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31. Evidence of RAO BAHADUR RANGO RAMCHANDRA BHARDI, Deputy Collector and
Native Assistant to the Commissioner, Poona, Central Division.
1. I am a native of the Southern Mahratta
country, for which I have to give evidence, and
have served Government in different capacities in
the revenue branch for more than ten years in that
country. I have spent nearly the whole of that
period in the Dharwar district. I have served only
for a few months in the Belgaum and Bijapur
districts. During almost the whole period of my
service in the Dharwar district I was a travelling
officer. I had then opportunities of knowing the
habits and customs of the people of that district;
but cannot say that I then acquired such know
-
ledge of the subject as would enable me to answer
fully and properly the questions put to me by the
Commission. I am framing my answer to the
questions from the results of the enquiries that I
have recently made under the directions contained
in paragraph 1 of Government Resolution No.
6601, dated the 11th September 1893, Revenue
Department.
2. Dr. Prain's definition of ganja and charas
may be accepted for the Southern Mahratta
country. Ganja which is sold in that province is
flat ganja. Round ganja and chur or broken
ganja are unknown in that province. The defi
-
nition of bhang as given by Dr. Prain does not
hold good in that province, as ganja which is
reduced to powder either at the time when flat ganja
is prepared or subsequently when it is deposited in
bags or packages is sold as bhang there. Bhang
is locally known among the Canarese-speaking
people by the name of bhangi.
3 . T h e h e m p p l a n t d o e s n o t g r o w s p o n t a n e o u s l y
in any of the districts of which I have knowledge.
4, 5 and 6. Vide answer to the preceding
question.
7. Yes; for production of only ganja and bhang.
The cultivation of the plant for that purpose is
carried on only in the Bijapur district, and to a
very small extent. The area under such cultivation
in that district was 13 acres in 1892-93, 3 acres
in 1891-92, and only 1 acre in each of the preced
-
ing three years In the Dharwar district the
plant is not at all cultivated, and in the Belgaum
district only 2 acres were under its cultivation in
the year 1889-90. Since that year there has been
no cultivation of the plant in that district for any
purpose.
8. The figures given in the answer to the pre
-
ceding question will show that the area under such
cultivation is itself inconsiderable.
9. Mode of cultivation .—The land in which
ganja is to be grown is first ploughed with a
heavy hoe called ukki kunti and levelled. Ganja
seed is then drilled in it in July or August, the
process of sowing resembling in every respect
that of sowing ordinary jowari, but the space
between the rows being wider. If rainfall be not
sufficient, the crop is watered once or twice a week
Generally hand-weeding is resorted to in addition
to the use of a yedi kunti or grubber. When the
plants grow to a height of about two feet, the
operation of selecting and uprooting the male
plants by experts commences with a view to protect
the female plants from running into seed and thus
damaging the entire crop. When the plants grow
to maturity, which requires a period of about foul
months, the flowering tops and leaves are cut off
The height of a ganja plant ranges from 6 to
feet.
10. No; they are of the same classes as other
agricultural cultivators.
11 and 12. No.
13. The cultivation of the hemp plant for ganja
is, as already remarked in my answer to question
No. 7, carried on now to a very small extent only
in the Bijapur district. I am told that only
garden or irrigated land is fit for the cultivation
of the hemp plant for producing ganja, and that
localities where rainfall is heavy are unsuited to it.
I am unable to state what other special conditions
are necessary for the cultivation of the plant. The
only part of the Southern Mahratta country
where the cultivation of the plant would be impos
-
sible seems to me to be the western portion of the
Belgaum district and the western and the southern
portions of the Dharwar district.
14. Yes; only ganja and bhang are prepared,
but to a very small extent, in the Bijapur district.
Charas is nowhere prepared in the Southern
Mahratta country.
15. Manufacture of ganja and bhang .—The
flowering tops and leaves cut from the plants are
stacked in a place and trodden while in a green
state for three or fourd ays, and, when dried,
they are winnowed. The flowering tops flattened
constitute what is known as flat ganja, and the
powder formed during the process is used as
bhang.
Preparation of ganja for smoking.— After the
seeds and stems are picked out of flat ganja, it is
soaked in water and well cleansed. Then the
water is pressed out of it to the last drop, and it
is mixed with tobacco and smoked.
Use of bhang for eating majum in Dharwar.—
Bhang is levigated in a mortar with milk, and
then strained through a piece of cloth. This
strained liquid, with powdered nutmeg, mace,
saffron, and other spices, is mixed with simple
syrup prepared fresh. The mixture is then spread
on a wooden stool, and when it becomes hard it is
cut into pieces.
Majum in Hubli.— Bhang , on being fried in a
little of ghi, is nicely pounded and passed through
a piece of cloth. The powder, which is called
fakki, is then mixed with syrup prepared fresh.
The mixture is spread on a flat stone, and when it
becomes hard it is cut into pieces.
The mode of preparing majum adopted in the
Southern Mahratta country, as described above,
materially differs from that adopted in Poona,
which is as described below.
Ganja mixed with ghi, in the proportion of 2
seers to 1 seer of ghi, is boiled in water in a wide-
mouthed vessel. Water is from time to time
poured into it as it evaporates. After about 12
hours the decoction turns green, which is an in
-
dication that the ganja is well boiled. The decoc
-
tion is then strained through a piece of cloth, and
the ghi, which comes up when the decoction is
cooled, is used in preparing majum, yakuti,
gulkand, and shrikhand.
Majum and yakuti are cakes made of ghi thus
prepared and syrup mixed with different kinds of
spices and nutritious substances, and shrikhand is
made of ghi prepared as described above and
jaggery boiled. Yakuti differs from majum only
in respect of its containing saffron, which gives it a
yellowish colour.