ACTA ORIENTALIA EDIDERUNT SOCIETATES ORIENTALES DANICA FENNICA NORVEGIA SVECIA CURANTIBUS LEIF LITTRUP, HAVNIÆ HEIKKI PALVA, HELSINGIÆ ASKO PARPOLA, HELSINGIÆ TORBJÖRN LODÉN, HOLMIÆ SIEGFRIED LIENHARD, HOLMIÆ SAPHINAZ AMAL NAGUIB, OSLO PER KVÆRNE, OSLO WOLFGANG-E. SCHARLIPP, HAVNIÆ REDIGENDA CURAVIT CLAUS PETER ZOLLER LXXVIII Contents ARTICLES CLAUS PETER ZOLLER: Traditions of transgressive sacrality (against blasphemy) in Hinduism ......................................................... 1 STEFAN BOJOWALD: Zu den Wortspielen mit ägyptisch „ib“ „Herz“ ................................ 163 MAHESHWAR P. JOSHI: The hemp cultivators of Uttarakhand and social complexity (with a special reference to the Rathis of Garhwal) ........................................................................................... 173 MICHAEL KNÜPPEL: Überlegungen zu den Verwandtschaftsverhältnissen der Jenissej- Sprachen bei Georg Heinrich August Ewald.................................... 223 DR DEEPAK JOHN MATHEW AND PARTHIBAN RAJUKALIDOSS: Architecture and Living Traditions Reflected in Wooden Rafters of Śrīvilliputtūr Temple ........................................................................ 229 BOOK REVIEWS B. J. J. HARING/O. E. KAPER/R. VAN WALSEM (EDS.). The Workman´s Progress, Studies in the Village of Deir el-Medina and other documents from Western Thebes in Honour of Rob Demarée, reviewed by Stefan Bojowald........................................................... 267 Acta Orientalia 2017: 78, 173–221. Copyright © 2017 Printed in India – all rights reserved ACTA ORIENTALIA ISSN 0001-6438 The hemp cultivators of Uttarakhand and social complexity (with a special reference to the Rathis of Garhwal)1 Maheshwar P. Joshi Kumaun University Abstract Uttarakhand is dotted with a network of valleys that lends itself to the development of many small distinct communities, each valley being a micro-region, both in human and geographical terms, whose inhabitants form a largely self-contained economic and cultural entity. A noteworthy example of such a micro-region is the little known Rath (Rāṭh) area, drained by the Ayar in Garhwal. The inhabitants of this area are called Rathis (Rāṭhī-s, Rathi-s), predominantly traditional bhang-(bhāṅga, hemp, Cannabis sativa) cultivating folks in Uttarakhand. In pre-Colonial Uttarakhand, the hemp producers were a prosperous community due to their near monopoly in hempen business and enjoyed due social status, which accompanies prosperity. However, with the introduction of machine-made cloth by the British, which, contrasted to bhangela (bhaṅgelā, hempen cloth), was cheaper and fashionable, the hempen fabric lost market and its producers suffered economically and socially. Responding to the demand of the new socio- political ideology prevailing under the British, the hemp-producing 1 I am thankful to Dr. Vijay Bahuguna for assisting me to collect ethnographic information incorporated in this essay. 174 Maheshwar P. Joshi community organised themselves accordingly. Based on the principle of ‘self-organization’, the present study purports to unfold as to how a simple society transforms into a complex one. Keywords: hemp, Indo-European, social stratification, caste, Othering, self-organisation, practice theory. Introduction Willem van Schendel’s (2002) critique of area study and introduction of the concept of ‘Zomia’ which he applies to the mountainous region stretching from approximately Himachal Pradesh in the west to Southeast Asia in the east and its adjoining Chinese Tibetan Autonomous Region (Ibid: Figure 2), has opened a new window to the study of the peoples living in the borders of concerned modern nation- states. The concept has been elaborately dealt with by James Scott (2009), albeit restricting his study to what he calls ‘stateless’ and ‘self- governed’ peoples inhabiting the Southeast Asian Massif, its adjoining South China and Northeast India (Ibid: Map 2). Sara Shneiderman (2010) has widened the scope of ‘Zomia’ by including the entire Himalayan Massif, Hindu Kush-Karakorum, and adjoining Chinese Tibetan Autonomous Region. Her study makes an interesting case of the highly mobile transnational Thangmi community found in central- east Nepal, Darjeeling and Sikkim (India) and adjoining Tibet (Ibid: Figure 1). More recently, Martin Gerwin and Christoph Bergmann (2012) have applied the Zomia concept to the ‘Bhotia’ community of Uttarakhand. It is not necessary to agree with the upholders of the Zomia concept in the entirety of their formulations. However, what is central to the Zomia studies is that they focus on the inhabitants of certain mountainous geopolitical regions of their study considered as fringe elements by academics, nation-states, and states within nation- states. It is from this particular