Britain, India, and Cannabis
From Delancey Place:
Today's selection -- from The Age of Intoxication by Benjamin Breen.
In 1673, the days in which Britain is first starting to extend its
influence to India, a young Brit named Thomas Bowrey encounters cannabis
on the coast of India. His first thoughts are to commercialize the
substance:
"Not long after he arrived in Machilipatnam, Thomas Bowrey began to wonder what it was the Machilitipatnamese were smoking.
"The bustling port city on India's Coromandel Coast felt fantastical
to the young East India Company merchant. During the first days of his
visit in 1673, Bowrey marveled at wonders like 'Venomous Serpents
[which] danced' to the tune of 'a Musicianer, or rather Magician,' and
'all Sortes of fine Callicoes ... curiously flowred.'
Above all, Bowrey
was most fascinated by the effects of an unfamiliar drug. The Muslim
merchant community in the city was, as Bowrey put it, 'averse [to] ...
any Stronge drinke.' Yet, he noted, 'they find means to besott
themselves Enough with Bangha.' They consumed this 'Soe
admirable herbe' in many forms, 'but not one of them that faileth to
intoxicate them to admiration.' It could be chewed, made into a tea, or
mixed with tobacco and smoked (this last technique, as we'll see in
Chapter 5, was a recent innovation with far-reaching impact). Whatever
the route of administration, Bowrey noted, this bangha was 'a very speedy way to be besotted.'....
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