Opium, A History. Introduction

Opium! Probably no other organic substance has played such a prolific role both in
History as well as in imagination. The very name ‘opium’ conjures up the image
of the mysterious East, with its opium dens, prostitutes, shadowy figures in dark

alleys and visions of paradise. It has been associated with the Assassins who
terrorized the Christian forces during the Crusades and also with sinister Chinamen
who seem bent on shanghaiing innocent people into adventures in far-off lands.

Opium in India
Opium is no stranger to India. Scholars are of the opinion that the drink ‘soma’
mentioned in Rig Veda was a derivative of opium. They base this belief on the
substance’s hallucinogenic effects.

(1) Courtesy Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Opium_Seller_(W._M%C3%BCller).jpg (Accessed on 13/4/2013)

What is Opium and why is it important to History?

Opium is the resin of the opium poppy plant, which goes by the botanical name
Papaver somniferum. It is prized for the powerful hallucinogenic and narcotic
effect it produces on its intake. The use of opium goes back thousands of years
into the Neolithic Age. Poppy seeds have been found in Neolithic burial sites in
the Danube valley dating to around 4000 B.C. Also a large number of poppy
seeds have been found in France and the remains of lake villages in Switzerland
which date back to the fourth millennium B.C. The trade in opium is almost
simultaneous to its discovery. It started with the Phoenicians who took it from
Egypt and Mesopotamia and traded it with places like Greece and Rome. In the
Medieval period, the Arabs took over the trade which formed an important
component of the trade triangle between Southeast Asia and Europe along with
slaves and spices. But the opium trade emerged as a global phenomenon only in
the eighteenth century when it was used by the common people. Till then it had
been a luxury item enjoyed by the elite. But after the common people in the world,
particularly in China, grew addicted to it, the demand grew exponentially. The
Opium Wars were fought over this trade. Even today, though opium is no longer
widely used in its original form, it is highly prized as the source of the drug heroin.
The trade in opiates constitutes a major part of global commerce and is alone
valued at $40 billion annually. In spite of government efforts to end the illegal
trade in the substance, the demand, and hence the supply, continues to grow every
year, making the venture extremely profitable. Today the main producers of
opium are located in an arc from Central Asia to East Asia, comprising the
countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand which account for most
of the world’s opium poppy production.

Aims and Objectives
In this paper, I wish to trace a global history of the trade in opium from its origin in

the Middle East in Antiquity to its global circulation in the present day.













(2) Courtesy Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Slaapbol_R0017601.JPG (accessed on 13/4/2013)