perspective that I introduce the community of hemp cultivators with a special reference to Rathis who are struggling for their identification in the socio-cultural milieu of the newly formed state of Uttarakhand.2 2 Recently, the Rathis have been included in the list of Other Backward Classes by the State Government of Uttarakhand (see Tribune News Service, Dehradun, December 23, Hemp cultivators of Uttarakhand and social complexity 175 In Uttarakhand, there are several geo-ecological niches, each conditioned by its natural environment, maintaining a typical traditional lifestyle usually considered ‘primitive’ in ethnographic accounts. Some of these niches afford congenial environment to hemp cultivation as it is considered a natural habitat of this plant by some scholars (see, Russo 2005). Rath represents one such geo-ecological niche. It was a prosperous area and produced sufficient social surplus by means of hempen commerce, the mainstay of its economy. It is situated in the borders of two erstwhile principalities of Kumaon and Garhwal, as such its inhabitants known as Rathis were largely self-governing folks as is clear from their little known customary practices zealously governed by their traditional panchayat (pañcāyata) system. Sadly, it had to give way to the state regulated panchayat system under the Indian Constitution. Consequently, the traditional self-governing system is gradually dying out, and the Rathis are at the crossroads of socio- political transformation. Since there is hardly any ethnographic information about Rath, it is tempting to apply the Zomia concept to the Rath area. It is well known that due to successive phases of folding and uplift of the Himalaya, geologically the whole region is extremely complicated. In human terms, such mountainous country with a network of valleys lends itself to the development of many small distinct communities, each valley being a micro-region, both in human and geographical terms, whose inhabitants form a largely self- contained economic and cultural entity under few dominant persons as evidenced in local inscriptions. In the past, these communities enjoyed due socio-economic status as well as freedom to pursue their traditional vocations, hempen commerce being one such vocation. However, conditions changed. Under the Gorkha (AD 1791–1815; Kumaon 1791- 1815 and Garhwal 1804-1815), Uttarakhand was subjected to an autocratic rule and a strict orthodox caste system in an otherwise caste- fluid society of Uttarakhand. The British (AD 1815-1947) maintained status quo in the context of social organisation, however, they patronised those communities who claimed ‘high-caste’ status and who promoted British interests in Uttarakhand. Consequently, as may be noticed in contemporary official and private records, the centres of 2016: http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/uttarakhand/governance/3-communities-get- obc-status/340833.html). 176 Maheshwar P. Joshi power in Uttarakhand witnessed a phenomenal growth in social stratification; in the process, areas situated away from the seat of ruling authority were marginalised, so were their inhabitants. Ethnography and archives unfold that Rath is one such marginalised, little known areain Uttarakhand where social complexity developed during the British rule owing to the notion of ‘high caste’ category. It has been observed that during the British rule, ‘high caste’ was a passport to gaining access to power and prestige (see for details and further references, Joshi 1998; 2011).3 In the following sections of this essay, we will notice as to how under the British rule hemp related vocations (its cultivation and production of hempen commodities such as narcotic drugs and fibre for manufacturing rope and cloth) were instrumental in creating complexity in an otherwise simple society of hemp cultivators. Antiquity of bhang and bhangela production in Uttarakhand Of all the plants men have ever grown, none has been praised and denounced as often as marihuana (Cannabis sativa). Throughout the ages, marihuana has been extolled as one of man’s greatest benefactors and cursed as one of his greatest scourges. Marihuana is undoubtedly a herb that has been many things to many people. Armies and navies have used it to make war, men and women to make love. Hunters and fishermen have snared the most ferocious creatures, from the tiger to the shark, in its herculean weave. Fashion designers have dressed the most elegant women in its supple knit. Hangmen have snapped the necks of thieves and murderers with its fiber. Obstetricians have eased the pain of childbirth with its leaves. Farmers have crushed its seeds and used the oil within to light their lamps. Mourners have thrown its seeds into blazing fires and have had their sorrow