Madak
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (March 2014) |
Madak was a blend of
Raw opium was introduced in China by Arab merchants.
By 1720 the government saw madak smoking as a social evil that has corrupted not just the lowest classes, but the "good families" too.
The British East India Company (EIC) complied with the ban until 1780; Portuguese merchant ships continued small-scale deliveries of "medicinal" opium.[4] In 1780 the East India Company faced a dire financial crisis and resorted to opium smuggling .[6] Their opium did not sell at all: only 15% of the English shipment found customers within China.[6] However, in the next two decades consumption of opium rapidly grew.[6] The Chinese replaced madak with raw opium; madak remained in limited use by the Malay people.[6] In 1793 the EIC assumed a monopoly on now profitable opium trade into China.[7] The Chinese government banned opium in 1796, temporarily driving the market underground.[7] Historian Xiao Yishan reasoned that the surge in opium consumption was directly influenced by the 1729 prohibition. According to Dikotter et al., exact causes of the change remain unknown.[7]
See also
Footnotes
References
- Dikötter, F., Laaman, L. & Xun, Z. (2004). Narcotic Culture: A History of Drugs in China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 1-85065-725-4.