The History of Sumatra (Marsden 1783)
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| Author | William Marsden |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 1783 (2nd edition 1784; 3rd, enlarged edition 1811) |
| Publisher | Printed for the author; sold by Thomas Payne and Son (1783); Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown (1811) |
| Place | London |
| Pages | 76 (1783); 91 (1811) |
|---|---|
| Regions documented | Sumatra (Marsden gives no cultivation locality) |
| Preparations | Bang, a smoked intoxicating preparation; pipes with tobacco specified in 1811 |
| Uses documented | Smoking as an intoxicant |
| Digital facsimile | View on the Internet Archive |
|---|---|
| Original held at | National Library Board, Singapore (1783 edition digitised by Biodiversity Heritage Library) |
The History of Sumatra is an account of Sumatra by William Marsden, first published in London in 1783. Its author had served as secretary to the East India Company's settlement at Fort Marlborough, Bencoolen, on the west coast.[1] A second edition appeared in 1784 and an enlarged third edition in 1811.[2] In his discussion of cultivated plants, Marsden described cannabis grown for smoking and recorded the names ganjo for the plant and bang for its intoxicating preparation.[1]
Origins
The 1783 title page describes Marsden as a former secretary to the President and Council of Fort Marlborough and a Fellow of the Royal Society.[1] In his preface, Marsden said that little had been published in English by people who had lived on Sumatra.[2] The first edition was printed for the author and sold by Thomas Payne and Son.[1] The enlarged 1811 edition added plates, notes and material to the earlier text; its index lists the cannabis passage under “Hemp or ganja, its inebriating qualities”.[2]
The book
Marsden included cannabis in a survey of cultivated plants. In the 1783 edition, the sentence follows a note on twine made from the bark of a shrub he calls endeeloo and precedes the account of palas, a shrub used for polishing.[1] In the 1811 edition the revised cannabis passage appears in Chapter 4, “Agriculture”, on page 91; the following paragraph concerns tobacco plantations.[2]
Cannabis of Sumatra as documented by Marsden
The 1783 passage
Marsden called the plant ganjo and its smoked form bang:
The cannabis or hemp, called ganjo by the Malays, is cultivated in quantities, not for the purpose of making rope, which they never think of applying it to, but for smoking, and in that state it is called bang, and has an intoxicating quality.— Marsden 1783, p. 76
The 1811 passage
The third edition changed ganjo to ganja and described how the preparation was smoked:
Ganja or hemp (cannabis) is extensively cultivated, not for the purpose of making rope, to which they never apply it, but to make an intoxicating preparation called bang, which they smoke in pipes along with tobacco. In other parts of India a drink is prepared by bruising the blossoms, young leaves, and tender parts of the stalk.— Marsden 1811, p. 91
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Marsden, William (1783). The History of Sumatra, Containing an Account of the Government, Laws, Customs, and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with a Description of the Natural Productions, and a Relation of the Ancient Political State of that Island. London: Printed for the author. p. 76 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Marsden, William (1811). The History of Sumatra, Containing an Account of the Government, Laws, Customs, and Manners of the Native Inhabitants, with a Description of the Natural Productions, and a Relation of the Ancient Political State of that Island (3rd ed.). London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 91 – via Project Gutenberg.