Kaghan Valley
More actions
| Kaghan Valley | |
|---|---|
| ActiveGrown here in 2000 or later | |
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| Shogran and Kiwai seen from the Paye pastures above the Kaghan valley | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Growing Region | Lesser Himalayas (Pakistan) |
| Geography | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province/State | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| District | Mansehra District |
| Coordinates | 34.75, 73.54 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 2,600 km² |
| Terrain | The valley of the Kunhar river; approximately Balakot Tehsil |
| Growing history | |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 2 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Kaghan Valley is a landrace cannabis growing area in the valley of the Kunhar river, in Mansehra District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It lies in the Lesser Himalayas growing region. According to a flora of Mansehra district published in 1993, cannabis, called bhang, grew wild throughout the district, of which the valley's tehsil of Balakot was then a part.[1]: 63, 70 A survey of the valley's poisonous plants collected it there in 2012–13.[2]
The valley
The catchment of the Kunhar is commonly called the Kaghan Valley. It runs for 161 km, and Kayani and colleagues, citing a 2004 thesis, put its area at about 1,627 km². The Gujars, Swatis and Syeds are its main peoples; the Gujars are the most traditional of them and mostly nomads. Most of the valley's people are poor and depend on the forest for fuel wood, fodder, timber and medicinal plants.[2]: 128
The border of the growing area follows Balakot Tehsil.
Cannabis
In their flora of Mansehra, Imtiaz-ul-Haq and Manzoor Hussain give Cannabis sativa the name bhang in Urdu, Hindko and Pashto and write that it grows wild throughout the area. The plant was used as fuel, and its leaves were crushed with onion into a poultice for boils. Its dried leaves were taken as a drink, and the resin gathered from its leaves and flowering tops was smoked as charas.[1]: 70
S. Kayani and colleagues surveyed the valley between March 2012 and March 2013, at Balakot, Paras, Shogran, Kaghan, Naran, Lalazar, Gittidas and Babusar, and deposited their specimens in the herbarium of Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. Cannabis sativa, bhang, is one of the 62 poisonous plants they recorded, under voucher SK/KV/0016. Addicts smoke its dried leaves and bracts in cigarettes or pipes, and charas is used for its soothing and narcotic action.[2]: 129–130
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| NPG-PAK-UNK-0020230004 | Shugran General Population | |
| NPG-PAK-UNK-0020260002 | Shugran (Wild) General Population |
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See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Imtiaz-ul-Haq; Hussain, Manzoor (1993). "Medicinal plants of Mansehra" (PDF). Hamdard Medicus. 36 (3): 63–100.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kayani, S.; Ahmad, M.; Hussain, M.; Zafar, M.; Khan, M. A.; Shah, G. M. (2017). "Ethnotoxic profile of poisonous plants of Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas, Pakistan" (PDF). Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences. 27 (1): 128–135.