The Multifaceted Smoke and Ashes | DIANA PAUL

Upon embarking on the extensive research for his monumental trilogy, the Ibis Trilogy, Amitav Ghosh was taken aback to discover the intricate web connecting the lives of nineteenth-century sailors and soldiers to the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean, where not only the currents but also a valuable commodity, opium, held sway. Yet, more astonishing was the revelation that his own lineage and personal history were entwined within this narrative.

"Smoke and Ashes" stands as a multifaceted narrative, melding elements of travelogue, memoir, and historical discourse, drawing extensively from years of meticulous archival study. Within its pages, Ghosh delves into the profound impact of the opium trade on the global landscape, particularly on Britain, India, and China. Orchestrated by the British Empire, the trade route from India to China served to address the staggering trade deficit, with its proceeds forming a crucial pillar supporting the empire's financial stability. Venturing deeper into the labyrinthine corridors of history, Ghosh uncovers the pivotal role played by opium in the genesis of some of the world's most influential corporations, as well as the lineage of prominent American families and esteemed institutions, spanning from the Astors and Coolidges to the hallowed halls of the Ivy League. Moreover, he sheds light on the intricate tapestry of contemporary globalization, woven with threads spun from the opium poppy.

Navigating seamlessly through botanical annals, the narratives of capitalism, and the socio-cultural ramifications of colonialism, "Smoke and Ashes" unveils the profound influence wielded by a seemingly innocuous plant, now poised to usher our world to the brink of calamity. Amitav Ghosh, acclaimed author of the bestselling Ibis Trilogy, comprising "Sea of Poppies" (nominated for the Man Booker Prize), "River of Smoke," and "Flood of Fire," as well as other literary masterpieces including "The Circle of Reason," recipient of the Prix Médicis étranger, and "The Glass Palace," has penned numerous works of nonfiction, including "The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable" and "The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis." Honored with two lifetime achievement awards and five honorary doctorates, Ghosh made history in 2018 as the first English-language writer to be bestowed with the Jnanpith Award, India’s most prestigious literary accolade. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Amitav Ghosh

Surmounting the formidable barriers shielding the veiled enigma of opium, this meticulously researched tome serves as a poignant and provocative exploration of poppy cultivation, opium production, and the harrowing tribulations endured by China at the hands of duplicitous Anglo-Saxon narcotics syndicates, abetted by sprawling supply chains sanctioned by royalty to legitimize the illicit trade. The latter chapters delve into the involvement of American, Japanese, and Taiwanese entities in the opium trade, alongside an incisive analysis of the burgeoning opioid crisis gripping the United States, implicating entities such as the FDA and Purdue Pharma.

Post-Opium Wars, irrespective of religious or caste disparities, opium emerged as the primary conduit for capital accumulation among indigenous merchants and financiers in western India, transforming Bombay into the veritable Medellin of British India. Among the 120 Indian-controlled enterprises engaged in opium commerce between 1803 and 1830, it is lamentable that no Indian merchant has been recorded expressing contrition for their complicity in the smuggling of a substance deemed illegal in China. Shockingly, some even petitioned the colonial administration for a share of the reparations exacted from China following the First Opium War.

Delve into the intricacies of the narrative to uncover how opium facilitated the ascendance of Bombay and Calcutta, relegating the erstwhile British bastion of Madras to the commercial periphery, while laying the foundations for the modern economic powerhouses of Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. This tome impels introspection upon the causal nexus that has sculpted contemporary China, the moral calculus underpinning opium traders' conscience, and the ethical ambiguities inherent in perpetrating untold suffering in pursuit of profit, sanctioned under the aegis of Free Market capitalism. How long before humanity recognizes the expendability imposed upon the marginalized, akin to the fate suffered by the Chinese populace a century prior?

Beyond the sphere of opium, the narrative illuminates the cultural symbiosis between China and India, epitomized through Buddhist monuments, tea cultivation, tanchoi weaving, gara sarees, civil service examinations, and Parsi architectural marvels in Guangzhou. The penultimate chapter offers a philosophical inquiry into the manifestations of intelligence through the prism of the opium poppy.

