30
REPORT OF THE INDIAN HEMP DRUGS COMMISSION, 1893-94.
[APP.
26. Before quitting this part of the subject I ought to mention that these and other
Native States not only adjoin, but are interlaced and intermixed with British territory.
There are numerous native villages scattered over our districts, and in some cases considerable
tracts entirely surrounded by British possessions. The capital and a great part of the
Chirkari State is situated in the middle of the Hamirpur district. All these places serve as
centres from which excisable commodities are freely smuggled into our territory. The country
being wild and mountainous prevention is impossible.
I have elsewhere mentioned that a small quantity of very inferior illicit ganja is intro-
duced from Nepal. I am told that there recently used to be authorized import of an inferior
sort of ganja known as Mahadewa from Nepal; but I have been unable to verify this or get a
specimen.
A little pathar ganja still comes from Indore. The supply from this quarter used to be
large. Ganja of a potent sort is said to be also procurable in Rewah, but whether of local
growth or imported from the Central Provinces is not clear.
A small amount of ganja is exported from Bahraich into Nepal. It is imported
ganja.
27. I have mentioned all the sources, so far as I can discover, from which ganja is at
present imported. But within recent years ganja in considerable quantities has been brought
from places further south. Holkar's territory, Berar, Mewar, Nasik, Nasirabad, and Khandesh,
and perhaps other places in the Bombay Presidency are sources from which supplies have
been drawn within the last ten years. Latterly, however, the proximity of Khandwa and
Gwalior and the cheapness of the drug there seem to have given them a monopoly of the
business in pathar. But in considering the possible sources of supply, the places I have
mentioned should not be overlooked.
28. The great bulk of the charas consumed in these provinces is brought from Yarkand
and Bokhara. It comes through the Punjab, and the Commission can procure there better
information than I can give them concerning its manufacture, quality, transport, &c. Some
information on the subject will be found in my predecessor's letter of 29th August 1881 to
the address of the Board of Revenue, of which a copy, I understand, has been supplied by the
Board to the Commission. I am told by the traders that the charas from Central Asia is
now less pure than it used to be. It is also much cheaper at present than it was some years
ago, but the price is liable to considerable fluctuations.
29. The other sources of supply are Nepal and our own hill districts, Almora and
Garhwal, A small amount also finds its way from Thibet into both British and Native
Garhwal. A little is also sent from Garhwal into Thibet. The drug imported from Nepal
is known as Shahjahani or Saljahani charas and is introduced through the Bahraich district from
Nepalganj. A small amount is also introduced from Nepal into British Garhwal or Kumaun.
I append a report by the Deputy Commissioner of Bahraich describing the method of produc-
tion and manufacture. His information was, I believe, derived from the Nepalese frontier
officials and the local traders. This charas is of a very superior quality and commands a high
price; Rs. 10, 1st quality, and Rs. 3, 2nd quality, per seer. At present it seems all to go to
Lucknow, where it is retailed at Rs. 35 or Rs. 40 per seer. Some used to be sent to Cawnpore.
The importation appears to have fallen off, as the Yarkand charas has become cheaper, but its
better quality still secures a market for the Shahjahani drug.
Dr. Watt states on the authority of Dr. Gimlette that Nepal charas sells in Katmandu
for Rs. 2 and in the Tarai at Rs. 3 per tola (Rs. 160 and Rs. 240 per seer). If these figures are
correct, they show how enormously the drug must be adulterated before it reaches our market.
I remember once hearing that very superior Nepal charas has been sold in Lucknow at its
own weight in gold. This source of supply could, no doubt, be again largely extended if
the demand arose. I believe the amount at present imported is from 25 to 50 maunds
a year.
30. The hemp plant, I should add, is also cultivated in the Native Hill State of Tehri
Garhwal, but none of the products which include charas are said to be imported into our dis-
tricts at present.
31. The whole of the charas produced in the Himalayan hill districts is locally consumed
and is also supplemented by the import of Yarkand drug which is cheaper and which is said
also to be gaining favour because it is more potent. I find it difficult to believe this latter
statement because I have little doubt the Himalayan charas is much the purer. It has been
described to me as milder (colder) and less injurious than the other. This can best be settled
by a chemical analysis, and for this purpose I am procuring specimens, which will be submitted.
Possibly the more pungent taste of the Yarkand charas may be due to substances with which it
is adulterated. But that it contains more of the true hemp resin I find it difficult to believe.
My predecessor appears to have been misled in describing the Kumaun charas as inferior.
The price paid by the contractor is from Rs. 5 to 8 per seer, about twice or thrice the price
of the imported charas. It is difficult to estimate the amount of the annual produce, as much
of it is consumed by the people who make it, or is illicitly sold. So far as the contractors'