In Smoke and Ashes, Amitav Ghosh masterfully unravels the intricate web of opium’s influence from its historical roots in the colonial era to the modern day global opioid epidemic.
By Aditi Biswas
A journey through opium’s history
In Smoke and Ashes, Amitav Ghosh, acclaimed author and litterateur, takes readers on a historical journey through a riveting account of the advent of the opium producing poppy plant, and how it shaped the world from the pre-British era in the Indian Subcontinent to the current times, paving a kaleidoscopic landscape of its social, economic, and cultural ramifications.
Impact on the Gangetic Plains
The expository narrative delves deep into the disastrous sequel that the labor-intensive production of opium and the proliferation of the opium trade had on the Gangetic plains of Eastern India and Western Central India (Malwa), albeit in distinctly dissimilar ways. Ghosh addressed the subject before through his historical fiction, the Ibis Trilogy, and the research conducted during the writing of those books became the genesis for this work of nonfiction.
From tea to poppy
The book begins with how the innocuous tea, originally from China, established its importance in Britain in the 18th century and how its import led to a dwindling silver reserve that was used to pay for the tea. Though a variety of the tea plant was already growing in north-eastern India, the East India company thought of it as inferior to its Chinese counterpart, and much later, resorted to smuggled seeds from China for tea cultivation in India. This deficit led the East India Company to focus on another powerful plant, the poppy, which would more than balance the revenue.
Opium’s medicinal and psychoactive properties
According to Ghosh, though the consumption of opium could be traced back to the 14th century and its medicinal and psychoactive properties were well known, its exposure and usage were limited. The sap of the poppy required extensive and labor intensive processing to yield the opium in its usable form, which made it expensive and only accessible to the elite.
Interestingly, the increase in demand led to the appropriation of land for poppy cultivation, an army of cheap labor, petty crimes, and slumping educational and health facilities, suggesting misplaced capitalist myths. It is fascinating to read about how opium production and trading policies differed in the Western and Eastern parts of India and, in effect, shaped the fortunes of those that were involved and how these policies are creating regional inequalities even today!
Transformation in Bihar, and the Bengal Famine
Farmers from Bihar who were already into limited opium production and trade before the Colonial times, were slowly engulfed by state policies that transformed it into a large-scale business. The Great Bengal Famine of 1770 was a direct result of this as paddy fields were converted to poppy fields to keep pace with the burgeoning opium demand of the Europeans who were fighting within themselves to make hay. Farmers in the Gangetic plains came under the control of the East India Company, with the lower ranks of the Opium department being staffed by Indian employees.
The disproportionate perks of the department attracted extortion and corruption practices which, in addition to the state-fixed prices and contracts, strangled both the rights and revenues of the farmers. In stark contrast, farmers of West Central India were not under any restraint. The challenging terrains, the well maintained armies and the symbiotic relationship between the rulers and the merchants, thwarted the British stranglehold on the opium trade in the Malwa region. The gains stayed in Indian hands and profits were more equally distributed resulting in a visibly flourishing economy.
Personal ties
Ghosh’s account reveals the fact that opium was intricately and inseparably woven into the process of the financial upheavals of not only the East India Company but also many well-known British, American, and Indian families, including his own. That elites such as Rabindranath Tagore’s grandfather Dwarakanath Tagore, much to the chagrin of the Nobel Laureate, had once traded in opium, tells us how deeply the plant had entrenched itself in the lives of the populace.
Ghosh’s own heritage has beginnings in Bihar’s Chhapra, a prolific opium producing district where his grandfather was an advocate in the local court, and part of a privileged few who took advantage of the economy which revolved around the production and shipment of opium.
Modern impact of opium proliferation
He aptly points out that the poppy plant has been a “historical resource curse” whose trade repercussions led to the Bengal Famine of 1770 and the two opium wars, and is still reigning havoc in today’s world as an opium epidemic.
Ghosh rues that though in current times humongous efforts are being made by governments to curb or regulate the opioid trade, given that there is so much unrest around the world, and that the medical world is heavily relying on opioids, it will be impossible to obliterate the trade, especially now that it is mostly controlled by the criminal world.
Engaging and insightful read
Amitav Ghosh’s research and vast knowledge of the historical facts, combined with his sarcasm and wit, brings forth an enjoyable and enlightening read. His way of intertwining history with first person accounts, which depict the times in their own words, breathes more life into the prose. He feeds our curiosity and fosters an understanding of the manifold complexities of how opioids have created a stronghold and evolved with the help of humans in the global picture. A must read for all nonfiction lovers.
Read: Burma Sahib: How George Orwell Struggled With Racism, Colonialism, & His Indian Roots
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Aditi Biswas embarked on her career as an IT professional in the US. She started teaching English as a foreign language at the British Council, Kolkata when she moved back to India to be with her aging parents.
Courtesy: India Currents (Posted on June 28, 2024)
