Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t1.5

v1.c5.s3.t1.5

Initially, virtually all the opium sold in China from India was grown in Bengal and Bihar and was known as Bengal or Patna opium. However, from early 19th century CE, opium from the western part of India, known as Malwa opium, also began to find a market in China and eventually overtook Patna opium in sales. Unlike Patna opium, Malwa opium was not grown under the East India Company's supervision but by a large number of private cultivators. Malwa, being cheaper than Patna opium, had bigger sales and greatly expanded the market for the drug in China.