Talk:Ganja matters (2026)
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The book's quotation of Prain's 1893 report
Ganja Matters quotes and paraphrases Prain's 1893 report in two places where its wording departs from the report itself. The report was read in full from the National Library of Scotland Data Foundry dataset on 2026-09-17 and the relevant passages checked against the page images.
- p. 36. The book gives Prain as writing that the cultivator "considers the sex that produces this intoxicating substance the nobler of the two, calling it marda or male". The report (p. 5) reads "considers the sex that produces this substance the nobler of the two and calls it mardá or male". The word "intoxicating" is the book's, and the sentence is reworded.
- p. 37. The book has the poddars walking "thousands of bighas" "four times", and says they "had finished just days before he arrived". The report (p. 4) says they go round a field "three or perhaps four times during a season", and that Prain had "not yet had opportunities of seeing them at work".
Neither passage is quoted on this page, and articles that need Prain's words should take them from the report rather than through the book. The correction has already been made on Poddar (rev 18684). Registered in the West Bengal Citation Registry under `Chattopadhyaya2026`, v1.34.
This is a note about how to use the book, not a criticism of it in article voice: the book's own argument does not turn on either wording. Éloise 07:23, 18 September 2026 (+07)