NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
44 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
been chiefly carried on during the last twenty years are Nagpur and Nimar, but
up to the year 1878-79 licenses for cultivation of small areas were granted in
one year or other in twelve other districts, of which Wardha and Chhindwara were
the most important. From this year cultivation was confined to Nagpur and Nimar.
It gradually fell off in the former of these districts, and since 1890-91 it has been
restricted by law to the Nimar district. The Deputy Commissioner of Nimar now
reports that "ganja is grown in sixty or seventy villages in Nimar. The culti-
vation is confined to the western half of the Khandwa tahsil." And he gives
the following figures of area for the last three years:—
Acres.
1890-91
477
1891-92
963
1892-93
984
The figures of cultivation in Ex-
cise memorandum to be corrected
by figures given by Deputy Com-
missioner, Nimar.
116. Mr. Robertson's figures for the last twenty years frequently differ from
those of the Excise Commissioner's tables, and he
explains that they "represent the area actually cul-
tivated, not the area for which the licenses were
granted. The latter is almost always in excess, as
the cultivator generally asks for a license for more land than he means to plant
in order to ensure against his being proceeded against for excess cultivation."
This explanation, applied to Nagpur as well as Nimar, may perhaps account
in some degree for the abnormally high figures of cultivation shown by the
Excise Commissioner in 1877-78, 1884-85, and 1885-86; but it will be seen
that in 1884-85 the quantity of ganja deposited in the central stores was
unprecedentedly high also (paragraph 32, Excise Memorandum). If the excess
Nimar cultivation be deducted and the year 1878-79, in which the figures
agree, be included, it will be found that the total area of cultivation has gone
above 1,000 acres in only four years, viz.—
Acres.
1877-78
1,605
1878-79
1,285
1884-85
1,166
1885-86
1,659
The normal acreage of cultiva-
tion.
117. Between these years of high figures will be found, after making similar
deduction in 1882-83, a period of great depression,
viz., from 1879-80 to 1882-83. The Excise memo-
randum shows that the whole of this period from 1877-78 to 1885-86 was mark-
ed by drastic changes in the excise arrangements, and it may be noted that it
was coincident with extensive cultivation in the neighbouring Bombay district
of Khandesh. Matters then settled down, and the normal demand under present
arrangements seems to be met by cultivation closely approaching 950 acres.
For 1891-92 the Deputy Commissioner's figures of 963 acres is taken in prefer-
ence to the Excise Commissioner's 653 acres. Abnormally low figures are
found in 1887-88 and 1890-91, which are probably to be accounted for by a
surfeit of stock from previous years.
Illicit cultivation is rare.
118. The desultory and illicit cultivation, if carried on at all, is confined to
gardens and backyards, and is never to be found in
open fields. The authorities believe that it has been
practically suppressed, and the Commission have heard so little of its existence
46 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
probable that the Collector here, as elsewhere, has confounded the area of the
narcotic hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) with the fibre hemp (Crotalaria juncea),
which is a totally distinct plant.
The Board has been informed by Mr.
Benson, Deputy Director, Agricultural Branch of the Board of Revenue,
that the Cannabis sativa is never grown in this Presidency for fibre, and that
the hemp plant grown for fibre must be the Crotalaria
juncea."
Under
these circumstances it is useless to make a detailed examination of the figures
of cultivation for past years, and there is little chance of its being possible to
arrive at any definite conclusion as to whether the area of regular cultivation
tends to increase or decrease. The area under regular cultivation in 1893-94
appears from the statistical table and the correspondence arising out of it to be
as follows:—
Acres.
Cents.
Ganjam
0
62
Godavari
1
12
Kistna
201
7
Kurnool
5
0
North Arcot
77
0
Coimbatore
50
0
Nilgiris
2
0
Nellore
1
44
South Canara
7
0
Total
345
25
But in Mr. Horne's memorandum South Arcot and Cuddapah are credited
with 5 and 30 acres respectively, which would raise the total to 380 acres. It
may, however, be doubted in view of Mr. Benson's statement that cultivation in
Cuddapah has been abandoned, and of the fact that fibre is mentioned in con-
nection with the cultivation in South Arcot, whether this cultivation really exists.
