Why was opium addiction not a problem in india during opium war?
Answers
The roots of the Opium War (or First China War) lay in a trade dispute between the British and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. By the start of the 19th century, the trade in Chinese goods such as tea, silks and porcelain was extremely lucrative for British merchants. The problem was that the Chinese would not buy British products in return. They would only sell their goods in exchange for silver, and as a result large amounts of silver were leaving Britain.
In order to stop this, the East India Company and other British merchants began to smuggle Indian opium into China illegally, for which they demanded payment in silver. This was then used to buy tea and other goods. By 1839, opium sales to China paid for the entire tea trade.
(i)The Portuguese had introduced opium into China where it was used for medical purposes in very small quantity.
(ii) The Chinese were aware of the danger of opium addiction and the Emperor had forbidden its production and sale except for medicinal purposes.
(iii) But the English began an illegal trade in opium.
(iv) It was unloaded in a number of seaports of south-eastern China and carried by local agents to the interiors.
(v) While the English cultivated a taste for Chinese tea, the Chinese became addicted to opium.
(vi) People of all classes took to the drug-shopkeepers and peddlers, oflicials and army men, aristocrats and also the poor.
As China became a country of opium addicts, British trade in tea flourished.