Question

who initially had a monopoly over trade in opium?

Answer 1

In the late eighteenth century, the English East India Company was buying tea and silk from China for sale in England.

As tea became a popular English drink, the tea trade became more and more important. By 1830, the figure had jumped to over 30 million pounds.

England at this time produced nothing that could be easily sold in China.

If they bought tea only by paying in silver coins or bullion, that would have meant an outflow of treasure from England.

England saw the answer in the Opium trade.
The Chinese were aware of the dangers of opium addiction, and the Emperor had forbidden its production and sale except for medicinal purposes.

But Western merchants in the mid-eighteenth century began an illegal trade in opium. It was unloaded in a number of sea ports of south-eastern China and carried by local agents to the interiors.

By 1835, 35,000 crates were being unloaded every year.

While the English cultivated a taste for Chinese tea, the Chinese became addicted to opium.

Answer 2

The British East India Company established a monopoly on opium