60
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. V.
lost. Bhang is cultivated in Sind with similar precautions to prevent the fertilization
of the female plant as in Bengal, and the product is called nothing but bhang, and is
rarely used for anything but concocting drink and sweetmeats, the smoking
ganja being imported. Bhang is the ancient name of the plant. It is also the
name of the form of narcotic product which was earliest discovered, for it must
have taken time to learn the art of isolating the female plant and so producing
ganja. Bhang is also the name of the most simple style of consumption, viz., by
pounding and drinking, which must have preceded smoking. Naturally, there-
fore, bhang is a more comprehensive term than ganja, and often includes it,
especially where the production of ganja has not become a recognised industry.
In the Madras Presidency ganja is the more general term, so much so that
in some places the word bhang is hardly understood. This is probably due to
the hemp plant being only known to the people as cultivated for the production
of ganja.
Charas is not always the simple
resin.
154. Charas may not always be the pure resinous matter. It generally con-
tains leaf dust and other impurities picked up in the
process of manufacture. But it is hardly ever con-
founded with ganja or bhang. Its appearance, that of dark green or brown paste,
is distinct from that of both the other drugs. In Kashmir and the Punjab only
is the name ganja sometimes applied to charas, probably because charas is pre-
pared from the female or ganja plant (Governor of Kashmir). There is reason
to think that in some parts of Rajputana the distinction between charas and
ganja is not very strictly observed, and that the former name is occasionally
given to the latter drug.
Bengal.
155. In Bengal the hemp plant is grown solely for the production of ganja in
the area of regular and licensed cultivation. The
illicit cultivation which is to be found in insignifi-
cant quantity all over the province, and the character of which has been
described, yields for the most part bhang and not ganja fit for smoking. Ganja
of inferior quality is produced in the Tributary States of Orissa in considerable
quantity. In the Tributary States of the Chota Nagpur Division ganja of
the same quality is produced, but in less quantity. The cultivated product
of Hill Tippera appears to be still lower in the scale as regards quality, and
very little in quantity. It is proposed now to describe the skilled cultivation
of the Ganja Mahal, where the agricultural processes for the growth and pre-
paration of ganja have undoubtedly been brought to greater perfection than in
any other part of India, and, as far as information will allow, the more homely prac-
tices prevailing outside that tract. Babu Hem Chunder Kerr's report contains
a detailed account of the Rajshahi cultivation; Dr. Prain has given a brief out-
line of the mode of culture; and Mr. Price, Collector of the district of Rajshahi,
has submitted a sketch of the cultivators' business during each month of the
year. Babu Hem Chunder Kerr's report is the basis of the information furnished
by most witnesses. Endeavour will be made to compile a succinct account from
these materials.
Regular cultivation of the Ganja
Mahal: Preparation of the field.
156. Hemp is an exhausting crop, and requires a light, well-drained soil. It
appears that there is but a limited quantity of
thoroughly suitable ground in the Ganja Mahal,
and that there is a tendency to abandon the outlying lands and concentrate the