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Berar Province

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Berar
Province
General
Formed1853(assigned to British administration by treaty with the Nizam of Hyderabad)

Berar, called in its excise papers the Hyderabad Assigned Districts,[1] was a province formed from territory of Hyderabad State that its ruler, the Nizam, assigned to the East India Company under a treaty of 1853.[2] The Resident at Hyderabad governed it until October 1903, when its administration passed to the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces.[3][4] In the 1890s Berar was one of five provinces in which ganja was cultivated.[5] The crop was small and grown in three districts, Akola, Buldhana and Amravati. The province also imported ganja from Khandwa in the Central Provinces.[6] The provincial gazetteer of 1909 records that the cultivation of the hemp plant in Berar "has hitherto been prohibited" and that licensed vendors drew their supplies from the Government warehouse at Khandwa.[7]

Status and administration

Under the treaty of 1853 the British Government undertook to maintain the Hyderabad Contingent. To pay for the force and "in satisfaction of the other claims", districts yielding a gross revenue of 50 lakhs of rupees were assigned to the Company.[2] The gazetteer of 1909 notes that the districts so assigned "coincide in extent neither with the Berār of the Nizāms nor with the imperial Sūbah".[2] From 1853 until 1903 the province was administered by the Resident at Hyderabad, "who exercised, in respect of the province, the powers of a Chief Commissioner".[4]

The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission reported in 1894 that "Berar is not British territory, and the rules constitute a special local law issued by the Governor-General in Council in virtue of specially acquired jurisdiction". It traced the province's Abkari rules to a letter of the Government of India in the Financial Department, No. 3541, dated 10 October 1873.[6]

In 1902 a fresh agreement with the Nizam reaffirmed "His Highness's rights over Berār" and leased the province to the Government of India in perpetuity at an annual rental of 25 lakhs of rupees. In October 1903 Berar was transferred to the administration of the Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces.[3]

Until 1905 the province was divided into six districts ("Amraotī, Ellichpur, Wūn, Akola, Buldāna, and Bāsim"), each under a Deputy Commissioner. They were then rearranged into four.[4] An unsigned memorandum on hemp drugs in Berar, printed in the commission's third volume, gave the population at the last census as 2,897,040 and the area as "over 17,000 square miles".[1]

Cannabis in Berar

History

The cultivation of ganja and bhang in Berar was not restricted until 1875. Rules issued by a notification dated 5 August 1874 came into force on 1 April 1875 and prohibited cultivation except under a licence from the Deputy Commissioner. The licence was "written on a stamp paper of Rs. 8 (to be supplied by the cultivator) without reference to the area cultivated". Village officers had to report unlicensed cultivation at once. Deputy Commissioners could destroy unlicensed crops and plants of spontaneous growth. An unlicensed grower was liable to a fine of up to 100 rupees for each offence, half of which was paid to the informer as a reward.[1]

In 1884 the fee was raised "from Rs. 8 per license to Rs. 10 per acre or part of an acre cultivated". Vendors of ganja and bhang were at the same time required to keep accounts of their receipts and disbursements. By the memorandum's account, "from the year 1885-86 the cultivation has gone down immensely".[1] The Government of India's resolution on the commission's report gives the same dates and fees in its paragraph on Bombay, which takes in Sind and Berar.[8]

Hemp drugs were sold under a single farm with opium. The Deputy Commissioners auctioned the monopoly of vend each year and worked the farm through their tahsildars, with no separate excise officers. Because the two drugs were sold together, the value of the hemp drugs could not be stated separately.[1] The memorandum reports a decision to separate the two from 1 April 1894.[1] The gazetteer of 1909 likewise notes that "until 1893–4 the right to sell hemp drugs was included in the opium licences".[7]

The commission found that in Berar "the foundation has already been laid for the introduction of a system of control in respect of ganja similar to that advocated by the Commission", noting that cultivation was already restricted and an acreage duty imposed. It saw "some advantage in assimilating the system to that which exists in the Central Provinces". It also doubted that the taxation needed to restrict consumption could be reached "otherwise than by a direct duty".[9] Among its concluding suggestions it proposed that the Bengal system of ganja administration be "generally followed" in the Central Provinces, Madras, Bombay and Berar. After proposing licensed cultivation in limited areas and a fixed duty on ganja for Madras and Bombay, it added "that similar measures should be introduced into Berar".[10]

The Government of India's resolution of 21 March 1895 approved the commission's suggestions generally and ordered that "In Berar, Ajmere, Coorg, and Quetta-Peshin the system should be assimilated to that in force in other provinces."[11]

