Why was Calcutta a node in the opium smuggling network prior to the Opium Wars in China?
score:8
Before railways the most efficient mode of land transportation was by river - and the Ganges River system runs nearly three quarters of the way from the opium fields (in what is modern Pakistan and Afghanistan) to Calcutta. The only comparable port facility would likely have been Bombay (modern Mumbai), but without the advantage either of large scale river transport being available in the right directions or of being on the right coast:
Bombay/Mumbai is located just south of the "W" of Western Gatts; Calcutta at the west end of the Ganges river delta, just west of the modern India-Bangladesh border.
Note also that the Indus River system could provide transport from the opium fields almost to Delhi (somewhat upstream from the "t" of Indo-Gangetic Plain), overland over very flat terrain between the two river systems, making the overland transport to Calcutta more than 95% by river barge/boat.
Delhi is of course historically the great cross-roads of Northern India, being both easily defended and well situated near the shortest land route between India's two great river systems; and far enough north to be somewhat cooler than more southern locales.
Upvote:1
Calcutta was very close to Ghazipur City (in present day Bihar). Ghazipur has an excellent climate for growing poppy and also had the Ganga River nearby which provided an optimum amount of water for its cultivation. The website of Ghazipur City says-
.In 1764 AD Britishers won Buxar and Ghazipur which was therafter ruled by East India Company . Company posted Mr. Richardson as a judge and Mr. Robert Warlo was made the first Collector for this district. The Britishers used this place for cultivation of indigo, opium, kewra and roses. They established Opium Factory which is of its kind.It is presently working and providing revenue to govt. of India by producing opium allkaloides. During British rule Opium manufratured in this factory was carried to China on boats through the Bay of Bengal.
So, Kolkata (modern name) was the prefered centre for trade in opium to Canton because it was the closest to the poppy fields and also had excellent water transport facilities and docks.
Let us not forget the other poppy fields. As many have said, poppy grown in Afghanistan and other areas could have been brought to Calcutta easily. But if we see a map, we can see no major rivers in the northern part of India. Thus, they had to be transported on land and around this time, these areas were lawless, with Maratha raids on Delhi and the gradual downfall of the Mughal Empire. So, it would have been nearly impossible to transport opium from there. That is why I think that Afghanistan would not have played such a big role in producing poppy for Canton and indirectly so, for Kolkata. Therefore, Ghazipur would be the reason for Kolkata being the node for opium smuggling to China.
This information comes from the 'City of Djinns' by William Dalrymple.
Upvote:4
Opium can be grown in almost any climate and the British used the Bengal region (modern day states of West Bengal and Assam in India and Bangladesh) as they were directly controlling these regions. It would have been practically impossible to gain control over trade from Afghanistan/the Indus river region in those days as the British East India company had no control over these regions.
Calcutta port was in their control so they shipped it to China from here.
Upvote:5
Calcutta had two functions.
One, it was an assembly point for opium gathered from other parts of India because many rivers flowed in that direction from near the opium fields as Pieter mentioned.
Second, it was a port in the part of India (east) "nearest" to China and under British control. That was until Britain conquered Burma (Myanmar) after 1824, which had few good ports that also had overland connections to Opium producing areas.
Third, as of 1772, Calcutta was the headquarters of the British East India Company that ran the opium trade. It was then linked to a Bengali hinterland that produced "some" opium. The East India Company also controlled Bombay (Mumbai), but the surrounding "hinterland" was mostly Indian-controlled until about 1800.
From there it was shipped by sea and smuggled through the port of Canton (the nearest large Chinese port to India). The opium could actually have originated in any British-controlled port in the world, even London, with the smuggling occurring only upon arrival in Canton.
There wasn't a problem with shipping or "smuggling" the opium out of Calcutta or across the sea.
More post
- 📝 Is there any information about Soshandukht or her father?
- 📝 What were the reasons for Japan's surrender in WWII?
- 📝 Were eastern weapons ever seen in medieval Europe and western weapons ever seen in medieval Asia?
- 📝 How big were the two German pockets at the end of the battle of Stalingrad?
