Annual Administration Report of the Cooch Behar State (1893–94)
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| Author | The State Council of Cooch Behar, with the reports of the Superintendent of the State, the Dewan and the Civil and Sessions Judge annexed |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Composed | 15 September 1894 (the State Council's letter to the Maharaja) |
| Published | 1894 |
| Publisher | Cooch Behar State Press |
| Place | Cooch Behar |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Volume | (single volume) |
|---|---|
| Pages | The State Council's report, pp. 5, 7 and 12 (§§21, 40, 65); the Dewan's report, pp. 20–21 (§§91–99) |
| Chapter | The State Council's paragraph headed "Excise" (§40); the Dewan's Section III, "Excise Revenue" |
| Plates | none |
| Regions documented | Cooch Behar State |
| Preparations | Ganja |
| Uses documented | Excise duty; licensed ganja shops; consumption; stock in the State's golahs; written answers to the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission |
The Annual Administration Report of the Cooch Behar State for the Year 1893-94 is the volume of the annual administration reports of the princely state of Cooch Behar for the year 1893–94, printed at the Cooch Behar State Press in 1894. It opens with the State Council's report to the Maharaja, followed by reports on general administration, revenue administration, judicial work and registration.[1]: title page; Council's report, p. 1 It records an increase in the State's duty on ganja and the State's answers to the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission. The Dewan's report gives the year's ganja duty, licence fees and consumption.[1]: Council's report, pp. 7, 12; Dewan's report, pp. 20–21
Written by the State's own government for its ruler, the volume is evidence of how that administration reasoned about its revenue from intoxicants as much as it is a record of cannabis. Its writers explain the movement of the ganja figures in their own terms.
The volume
The State Council's letter to the Maharaja, dated 15 September 1894, refers him to the annexed reports of the Superintendent of the State, the Dewan and the Civil and Sessions Judge for the general, revenue and civil departments.[1]: Council's report, p. 1
Ganja in the excise accounts
The State Council's report records that enhanced rates of duty "in all sorts of Gunja, in conformity with the rates sanctioned in British India", came into force in the State from 3 February 1894. Sanction was given for writing off 1 maund 33 seers 10 chittacks of ganja found short in the golahs (the State's warehouses) and for destroying 6 maunds 30 seers 10 chittacks of refuse ganja.[1]: Council's report, p. 7 With the Maharaja's sanction, a notification modelled on section 17A of Act VII of 1878 (B.C.) prohibited the import of any excisable article into the State without a licence.[1]: Council's report, p. 5
The Dewan's account of the excise revenue gives duty on ganja of Rs. 19,029-13-0 against Rs. 15,067-0-6 the year before. Licence fees of ganja shops were Rs. 13,702-10-0 against Rs. 12,232-1-3, in total excise collections of Rs. 82,358-6-9.[1]: Dewan's report, p. 20 It does not count the rise in consumption as a real increase:
The consumption of Ganja rose from 70 mds. 36 srs. 10 chs. to 74 mds. 31 srs. 1 ch. during the last year, resulting in an increase of Rs. 3,962-12-6 in the collection of duty on the drug. In my last report I stated how there was a decrease of more than 7 maunds in consumption during 1892-93. The whole of this decrease was not made up during the following year. There was thus no real increase in consumption.[1]: Dewan's report, p. 21
The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission
The commission appears twice in the volume. The State Council reports that the Government of Bengal asked the Maharaja to supply the commission with information on the cultivation, growth and use of hemp and other drugs in the State. The commission sent a series of written questions, which the Superintendent of the State, the Dewan, the Civil and Sessions Judge and the Fouzdary Ahilkar were asked to answer. They supplied the information to the commission's secretary.[1]: Council's report, p. 12 The Dewan's report adds that the questions "were received through Your Highness' office and duly answered".[1]: Dewan's report, p. 21