The North Arcot area was 200 acres for 1892-93, and the fall in 1893-94 is said
to be due to the restriction of the trade in the drugs and to the absence of season-
able rains in the hills. The total area of 350 acres is probably under the mark.
Home cultivation common, but
probably decreasing.
122. The evidence leaves no doubt that the home cultivation of a few plants is
carried on in nearly every district in the Presidency,
and it is difficult to believe in view of its general
prevalence that it is altogether non-existent in Madras, Chingleput, and Tanjore
notwithstanding the direct negative of the Collectors of the last two districts.
On the other hand, there is reason to think that the regulation of the traffic in the
drugs, which was introduced in 1889, and has been applied with greater care and
stringency in recent years, has created the impression in the minds of the people
that the cultivation is illegal. The occasional action of preventive officers in warn-
ing growers of casual plants, and perhaps in causing the plants to be uprooted in
some instances, may have enforced this idea. The result on the balance of evid-
ence seems to have been to reduce this kind of cultivation, and it is quite possi-
ble that many of the witnesses who depose to the existence of it are speaking
from memory and experience rather than from recent observation. The Collector
of Cuddapah, a district where there is reason to suspect the existence of a small
amount of field cultivation as well as much home growth, argues that the excise
48 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
dealers. The whole of the homestead cultivation must, therefore, be re-
garded as entering into the licensed consumption. Looking to the extent of
this cultivation throughout the Presidency, and especially in the hill tracts of the
north and south, it will not be extravagant to say that the total area in which
the hemp plant is cultivated is perhaps double that of the regular field cultiva-
tion.
Madras States.
Sondur, Banganapalle, Pudu-
kottai, Travancore, and Cochin.
124. The only cultivation reported is two acres in Banganapalle. But the
plant is found uncultivated in Travancore, and there
is reason to believe that in this part of India the spon-
taneous growth is associated very intimately with
cultivation. It may therefore be inferred, in spite of the fact that the drugs
are imported, that there is some home cultivation in that State. And from the
survey of the whole Presidency, which showed a general prevalence of home culti-
vation, it may be presumed that it is to be found in all the States, more
commonly in Travancore than elsewhere, owing to the country being more favour-
able to the growth on account of a great part of it being hill land. It appears
also that in Travancore the Kanekars, a hill tribe, are allowed to grow the drug
for their own consumption.
Bombay.
Extent of regular cultivation.
125. The districts in which the regular cultivation of hemp is now principally
carried on are Ahmednagar and Satara, and their
acreage for the last eight years is as follows:—
Ahmednagar.
Satara.
Acres.
Acres.
1885-86
1,030
411
1886-87
789
558
1887-88
637
173
1888-89
268
170
1889-90
830
368
1890-91
605
471
1891-92
676
317
1892-93
382
299
In the following districts also there is a small extent of regular cultivation:—
Five
years' average.
Khandesh
Acres.
30
Poona
12
Nasik
16
Sholapur
46
Bijapur
4
Broach
1/4
Surat
11
These figures are taken from the table submitted by witness 49, Superin-
tendent, Office of Survey Commissioner and Director of Land Records and Agri-
culture, because it is more complete than the statistics furnished by the Com-
missioner of Abkari, and probably more correct. In the year 1885-86 Khandesh
grew as much as 311 acres, but the area has now fallen to 9 and 10 acres in the
last two years. The district adjoins the Central Provinces district of Nimar,
Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, August 1894.
A GANJA FIELD, KHANDESH.
CH. IV.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 49
and its hemp cultivation has probably been checked by the excise system of the
latter province, which underwent important changes about the year mentioned
above.
Cultivation decreasing.
126. The total cultivation of the Presidency, excluding Sind, for the last eight
years is as follows:-
Acres.
Acres.
