Circular N. 4142 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf [26v] (42/44)
The record is made up of 22 folios. It was created in 7 Sep 1854. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
[ 4 ]
venders. This law is not strictly enforced. In some districts licenses are issued, in others
the monopoly of the sale is granted to a farmer. I think we should in all districts carry
out the laws ; but we should direct all Collectors to issue licenses, and to conform in all
respects to the existing Regulation, so long as it continues in force.
23. The question of supplying opium for consumption has been one of constant discus
sion and difficulty. Were Malwa opium alone consumed within the
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
, we could
easily procure the drug from that province, and send a sufficient quantity to each depot.
But in point of fact but little Malwa opium is now consumed. The drug manufactured^
within the
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
, and in neighbouring Native States, though inferior in quality to the
Malwa, is suited to the taste of the people, audits greater cheapness interferes with the con
sumption of the Malwa drug wherever we have attempted to substitute it.
24. It is remarkable that our law respecting opium seems to have been framed under
the impression that no opium was produced within the
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
. It was evidently
assumed that no opium could be found within our limits which had not been brought in
from beyond our frontiers.
25. It is only by a doubtful, and what must be admitted to be an extremely forced,
construction of the law, that we can contrive to bring our own produce under any control.
Regulation XXI. of 1827, Section I. Clause 1st, declares that all opium, except that imported
by Government, or from the United Kingdom, or under treaty for consignment beyond the
Company's limits, or the produce of the Bengal
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
, shall pay a duty of Rs. 12 per
Surat seer, " on being imported or brought into any harbour or roads, or port or place,
either by land or sea, within the territory of Bombay." Under this law it has been held
that the removal of opium from one place to another within the
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
brings it under
the duty, and it is this interpretation alone which (however strained) has enabled us to
exercise any control over the opium cultivation. We have been obliged to assume that the
removal from one village to another, or even from the field to the village, is a bringing into
a place by land, and that all opium so removed is liable to the duty of Rs. 12 per Surat
seer, or to confiscation.
26. It is obvious that without such assumption, opium might be manufactured to any
possible extent, and carried free of all duty whatever to the port of Bombay, or other places
on the coast. In Khandeish, for instance, where the poppy thrives probably equally well as
in the neighbouring province of Malwa, merchants might readily collect the juice from the
cultivators, work it into marketable opium, and produce hundreds of chests annually. These,
when once brought down to the sea side, and under no surveillance, might without difficulty
be smuggled to foreign ports on the coast, or to China. Even when on their land transit, it
would be quite impossible to distinguish them from the produce of Malwa, so that Malwa
opium, once clandestinely brought into the province of Khandeish, might assume to be Khan
deish opium, and thus claim to pass free.
27. A suit was filed against the Government in the Ahmedabad Court, some time ago,
on which the validity of the interpretation which the Government had placed on the exist
ing law, in prohibiting the removal of opium the produce of our districts from one place to
another within them, would have been determined, but the case never came to trial on its
merits, and the question of law stands as it did previously. On this occasion our Legal
Remembrancer, Mr. Howard, gave a very decided opinion that the duty of Rs. 12 per
Surat seer applied solely to opium imported from beyond the limits of our territory, and did
not touch opium produced within them. But the Government preferred that the case
should go to trial; and it seems from the minutes of the Board on that occasion to have been
its intention, had its interpretation not been sustained, to have applied again to the Supreme
Government, either altogether to prohibit the cultivation of the poppy within our territory,
or to place it under some effectual control.
28. Ihroughout many parts of this
Presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
the poppy can be grown to any extent.
e have everywhere discouraged the cultivation. In some cases, perhaps, our officers have
About this item
- Content
Circular N. 4142 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , requesting a report to the Government of any traffic in opium in the Gulf.
In enclosure:
- Extracts from a letter from Fraser Tytler, Officiating Secretary to the Government of India N. 106 dated 11 February 1837 regulating the opium trade with the Native States to prevent clandestine exports of Malwa opium;
- Printed minutes from July 1846, July and September 1848, by Mr Willoughby and Mr Reid, regarding taking measures and reporting to the Government on Malwa opium traffic.
- Extent and format
- 22 folios
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Circular N. 4142 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf [26v] (42/44), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/146, ff 6-27, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023277562.0x000037> [accessed 17 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023277562.0x000037
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023277562.0x000037">Circular N. 4142 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf [‎26v] (42/44)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023277562.0x000037"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000077/IOR_R_15_1_146_0054.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x000077/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/146, ff 6-27
- Title
- Circular N. 4142 of the Territorial Department Revenue from the Officiating Secretary to the Government at Bombay Castle, Charles Edward Fraser Tytler, to the Resident in the Persian Gulf
- Pages
- 6r:27v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence