( 10 )
off ; such tops must be detached from the pieces of twig that fall aside if they
are not to be lost altogether ; from every 100 seers of 'round' g á n j á
m a d e ,
about 15 seers of 'broken'g á n j á
result in this way alone. In the case of
'round ' gánjá the chúr is a perquisite of the buyer ; in those cases where the
cultivator and not the dealer is in charge of the manufacture, as much care as
possible is therefore taken to keep down the amount produced. Chúr is exported
in bags containing a maund; these bags are 3 feet high, 1 foot 6 inches across,
and 5 feet round.
The following table will explain at a glance the precise relationship of the
various named kinds of gánjá:—
TABLE II. —Relationship of the several
kinds of Gánjá.
Broken, or chúr gánjá, is also called rorá ; 1 this name, however, is very
rarely used. Chúr gánjá has already been described and accurately defined
in Mr. Kerr's Report, but, as recent writings show, its nature is still mis-
understood, and the opinion has even been expressed that chúr is a sub-
stance more like charas than gánjá, with the narcotic in a somewhat different
chemical condition. 2 As this opinion has found its way into works of the
highest authority, it is therefore necessary to repeat, first, that the 'narcotic '
of charas and of gánjá is the same thing ; and second, that chúr is not different,
either physically or chemically, from gánjá. Chúr is gánjá ; all gánjá has to be
broken, that is, becomes chúr, before it can be used.
In certain parts of the Western Himalaya the name gánjá is slightly
differently applied. Sometimes plants intended to yield siddhi (bhang) are
stripped of their leaves but left to grow. The result of this treatment is that
the buds in the angles between the leaves and the stem break out into small
leafy shoots all along the plant. These small tufted shoots when collected are
called gánjá to distinguish them from ordinary bhang. But they are employed as
bhang is, and the use of the other word only shows that no real gánjá is produced
in these districts. The rationale of the act is simple and sound ; the people know
that old leaves, for a reason already explained, are of little value ; instead,
therefore, of merely rejecting them at harvest, like the people on the plains,
they sensibly strip them while the plant is growing, and so induce a 'flush'
of young leaves which must all be full of 'narcotic.'
In many parts of India, however, inferior, but still genuine, gánjá is really
produced. The best qualities of this are perhaps those of the Malabar coast in
Western India and of Orissa—the Tributary Mahals—in Eastern India; the last-
mentioned is the gánjá known in the Excise Manual as 'G u r j a t ' g
á n j
á .
B u t t h e
Tributary Mahals of Chutia Nagpur, as well as Central India and Gwalior State,
produce considerable quantities of this gá njá. It is clearly cultivated in every
case, and apparently the male plant is eradicated, but not so early or so complete-
ly in as Northern Bengal. In the manufacture, too, drying is not so carefully
attended to, and a fermentation-process that occurs gives these gánjá s usually a
heavy, rancid, disagreeable odour. The leaves, too, are less completely removed,
and the gánjá as a commercial article is so inferior that in the North-Western
Provinces, where the two are on practically an equal footing as to transit charges,
Rajshahi gá njá sells at six annas a tola, whereas the Central India and Gwalior
gá njá sells at six pies for the same quantity.
1 H. C. Kerr, Report, p. 28.
2 Watt, Dict, ii, 115.