The Legacy of Opium

The British Industrial revolution in the 1700’s radically changed international consumption and trade patterns. Sometimes for the worst..

Cheap manufactured goods (first cloth, then weapons other mass produced goods) became staple exports from Britain while raw materials, foods and luxury items were imported from her colonies and China.

As a result,two important ‘triangles’ of trade developed, one between Britain , Africa and the Americas; the other between Britain, India and China.

From the mid 1700’s into the 1800’s every aspect of trade favoured Britain, except its trade with China. The empire needed to find a way to reverse this imbalance.

It saw opium as the solution. China did not.

As early as 1729 the Chinese imperial court felt opium to be a threat, promulgating the first imperial edict against opium. Yet trade and consumption of opium flourished regardless.

So much so that in the early 1800’s the British East India Company adopted an official policy to illegally sell opium (sourced from northern eastern India, today known as Nagaland) as a means to fund tea and other imports required back home.

As a result of these illicit sales the balance of trade with China swung heavily in Britain’s favour.

The legacy of this policy was a growing number of addicts in China:

In 1729, 200 chests ( 1 chest = 60-72kg ) of opium where imported into China. By 1838 it was at least 40 000 chests or 2.6 million kilograms .

Addicts in China where estimated to be between 12-13 million in 1838 ,spending 100 million taels of silver on opium , while the Chinese governments total annual revenue from ALL sources was only 40 million taels.

By 1873 importation of opium into China reached 96 000 chests.

Western traders wanted to make this lucrative trade legal. To them it was no different than trade in alcohol or tobacco.

Conflict was inevitable, which resulted in the Opium wars.

As a result, it comes as no surprise that opium has had a long history in this region and we were interested to see if traces of this trade still exits in Nagaland toady.

Northern Nagaland, bordering Myanmar is the most unspoilt part of this state where antiquity still thrives in the tribal villages

and the BRO continues to blow its own trumpet

over its less than friendly tracks.

Villages comprise of thatched longhouses where inhabitants live a fairly traditional hunting and farming lifestyle.

The kitchen in a longhome comprises an indoor fire place where meat and corn is smoked.

Harvesting water

Fresh produce

This area is also home to the tattooed headhunting Konyak tribe

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The headman’s longhouse in the village of Longwa straddles both the Indian and Myanmar borders

India on this side of the plllar

and Myanmar on the other side

The Rooster in the foreground is in India, the others are in Myanmar

Outside the headmans house

children are drawn to Linda

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While these ones disappear down the hill when they see me

But return soon as their curiosity gets the better of them

Inside the headmans longhome

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The headmans throne is the one in the center, salvaged out of the jungle from a crashed WW 2 fighter

This is used to ground flour

We are invited behind this screen..

to what looks like a fire for tea

packages are passed

and opened

Opium being heated and reduced

and consumed via bamboo pipes

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The tea is free. A hit of opium is 10 Rupees, the equivalent of $ 0.15 . Maybe 30 years ago I may have considered it …

I would imagine this may be their view

While the working woman outside would have a completely different perspective on priorities