1st Edition

A History of Intoxication Opium in Assam, 1800–1959

By Kawal Deep Kour Copyright 2020
    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This volume unearths the emerging pattern of consumption of opium in colonial Assam and the creation of drug-dependency in a social context. It analyses the competing forces of the empire which played a key role in the production and distribution of opium; national politics alongside international drug diplomacy and how these together shaped the discourse of opium in Assam; the wider implications of opium production and consumption in the agrarian economy and the narrative of the nationalist critique of intoxication.
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    1. Introduction 2. Tastes that Turned History: Tea, Sugar and Opium – Intersecting Stories and Intoxicating Connotations 3. Thinking Imperially: Intertwined Interests of Colonial Science, Medicine and Opium 4. On a Route Laced with Opium: Networks of Commerce and Consumption in a Colonial Hinterland 5. From Assam Kanee to Behar Abkaree 6. Opium Reduction Campaign: 1921-1938 7. Towards Total Prohibition: Opium Eradication Campaign in Assam, 1935-1959 8. Kaniai Khale Asam Desh: A Reconsideration of the Nationalist critique of the ‘Imperialism of Opium’ 9. Conclusion

    Biography

    Kawal Deep Kour is an independent researcher on narcotics and drug policy. She has presented her work at various national and international forums. She is currently Member of Board at the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy, UK.