1885-86
1,844
1889-90
1,341
1886-87
1,488
1890-91
1,201
1887-88
904
1891-92
1,093
1888-89
533
1892-93
812
One or two witnesses hint rather than indicate specifically the existence of
cultivation in the Ahmedabad and Kaira districts of the Guzerat Division and in
Thana in the Konkan. But there is certainly no regular field cultivation in these
districts. Except about twelve acres in Surat and Broach for the production of
what is called bhang, the whole cultivation is practically confined to the Deccan
or Central Division. It has been suggested that the excise system of the Central
Provinces is to account for the fall of the cultivation in Khandesh from the
high acreage of 1885-86, and it may have affected districts at a greater dis-
tance from the frontier. But it can hardly be accepted as the explanation of the
extraordinarily low figure of 1888-89. The reduction in this year was shared by
the four contiguous districts in the southern part of the Central Division and not by
the districts of Nasik and Khandesh in the northern part, and was probably
due to an unfavourable season. There is no official explanation of it. In the suc-
ceeding year cultivation recovered, but has since shown a steady decrease. Wit-
nesses state that the irksome conditions imposed by the excise system render the
cultivation unpopular, though it is not burdened with any direct tax or license.
This may well be the cause of the decrease.
Home cultivation is rare.
127. Regarding homestead cultivation, the Collector of Thana writes:
"The plant is not cultivated in the Konkan as a
field crop, nor even as a market crop in gardens, but
it occurs in small numbers in many private gardens, and I have seen specimens
that seemed to me to be self-sown, and afterwards taken care of by the garden-
ers." This is the only positive evidence of the existence of such cultivation in
British territory in the Bombay Presidency, though there are to be found hints that
it is carried on to a very small extent in the Ahmednagar and Dharwar districts
in the present day, and some definite information that it was formerly practised
more widely. It seems certain that the extent of it in British territory is now
absolutely insignificant.
Native states.
The south of the Fresidency.
128. The Bombay Presidency contains a great number of Native States
whose lands are intermixed with British territory
in a very complicated manner. Sometimes they
are constituted into separate political charges, and some are under the poli-
tical supervision of Collectors of British districts. In the Southern Maratha
Country, Kolhapur with many smaller States forms a political charge covering a
very considerable area. The leading State has prohibited the cultivation of hemp,
but the following minor States allow it with in some cases the restriction of a
13
50 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
license and the regulations as to sale of the produce which exist in British
territory:—
Acres.
Sangli
44
Miraj (junior)
13
Jath
30
Jamkhandi
60
Total
147
There are also ten acres of regular cultivation in the Aundh State under the
Satara Agency, which lies in the Deccan Division. There is no information of
any homestead cultivation in the States in the south of the Presidency, nor of
field cultivation in any State except those named above.
The north of the Presidency.
129. Turning northwards, there is no evidence of any cultivation till Baroda is
passed. This State is under the direct control of
the Government of India, and may be dealt with
separately. In the Rewa Kantha Agency the plant is not cultivated at all. In
the Palanpur Superintendency the authorities of Palanpur and Radhanpur re-
port that there is no regular cultivation, but the plant springs up spontaneously
to a very small extent in irrigated lands, and in fields situated on river banks
and beside water. The information seems to imply that the plants are tended,
and from Palanpur it is stated definitely that the plant is sometimes grown in
gardens. It may be noted that a small import of bhang from Palanpur into
the Bombay district is said to occur. The same state of things probably
prevails in the Mahi Kantha Agency; for though it is reported from Idar, the
principal State, that there is no cultivation, the Native Assistant to the Political
Agent states that the plant is not cultivated "to any extent," clearly implying
that there is some cultivation. And matters are not very dissimilar in Kathia-
war, for the Assistant Political Agents in charge of the Halar and Gohilwad
Prants write that there is no cultivation for the market, but in some places a
few plants are reared in sugarcane fields and wadas for home consumption and
gifts to holy men. The report from the State of Cutch describes similar culti-
vation. A witness of Hyderabad (Sind) states that ganja is imported from
Panvel and Cutch. This may, and probably does, mean that it comes through
Cutch from Panvel, a place near Bombay, where a wholesale business is
carried on.
Sind and Khairpur.
130. There is a certain amount of cultivation in Sind for bhang, principally in
the Shikarpur district, and some in the Khairpur
State also.
The average areas for quinquennial
periods during the last twenty years and for the year 1892-93 are given below:—
Acres.
1st period
87
2nd
"
95
Karachi
3rd "
140
4th "
81
1892-93
65
CH. IV.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 51
Acres.
1st period
15
2nd
"
Hyderabad
3rd
"
5
4th
"
14
1892-93
3
1st period
164
2nd
" 175
Shikarpur
3rd
" 143
4th
" 166
1892-93
231
1st
period
3
2nd
" Fraction.
