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217. Evidence of BABU BEPRODAS BANERJEE,* Brahman, Pleader, Newspaper
Editor, and Chairman, Baraset
Municipality.
1. I have known lots of hemp and charas
smokers; have seen Hindu and Musalman men-
dicants, religious ascetics, use ganja and siddhi;
and have also seen ganja and siddhi used in
temples.
2. Yes.
3. Ganja chiefly grows in Rajshahi. But
since the duty has been enormously raised, ganja is
clandestinely cultivated.
Large jars (jalas)
are filled with earth and planted. Ordinarily one
plant is in one jar. One plant generally produces
about three seers of ganja. The jars are kept on
roofs, or on places where they cannot ordinarily
be seen. These plants seldom give out charas or
first class siddhi. Gorakhpur produces the best
charas. But the use of charas has very much
diminished in Bengal during the last thirty years.
4. Ganja is the generic name throughout India.
Charas ditto. Siddhi called subji, patti, pata
or bhang.
5. I cannot speak with any authority.
6. Scattered, so far as I am aware.
7. I know Rajshahi charas is not produced in
Bengal proper.
8. Ganja cultivation is decreasing.
As an
industry it is not so profitable now. The cause
is the enormous increase in the duty. Another
cause is the dislike of the higher classes to use
ganja. Fifty years ago they used to smoke it in
large numbers. Now "ganja smoker" is a
term of abuse. The same is the case with charas
and siddhi. Majum is a preparation of bhang.
It is an oblong-shaped sweetmeat. At present
its use is confined solely to up-country men.
10. Ordinary cultivators.
11. Not ordinarily. All plants do not produce
seeds which germinate. They reserve some plants
for seeds. The flowers are not broken for use as
ganja.
13. The Government have better information
than I can give. The Collector of Rajshahi must
be an authority in this matter. I have seen ganja
plants in Jonoargunge in the district of Chittagong.
14. (a) Yes.
(b) No.
(c) Yes.
Largely in Rajshahi.
16. Ganja and bhang can be prepared every-
where, but not charas. This comes from Gorakhpur
and Nepal. It seems to me that a rocky soil and
cold climate are necessary to enable the plant to
exude charas.
17. By cultivators. Majum is prepared by a
class of confectioners who reside in large cities.
Bara Bazar is the only place in this part of the
country where majum is made.
18. I have asked pacca ganja smokers. They
say that, if kept out of damp, these do not lose
their properties at least for five years. Siddhi,
they say, won't last for more than two years.. The
older the charas the greater is its flavor and
strength. This is what the topers say.
19. Ganja and charas are used only for smok-
ing. A sort of majum is prepared from ganja.
Some opium (guli) smokers use ganja with semi-
liquid opium. This they call "grape shot" on
account of its intoxicating power. Its specific
name is then "jashu."
20. As a rule the educated classes abstain from
ganja and charas. The latter was formerly the
intoxicant of the bhadrolok. At present few
high class men use them; it is the lower classes
who use them everywhere.
Sadhus, both
Hindus and Muhammadans, almost invariably
use ganja and charas when they can afford to
buy it (charas). Mehters, carriage drivers,
khansamas, tailors, itinerant musicians, men con-
nected with mosques and temples are ganja
smokers. They are used in every part of India.
21. Round ganja is preferred in the North-
West and flat in Bengal. But to smokers both
kinds are welcome.
22. Gorakhpur and Nepal.
23. Very seldom. But, as a variety, it is
smoked everywhere in India.
24. Bhang is seldom eaten. Punjab people
eat it when they cannot powder it. It is drunk
in every part of India. Sepoys are specially fond
of it and daily use it. In all temples dedicated
to Siva bhang must be used in drinking and pour-
ing on the head of the idol. The Maharaja of
Benares gives bhang for use in the temple of
Bisheshwar.
25. Ganja and charas are certainly not now
used as before, though this decrease has taken
place amongst the higher classes. As regards
the others, they are in as much demand as before.
The only restriction is the high price. Formerly
one pice worth of ganja was sufficient for twelve
smokes. At present it is barely sufficient for one
full smoke.
26. (a) Most men who use it.
(b) Spendthrifts and Musalman fakirs and Hin-
du sanyasis.
(c) Seldom any, as far as I am aware. A
ganja smoker is a regular smoker.
(d) Spendthrifts and religious mendicants, etc.
27. Generally poor people undergoing hard
labour. This is their only stimulant. Religious
mendicants, who have often to live under trees,
in jungles, on mountains, etc., exposed to all
weathers, are of necessity ganja smokers. They
say that a man can better contemplate God after
a hearty smoke of ganja. Ganja smokers come
from all classes of the people.
28. (a) Four smokes (chillums) a day.
(b) Twelve to twenty. This I gather from
pacca smokers.
29. Tobacco leaf with ganja.
Prepared to-
bacco with charas.
Very seldom dhatura is
mixed by religious mendicants, and that when it
is too rainy or too cold. Bhang massala is not
used in this part of the country. A preparation
so called is given to horses when they do not
drink water.
30. Children do not smoke ganja. The greatest
smoker won't allow it. Very few women smoke
* Was invited to attend at a meeting of the Commission for oral examination, but failed to appear.