In consonance with the tradition of unmasking the inherent venality and moral bankruptcy of the West, "Smoke and Ashes" echoes the sentiments espoused in Edward Said's "Orientalism," laying bare the West's proclivity for disparaging the Orient. Ghosh's treatise further challenges the prevailing Western narrative, absolving the Orient from the perennial Western stereotype of inherent corruption and disorderliness. The concept of intoxication serves as a potent metaphor for Eastern indiscipline, disrupting conventional Western perceptions.

Ghosh diverges from convention by positing that the Cantonese lifestyle exerted a profound influence on Western mores, coining the term "Cantonization" to describe the process of cultural assimilation often misattributed to Westernization.

Through this seminal work of nonfiction, Ghosh seamlessly intertwines the factual substratum underpinning the fictional tapestry of the Ibis trilogy, laying bare the economic foundations undergirding British prosperity, built upon the ashes of Indian opium exports and Chinese opium imports. The enduring dividends and devastation wrought by this exploitation persist to this day, obscured beneath the veneer of denial, yet palpable in the lingering smoke that taints the atmosphere.

Furthermore, the treatise contends for the autonomous agency of opium, a quintessential commodity endowed with dualistic attributes, serving as both panacea and poison, contingent upon its utilization.

However, not all arguments advanced within the narrative resonate convincingly, as Ghosh unequivocally castigates the West while relegating the venality of India's ruling elite to a peripheral phenomenon of colonial subjugation. The complicity of indigenous elites in perpetuating the oppressive status quo remains largely unaddressed. The saga of Purvanchal, a focal point of the narrative, elucidates the enduring legacy of colonial land tenure systems, wherein local landlords, acting as proxies for the East India Company and later the Crown, ruthlessly exploited the entrenched caste hierarchy to subjugate the marginalized peasantry and laborers. For instance, it was the Santhalis, toiling under the yoke of Bengali landlords in the tea plantations of Assam, who bore the brunt of exploitation.

While Ghosh meticulously enumerates the prominent European and American beneficiaries of the opium trade, he glosses over the analogous beneficiaries among the Indian elite in the region spanning from Purvanchal to Kolkata, where control over land, be it for indigo, opium (north of the Ganges), or coal (south of the Ganges), was concentrated in the hands of landlords and businessmen belonging to specific castes and classes. Their progeny continue to reap the benefits of this legacy, as promises of land reform and socialism remain elusive.

Save for perfunctory references, Ghosh is effusive in his praise of the entrepreneurial acumen of Marwaris and Parsis, the two preeminent Indian communities involved in the opium trade, seeking to counterbalance any negative portrayal with adulation. Conversely, such magnanimity is conspicuously absent in his treatment of Western actors.

Furthermore, Ghosh echoes Nehru's thesis in "The Discovery of India," positing a direct correlation between the extent of underdevelopment and the degree of colonial imposition. By introducing the specter of heroin as a malevolent antagonist, Ghosh seeks to inject a dramatic element into the narrative, thereby absolving India of complicity and attributing blame solely to colonial rule.

Nevertheless, the overarching framework of indigenous exploitation persists, albeit with a shifting focus on different commodities. Jharkhand, for instance, has become a mere fiefdom of the social elite of Bihar and Bengal, with corporate powerhouses headquartered not in Bombay but in Mumbai. Yet, the blame game persists, with the ruling elite always finding scapegoats to absolve themselves of responsibility.

The East India Company and its European counterparts exploited and exacerbated preexisting structures of oppression to further their own interests, with commodities such as opium, indigo, tea, and coal serving as mere instruments in perpetuating systemic exploitation.

The centrality accorded to opium within the narrative fabric of "Smoke and Ashes" is as captivating as it is unsettling. Ghosh, in his characteristic vein, imbues the narrative with an aura of mystique, transforming elements of nonfiction into a tapestry of fiction. Indeed, the pervasive influence of opium leaves an indelible mark on all who encounter it, whether directly or tangentially. Yet, Ghosh's "Cantonization" narrative fixates solely on the blemishes adorning Western visages, overlooking the myriad stains besmirching the East.

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