The gazetteer of 1909 records that "the cultivation of the hemp plant in Berār has hitherto been prohibited". Ganja and bhang were imported by licensed vendors "from the Government warehouse at Khandwā under conditions similar to those which govern the importation of opium". Figures for the revenue from hemp drugs alone were not available for years before 1894–95. That revenue averaged Rs 23,500 over the six years ending 1899–1900 and was Rs 51,000 in 1903–04.[7]

Cultivation

The memorandum states that hemp "is cultivated in only three districts": Akola, Buldhana and Amravati. It places the crop in a small tract of Akola and Buldhana districts near the town of Khamgaon and in some villages of Morsi taluk.[12] The commission gives the same three districts and 85 acres under the crop in 1892–93.[6] The resolution called the cultivation "insignificant" and noted "a tendency for the cultivation to increase, owing to the fact that the present production is not sufficient for the home market".[8]

The resolution's table of cultivated area, taken from the commission's report, gives Berar 58 acres of ganja as an average of five years.[8] The memorandum put the average "of the past seven years" at "about 55 acres per year in the whole province".[1] Its statistical statement records more than 241 acres under the crop in 1879–80.[13]

The Deputy Commissioner of Akola, quoted in the memorandum, described how the crop was grown. Growers needed garden land, since "ordinary black soil is apparently too stiff". The soil was ploughed twice and given as much manure as the cultivator could afford. Sowing took place at the beginning of the rains, at the same time as cotton, with a tiphan or plough drill. The ganja seed was mixed with seed of ambadi (Hibiscus cannabinus), whose seedlings were pulled up a fortnight after they came up; the reason, he wrote, appeared to be "to save seed and preserve a sufficient space between the ganja plants". When the plants were about a foot and a half high the male plants, which he called bhangia, were removed. The crop was cut in November, when the plants were 5 feet high. They were pressed with the foot to flatten the heads, made up into sheaves and stacked in a shed under pressure. The leaves that fell when the plants were tied into bundles were collected as bhang.[12]

The commission's summary adds that cultivation in Berar did "not differ materially from that of Khandwa, whence the seed seems to be imported". It describes the mixed sowing with Hibiscus as a practice the commission had "not heard of elsewhere" and calls the male plants bhangra.[14]

The Deputy Commissioner of Akola reported that the wild plant was "not indigenous in Berar", though plants came up near the huts of gosains and other regular consumers and could be used for ganja if tended.[12] The rules obliged village officers to destroy any plants of spontaneous growth. The memorandum concluded that "wild plants are an impossibility in Berar".[12] The commission agreed that spontaneous growth appeared "to be successfully kept under", noting that "only one witness out of 38 can be found to say that it exists, and it may be doubted if he refers to the same plant".[15]

Surgeon-Major R. B. Roe, the Civil Surgeon at Amravati, gave the commission a different account: "Indian hemp is not cultivated in Berar, but the definitions and names given apply to the imported drug."[16]

Preparations and consumption

The memorandum names ganja and bhang as "the only forms of the drug that are used by the people". Other preparations known in Berar were majum, gulkand and yakuti.[17] Charas was not used. The memorandum explains that it "is not at all available and is not imported, being considered very costly".[17] Only one kind of ganja was made in the province, "the flat ganja".[1]

To smoke ganja, the smoker placed a head of the plant on his left palm with a little water and pressed it with his right thumb, a process repeated, according to the Deputy Commissioner of Akola, "121 times over". The moisture was then squeezed out through a piece of cloth and a little tobacco was added "to enhance its effects" before the mixture was smoked in a chillum.[17]

Bhang was drunk "as a cooling drink in the hot weather" and was also known as thandai. The flowers and leaves that dropped when the plants were tied into sheaves were cleaned, boiled, washed and dried. They were then pounded with spices and rose-buds and mixed with cold water or milk and sugar before being filtered.[17]

Majum was made by boiling a sheaf of ganja, washing it and boiling it again with ghee, then adding spices and sugar; it was "of a green colour". The memorandum names a majum-seller at Ballapur "whose preparation is celebrated in the province", known in many places as "Deolal" after the shop's original owner. Gulkand was the same essence mixed with sugar and rose flowers.[17]

The memorandum describes ganja as smoked "chiefly by Kahars, Hamals, Kolees, Tellees, Gossaees, Bairagis, Mahomedans" and others. It states that ganja smoking "is considered to be a social stigma by people of good society". Bhang was drunk "chiefly by Pardeshis from Hindustan and Marwaris" and was "not considered to be so bad as ganja"; the memorandum adds that "respectable people sometimes drink it without hesitation".[17]