- 📝 Were mattress labels inspired by public outcry?
- 📝 When was the Western Facade on the Sant Andrea Basilica by Alberti constructed?
- 📝 Is there a primary source for Black Monday, April 13, 1360?
- 📝 Origin of French electoral tie-breaking mechanism (oldest candidate wins)
- 📝 Was Greece the only thing stopping a Persian invasion of Europe?
- 📝 Did medieval guards wear heavy armor for long periods of time?
- 📝 What was the Victorian opinion of the American Revolution?
- 📝 Do photos of Wernher von Braun and Neil Armstrong exist? Have they ever met?
- 📝 What form of home address did Romans use?
- 📝 What did executioners do when not performing executions?
- 📝 What are some examples of famous people in history who made big mistakes that they learnt from and this then led them to succeed?
- 📝 Was there ever any organization of thieves or pickpockets?
- 📝 Did healers in medieval Europe use moldy bread in poultices for wounds?
- 📝 What is an open city?
- 📝 How historical are early Chinese (Shang dynasty and earlier) dynastic records?
- 📝 Why was the Soviet Marine Infantry disbanded in 1947?
- 📝 Roughly, what percentage of arrows can be reused after a battle?
- 📝 Why were fragments of the Mongol empire named after colors?
- 📝 What were the main reasons that the Industrial Revolution happened in Great Britain?
- 📝 In what countries were plague doctor masks were most common?
- 📝 Did Khalid ibn al-Walid report that he broke nine swords in the battle of Mu'tah?
- 📝 Why didn't Eisenhower personally sign Act of Military Surrender in Reims, 1945?
- 📝 Where can I find reliable primary sources written by Ancient Egyptian laborers?
- 📝 Were there inns and hostels in medieval Europe?
- 📝 Why do Wikipedia's and Guinness World Records's measurements of the Achaemenid Empire's percentage of world population differ?
- 📝 What is an antimendicant?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why was Calcutta a node in the opium smuggling network prior to the Opium Wars in China?
- 📝 Why was the US army slow to adopt the use of radar prior to Pearl Harbour?
- 📝 What was the main driver of conquest and wars in ancient times? Why were they so frequent?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Why was Poland spared from the Black Death?
- 📝 Why was Africa colonized last of the continents in the Age of Discovery?
- 📝 Why was the Scout movement so successful?
- 📝 Why was the Council of Nicea held in Nicea rather than Rome or Constantinople?
- 📝 Why was World War I ended on Nov 11 11:00, rather than immediately upon signing the armistice?
- 📝 In the Soviet Union, why was the Cheka renamed so many times?
- 📝 Why was "leaping into the river" a valid trial outcome to prove one's innocence?
- 📝 Why was the Japanese Army's fatalities inflicted:suffered ratio so low in the Pacific theatre?
- 📝 Why was capturing the south of Okinawa necessary?
- 📝 Why were the drawings of Colossus burnt after WW2 and why was its very existence "of course" kept secret?
- 📝 Why was there a surge in the US incarceration rate during the 1990s?
- 📝 Why was the Treaty of Versailles so harsh?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
- 📝 Why was sugar cultivation more profitable in the Caribbean/Brazil than West Africa?
- 📝 Why was PTSD not written about as much before the 20th century?
- 📝 Why are the French and Indian Wars / Seven Years' War not considered WW 1?
- 📝 Why was Kaliningrad placed under the Russian SFSR rather than the Lithuanian SSR?
- 📝 Why was the Roman Empire considered an empire rather than a kingdom (again)?
- 📝 Was Japan known to be a potential threat to the USA in the 10 year period prior to 1941
- 📝 Why was the northern boundary of the Mongol empire set where it was?
- 📝 When and why was the samurai class abolished?
- 📝 Why was uranium mined in the 1500s, but only "discovered" in 1789?
- 📝 How and why was the boundary between West and East Berlin decided to be where it was?
- 📝 Why were troops with bayonets often effective against enemy cavalry even though the bayonet was a "secondary" weapon?
