INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION.
EVIDENCE OF BENGAL WITNESSES.
1. Evidence of the HON'BLE MR. D. R. LYALL, C.S.I., Member, Board of Revenue,
Calcutta.
1. I have been in the service of Government
for over 32 years, and have been in charge of the
Districts of Dacca, Tippera, Faridpur, Howrah,
and the 24-Parganas. I have also been Com-
missioner of the Dacca, Presidency, Chittagong,
and Patna Divisions, and have been also Inspector-
General of Police, and now am Member of the
Board of Revenue and in charge of Excise. In
all these capacities I have had opportunities of
obtaining information and have been Administrator
of Excise in the districts above named. I never
made this branch over to a Deputy Collector,
except in the 24-Parganas, and even there I kept
administration largely in my own hands.
2. The definitions are those current in Bengal.
3. I know no district in all Bengal in which the
hemp plant does not grow spontaneously. Per-
sonally I have noticed it most in Champaran and
Tippera, but it is common everywhere.
4. See reply to 2.
So far as I know the plant is the same every-
where.
5. See reply to No. 3.
6. Generally scattered, but I have seen also
considerable fields of it.
7. (a) Yes, about Naogaon.
(b) No.
(c) Yes, in Bhagalpur and Monghyr chiefly,
but also elsewhere to a smaller extent.
(d) To a smaller extent only.
8. There is not much variation. The amount
of land cultivated since 1877-78 for ganja is as
follows:—
Year
1877-78. 1878-79. 1879-80. 1880-81. 1881-82. 1882-83. 1883-84.
Bighas
2,103
1,446
1,388
2,235
2,861
1,991
2,494
Year
1884-85. 1885-86. 1886-87. 1887-88. 1888-89. 1889-90. 1890-91.
Bighas
2,015
1,361
2,192
1,780
2,433
2,408
2,670
Year
1891-92. 1892-93.
Bighas
1,316
3,540
We have no details of the area under bhang
cultivation.
9. I can say nothing that is not to be found in
Babu Hem Chander Ker and Dr. Prain's reports.
10. Same class as other cultivators.
11. Never; so far as I know.
12. No, it is never so cultivated, so far as I am
aware.
13. No man can legally cultivate plants from
which intoxicating drugs are produced without a
pass from the Collector. These are only given in
the tract round Naogaon in the Districts of Raj-
shahi, Bogra and Dinajpur.
See reply to 3. I believe ganja could be
grown equally well anywhere. It used to be
grown in Jessore.
14. (a) Ganja in the parts above designated,
the crop being generally six to eight thousand
maunds. The highest since 1877-78 is 9,448
maunds in that year, and the lowest 3,768 in
the year following. Last year it was 7,575.
(b) None made.
(c) Bhang is chiefly grown in Bhagalpur and
Monghyr.
15. I can add nothing to the information given
by Dr. Prain.
16. (a) Yes.
(b) Yes.
(c) No. By this reply, I mean that the amount
of resin in the wild plant is so small as to be
practically of no use as ganja or charas.
17. Not confined to one class.
18. I agree with what Dr. Prain has written
on this point. Ganja is absolutely useless, as now
kept, after two years. The result of Dr. Prain's
experiments will prove whether it will keep under
other conditions.
19. Solely for smoking, so far as I have seen.
20. Charas is little used. Ganja is chiefly
used by the lower classes, and Bairagies, and such
like.
21. What is smoked is the same thing, i.e., the
flower and resin whether it comes from flat, round
or chur. Round is more used round Calcutta, but
in reality there is no difference, and the use of
one kind more than another is quite arbitrary.
22. The dealers buy at Amballa chiefly. All
that is used is foreign and comes from the hills.
23. I have never seen or known it to be so used,
but have heard of it being so used in Orissa.
24. There was not in 1891-92 a single bhang
license in the Rajshahi Division. Only 3 in
Chittagong, 6 in Dacca, 8 in Orissa, and 9 in
Bhagalpur. In the Burdwan Division there were
72, in the Presidency Division 67, in Patna 73,
and in Chota Nagpur 33. It is chiefly drunk. I
do not think there are classes who eat and do not
drink.
25. The consumption of ganja varies little. In
the five years, 1875-76 to 1879-80 it averaged 6,778
maunds a year; in the next five years, 5,871; in
1885-86 to 1889-90 it was 6,209, and in the last
three years, 5,741. The highest consumption was in
D