Religious and cultural use

The memorandum found "no customs similar to those in Bengal prevailing in Berar". The use of hemp formed part of no social or religious ceremony except at Mahashivratri, when the devotees of Shiva "bathe the idol of Shiva by the preparation of bhang". The drug was "not considered to be an essential material of worship", though "the god is supposed to be very fond of it".[17]

The commission's summary of the Berar evidence reports the use of both ganja and bhang "at the Shivratri and Holi festivals and at social gatherings". It states that "the hemp plant itself is not worshipped". According to one witness, when a consumer died the plant was kept near his corpse during the funeral ceremony.[18]

Trade and commerce

According to the memorandum, local production was "not sufficient for the wants of the province". Ganja came from Khandwa "in the Central Provinces, sometimes from Khandesh in the Bombay Presidency". No duty was levied on these imports.[1] The memorandum estimated imports at about 800 maunds a year and local production at about 500 maunds, some 1,300 maunds in all. Its estimate of local production assumed 10 maunds an acre from the 55-acre average.[1] The commission gives the same annual consumption of about 1,300 maunds.[6] No ganja or bhang was exported from Berar.[1]

The opium and drug farmers were the only importers of ganja and bhang and needed a pass from the Deputy Commissioner. Hemp drugs had been sold wherever an opium shop was permitted. For the following year the Deputy Commissioners fixed 229 hemp-drug shops, "one shop to every 74 square miles of country". The average retail price in Amravati district was between Rs 2 and Rs 2-4 a seer.[1]

No excise duty was levied on hemp drugs in Berar. The only revenue came from the price of the combined opium and drug farm and from the cultivation licence fee. Licences to import were granted free.[1]

Under the Abkari rules the Deputy Commissioner of each district was the controlling authority. The tahsildars carried on the administration with the help of the village officers.[1] Retail vendors kept books of their sales and could not allow the drug to be smoked on their premises. The maximum for a retail sale was 20 tolas (a quarter of a seer) of ganja or bhang and 5 tolas of charas. No limit was set on possession and no minimum price was fixed.[1] The memorandum reported that "the smuggling of ganja has seldom been detected" and that "there is no illicit cultivation of ganja; the inspection of crops raised is too close to admit of this".[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Memorandum on hemp drugs in Berar". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. III: Appendices, Miscellaneous. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. pp. 111–113 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Berar. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. 1909. p. 14 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Berar. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. 1909. p. 16 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Berar. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. 1909. p. 43 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ Government of India (21 March 1895). Resolution No. 1369 Ex. [on the Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission] (Report). Calcutta: Finance and Commerce Department, Separate Revenue (Excise). VI. Question of prohibition, paras. 33–37, pp. 11–12 – via National Library of Scotland.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. XV, "Existing systems described", para. 630, p. 307 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series: Berar. Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing. 1909. p. 54 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Government of India (21 March 1895). Resolution No. 1369 Ex. [on the Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission] (Report). Calcutta: Finance and Commerce Department, Separate Revenue (Excise). I. Cultivation, paras. 3–14, pp. 2–5 – via National Library of Scotland.
  9. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. XVI, "Provincial systems examined", para. 672, p. 328 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. XVIII, "Summary", paras. 740–742, pp. 359–361 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ↑ Government of India (21 March 1895). Resolution No. 1369 Ex. [on the Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission] (Report). Calcutta: Finance and Commerce Department, Separate Revenue (Excise). VIII. Control and taxation, paras. 46–67, pp. 14–22 – via National Library of Scotland.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Memorandum on hemp drugs in Berar". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. III: Appendices, Miscellaneous. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. pp. 106–107 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Memorandum on hemp drugs in Berar". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. III: Appendices, Miscellaneous. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. Statement C, p. 114 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. V, "Methods of cultivation and matters connected therewith", para. 207, pp. 79–80 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. III, "The existence, prevalence, and character of the spontaneous growth", para. 69, p. 30 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Evidence of Surgeon-Major R. B. Roe, Civil Surgeon, Amraoti". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. VII: Evidence of Witnesses from Bombay, Sind, Berar, Ajmere, Coorg, Baluchistan, and Burma. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, India. p. 335 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). "Memorandum on hemp drugs in Berar". Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. III: Appendices, Miscellaneous. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. pp. 107–109 – via Internet Archive.
  18. ↑ Indian Hemp Drugs Commission (1894). Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–94. Vol. I: Report. Simla: Government Central Printing Office. ch. IX, "Social and religious customs", para. 445, p. 165 – via Internet Archive.
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