Upper Sind
Frontier. 3rd
"
"
4th
"
"
1892-93
1st period
156
2nd
" 151
Khairpur
3rd
" 168
4th
" 84
1892-93
38
There has never been any cultivation in the Thar and Parkar district. The
total for the first period is 425 acres as compared with 337 acres for the year
1892-93. There has been a remarkable falling off in recent years in the
Karachi district and the Khairpur State, and 350 acres may now be taken as
the normal area of cultivation in Sind. The cultivation of isolated plants near
houses would appear to be extremely rare. The evidence does not speak of it.
Aden.
131. The hemp plant is not cultivated in Aden
at all.
Berar.
132. The cultivation of the hemp plant was not restricted in Berar until 1875,
and in that year a system of granting licenses, subject
to a fee of Rs. 8 irrespective of area, was introduced.
The system was modified in 1884, when the license fee was raised to Rs. 10
per acre. The total area cultivated since 1877-78 has been—
Acres.
Acres.
1877-78
85
1885-86
106
1878-79
94
1886-87
58
1879-80
241
1887-88
38
1880-81
139
1888-89
67
1881-82
143
1889-90
60
1882-83
84
1890-91
35
1883-84
87
1891-92
46
1884-85
80
1892-93
86
52 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
And it has been confined to three districts in all but the first of these years, the
figures for the last year being—
Acres.
Akola
51
1892-93. Amraoti
22
Buldana
13
Akola has always had the greatest area under the crop, the second place being
taken by each of the other districts in different periods. There appears to be
a tendency for the cultivation to increase in the last three years, which is probably
connected with the fact that in some talukas foreign ganja is being imported,
showing that the present production is not sufficient for the home market. Illicit
cultivation hardly exists at all.
Ajmere.
133. The memorandum from Ajmere reports an insignificant amount of culti-
vation for the production of bhang. In 1886 the total
area was reported to be 4 biswas. There is no restric-
tion on cultivation, but it is only carried on by malis and Hindu ascetics, and
the Brahmans of Pushkar. The District Superintendent of Police says that the
produce has fallen to 40 maunds, and the Abkari Inspector also states that the
cultivation is on the decrease. The extent of it would appear to depend a great
deal on the character of the season.
Coorg.
134. In Coorg cultivation is allowed under license, but no one undertakes it
openly. The spontaneous growth that springs up
near the huts of coolies and wild tribes, the Yeravas
and Kurubs, is sometimes fostered and tended. From the account of cultivation
given by witnesses (1) and (2), it would appear that the plant is sometimes
sown deliberately, and treated with some care. The extent of the whole culti-
vation must, however, be very trifling. It is reported that there have been eight
prosecutions for illicit cultivation in the last two years.
Baluchistan.
135. The Political Agent and Deputy Commissioner of Quetta and Pishin
reports that the hemp plant is cultivated to a very
small extent in one or two villages of the Quetta Sub-
division, and that the produce, which is sold to the contractor, amounted last year
to 12 sérs. In his evidence the Deputy Commissioner mentions the cultivating
village Ahmed Khanzai. The small quantity of the drug produced would seem to
indicate that it is charas. The Political Agent, Kalat, states that the plant is not
cultivated on land under the administration of the Political Agent, and that an
insignificant amount is grown in the territory of the Khan of Kalat. These
facts are corroborated by one witness.
Burma.
Extent of cultivation before the
prohibition.
136. It has already been seen from the evidence of Mr. Lewis (19) that the
hemp plant was formerly cultivated in Upper Burma.
And it would appear to have been cultivated on a
considerable scale, for it was the sole source of supply to the shops in Lower
Burma. The information collected by Mr. Bridges, Commissioner, Eastern Divi-
sion, though it shows that under Burmese rule the plant was not uncommonly reared
in yards and gardens, does not convey any idea of the extent of the culti-
vation in the days before prohibition, when the crop must have been worth grow-
CH. IV.] REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. 57
Bhadran, where bhang is made for home consumption. No narcotic hemp is
cultivated either for the production of charas or its flowers or seeds." The area
is about 10 to 12 bighas. It is also found in the compounds of sadhus, fakirs,
and other people who consume ganja or bhang. There is no reason to suppose
that this latter kind of cultivation is very common.
