not known to be ever done in
Bengal.
12. In Bengal there is no reason to suppose
that hemp is anywhere cultivated for the produc¬
tion of ganja, except under Government supervi¬
sion at Rajshahi.
13. The cultivation of the hemp plant for ganja
is restricted in Bengal to a compact tract of
country with a radius of about sixteen miles lying
in three districts, namely, Rajshahi, Diuajpur, and
Bogra.
Prior to 1853 the cultivation of the hemp plant
seems to have been under little or no restriction.
Wild hemp grew everywhere; but it was found
that hemp, producing ganja, grew only in the
Rajshahi Division. Hence in 1854 rules were
framed for putting the cultivation of ganja under
proper control. The fact that though there was
no restriction in its cultivation, and that though
its cultivation was a profitable undertaking, still
the ganja-producing hemp grew only in Rajshahi,
shows that soil and climate have an important
effect on its growth. Sufficient observations and
experiments do not appear to have been yet made
to study the conditions of climate and soil best
suited for the cultivation of the ganja-producing
hemp plant. The only broad fact is that the nar¬
cotic properties of the plant are developed when it
is grown in the plains, whilst in the hills the plant
is deficient in narcotic properties, but is valued for
its fibre.
Wild hemp grows everywhere in Bengal, and
1 think, if the male plants are destroyed in time,
the female plants could be made to yield ganja.
But I do not think the quality of the ganja will
be as good as that at Rajshahi. In fact, the experi¬
ment at Sibpur for the cultivation of ganja-pro¬
ducing hemp under the supervision of experts has
not proved a success, only one collector under¬
taking to sell this ganja at R10 per maund only.
14. See answer to question 7. The cultivation
and preparation of ganja are conducted at the
same place by the same persons.
15. See answer to questions 5 and 9.
16. Bhang is prepared by the people in their
houses. It can be prepared from the hemp plant
wherever grown.
17. I am unable to answer this question.
18. I am unable to speak about charas and
bhang. But the periodical inspections of the ganja
golas under my charge show that ganja is very
quickly deteriorated by damp. Otherwise ganja
keeps well for a year or more. The practice in
this district is to destroy by fire on the 31st of
March every year all ganja more than a year old.
To prevent the effects of damp, I would construct
the golas with corrugated iron with wooden walls
and floors. In brick-built golas there should al¬
ways be apertures for the admission of light and
air.
19. I can only speak about ganja. Besides
being used for smoking, I am informed from some
ganja vendors that some individuals eat ganja
with betel leaves and that others drink ganja by
making a beverage with milk or water and black
pepper. These are, however, said to be very rare,
and no special locality can be mentioned where
they are prevalent.
20. Speaking only about ganja, I do not know
of any special caste or tribe specially addicted to
this drug in Bengal. The sanyasis, the bairagies
(mendicant Baisnavs), and the Gir Gosains are,
as a rule, addicted to ganja smoking. The
sanyasis or religious ascetics are spread all over
India, and are too well known to be described
here. The bairagies are also well known. With
regard to them, it is to be noted that their
females also freely smoke ganja. The Gir
Gosains are a peculiar class of people to be found
in this district, and also, I believe, in Muzaffar-
pur and Darbhanga. They observe lifelong
celibacy, but are in all other respects undistin-
guishable from ordinary house-holders. Alcohol
is strictly forbidden amongst them. Almost all
of them, however, are in the habit of consuming
large quantities of ganja. Their number is very
small in this district, not exceeding, I think,
about 100 souls.
The broad distriction, however, to be made as
regards those who consume ganja and those who
do not, is that, as a rule, ganja smoking is confined
to the lower classes of the people, and is extremely
rare amongst the higher classes. It is the day-
labourers, artisans, cultivators, boatmen and such
like that consume the greatest amount of ganja.
The boatman of East Bengal are conspicuous for
ganja smoking and have been referred to else¬
where. In this district the cultivators of the
Barindra (see Mr. O'Donnel's Census Report
Volume III, page 2) are very much addicted to
ganja. They seem to think that ganja is capable
of averting malarial fever. The notion, however,
seems to be erroneous, as the females of this tract
are remarkably healthier and robuster than the
males. It is the males who consume ganja. The
females are not addicted to ganja smoking.
The question as to what proportion of the people
consume ganja is, I think, almost impossible to
answer, even for a limited tract of country.
In Malda we have at present 60 ganja shops
dotted over the whole district. There is nothing
to show that the localities of these shops have been
selected with reference to the number of consumers
to be supplied from each shop. The consumption
of ganja no doubt varies from shop to shop; but
beyond that we have got no other data to show
the number of persons who take their supply from
any of these shops. Again, in making an estimate
of the number of consumers, we must bear in mind
that ganja is always consumed in company, and
that for each person purchasing ganja from the
licensed shop, we have generally two or three
others who do not come to the shop at all, and who
often do not have to pay anything, but are able to
satisfy their taste for ganja by the liberality of
their wealthier
companions.
The only way that suggests itself to me for
determining the number of persons who consume
ganja in any locality is, first, to ascertain the
average daily consumption of ganja of a ganja
smoker and the average consumption of ganja
from the licensed shops of that locality.
Thus, taking the district of Malda, I have tried
to shew in my answer to question 26 that it would
be as near the truth as possible to take the daily
average consumption of a man to be two pice
worth of ganja. In a month, therefore, he con-