CH. VII.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 113
Punjab.
299. The comparatively unimportant subject of the bhang trade may be
disposed of in a few words. The mass of the bhang
consumed is collected within the province mostly
from the wild growth. There is a considerable import from over the Kashmir
frontier which, the Excise Commissioner remarks, may be regarded as local
production, for the plant is collected at no great distance from the border. There
is a small import from the direction of Kabul also. It has been seen that a certain
quantity of bhang passes out into the North-Western Provinces. It is probable
that the bhang produced from cultivation is mostly consumed at home, and that
very little of it, if any, passes on to the market. The amount shown as sold
by retail vendors approaches 4,000 maunds.
Import of charas.
300. Nearly the whole of the charas supply of India comes through the
Punjab. The Excise Commissioner estimates that
in 1892-93 the total import amounted to 5,000
maunds; that this was an exceptional year, and that in ordinary years it is
between 3,000 and 4,000 maunds. When examining the trade of the North-
Western Provinces, information was quoted from the Joint Commissioner, Ladakh,
about the kinds of charas which pass under the names of Bokhara and Yarkand,
and the routes by which the two articles are imported into India. The Joint
Commissioner, in this case Captain Ramsay, reported to the Financial Commis-
sioner, Punjab, in August 1888, on the subject of the charas trade. In this report
he writes: " Charas is produced chiefly in the vicinity of Yarkand. It grows at
Bokhara and other places in Turkestan, but I have been informed that the
Russians have prohibited its cultivation within their dominions, and that supplies
of the drug are now obtained almost entirely from Yarkand territory. The
finest charas does not find its way into Ladakh, but is exported to Bokhara and
other places." He proceeds to give some interesting details of the trade: " The
reported value of the charas is fictitious for this reason that the Yarkandis
bring their charas to Leh, and there meet Indian traders who take their charas
in exchange for piece-goods and other Indian articles. Each party over-values
his goods, hence the reputed value of both charas and piece-goods, etc., is from
10 to 20 per cent. in excess of the real value." He then shows that the trade has
a strong spice of gambling about it: "It will be observed that the fluctuations in
the price of charas are very great, and this fact has led two of my predecessors
and myself to express opinions hostile to the fostering of this particular branch of
our Central Asian trade on the ground that all charas dealings partake rather
of the nature of a gambling transaction than of legitimate trade. The price
fixed for charas at Leh is almost entirely speculative. The charas is intended
for sale in the Punjab, but none but license-holders are permitted to sell charas
there; the consequence is that when merchants take their charas to the Punjab,
they are obliged to sell it for such price as the license-holders will pay. The
charas cannot be kept in India, as it goes bad after a year, and it cannot be
taken back on account of the cost of transport. The down country license-
holder is therefore in a position to fix the price of the drug. Nevertheless large
profits are sometimes made on charas taken down for sale, and thus the trade
continues to thrive." These remarks appear to be just, though it may not be
correct to say that charas goes bad in quite so short a time as one year. The
charas having arrived at Leh, and having apparently passed into the hands of
Indian traders, is taken to the Punjab by two routes, via Kashmir and viá Kulu.
29