Kashmir.
148. The Governor of Kashmir and Jammu and the Member of Kashmir State
Council report that the plant is not cultivated. It
appears that the wild growth is abundant enough, and
develops the narcotic properties in sufficient degree to satisfy the wants of the
people.
Nepal.
149. The answers to questions received from the Nepal State through the
Resident, while alleging that no one cultivates
ganja, describe how the wild plant is nurtured and
treated, sometimes, it would appear, after being transplanted. This treatment
is said to require special skill (questions 2 and 10), and the inference is that
the industry is not followed by any large number of persons. The Bengal evid-
ence shows that Nepal charas used formerly to be consumed in that prov-
ince, but has now given way to that from the Punjab. But it is reported from
the North-Western Provinces that 25 to 50 maunds are still imported into
Lucknow. It would seem, therefore, that the industry is not inconsiderable. In
Royle's Fibrous Plants of India will be found quoted a report from Mr.
Hodgson, which shows that in the northern districts of Nepal the plant is
pretty extensively grown for fibre.
Summary.
150. The following table shows the total area of hemp cultivation in India as
far as it has been possible to state definite figures:—
Extent either ascertained or estimated of cultivation in the various Provinces
and States.
Province or State.
Area in
For what
REMARKS.
Province or State.
acres.
product.
REMARKS.
Bengal
824 Ganja
Average, five years.
North-Western Provinces—
Farakhabad and Hardoi
190
Bhang
Average,
do.
British Kumaon and Garhwal
830 Fibre
Reported.
Punjab
100
Bhang
Reported.
Central Provinces
950 Ganja
Average, ten years.
Madras
350
Do.
Reported.
Bombay—
British Territory
1,000
Do.
Average, five years.
Native States
157
Do.
Reported.
Sind and Khairpur
345 Bhang
Average, five years.
Berar
58 Ganja
Average,
do.
Ajmere
5 Bhang
Estimated.
Hyderabad
350 Ganja
Estimated.
Rajutana— Rajutana—
30 Bhang
Reported.
Jhallawar
30 Bhang
Reported.
Jaisalmir
10
Do.
Reported.
Shahpura
25
Do.
Reported.
Central India—
Indore
112
Ganja
Average, five years.
Gwalior
400
Do.
Reported.
Dewas
25
Do.
Reported.
Baroda
8 Bhang
Reported.
Total
5,769
Bhang
15
58 REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94. [CH. IV.
The only cultivation of any moment which has been omitted is that of those
States in Rajputana and Central India which have not been mentioned in the
table, and the irregular kind of cultivation which is carried on in the Madras
Presidency, the Garhjat States of Bengal, and the plains of the North-Western
Provinces. There is also a considerable area of fibre cultivation in the Native
States and British territory in the Himalayas which has not been taken into
account, and probably amounts to some hundreds of acres. Deducting the
fibre cultivation, which yields but little of the drugs, from the total area given in
the table, and making allowance for the narcotic cultivation which has been
omitted, the total area of cultivation in India for the drugs can hardly exceed
6,000 acres. The total Himalayan cultivation for fibre of the Punjab and
North-Western Provinces in the region extending from the borders of Nepal
to those of Kashmir may be taken on a liberal estimate at nearly double that
of Kumaon and British Garhwal, or 1,500 acres. It cannot be said that the
regular cultivation either of the mountains or the plains is shown to be increasing
or decreasing. In British territory the desultory kind of cultivation has either
been suppressed, as in Bengal, Assam, the Central Provinces, and Berar, or has
disappeared, as in Bombay, or is being abandoned as in Madras, the North-
-estern Provinces, and the Punjab.
Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, August 1894.
GANJA PLANT READY FOR CUTTING, SOME OF THE DRIED LEAVES
STILL ADHERING, NAOGAON.
16TH FEBRUARY 1894.
Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, August 1894.
SPECIMENS OF MALE (RIGHT) AND FEMALE (LEFT) HEMP PLANTS FROM THE SEED FIELD, KHANDWA.
28TH OCTOBER 1893.
Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, August 1894.
SPECIMENS OF MALE (RIGHT) AND FEMALE (LEFT) HEMP PLANTS FROM THE
SEED FIELD, KHANDWA.
28TH OCTOBER 1893.