Opium trade

A lucrative opium trade existed between China and Britain in the 19th century. British sales of opium in large amounts began in 1781 and between 1821 and 1837 sales increased fivefold. Two 'Opium Wars' punctuated the period, their outcomes redefining the trade.

History

The East India Company held the monopoly of the opium trade in Bengal and supplied large quantities of the drug to China. Trade with China, which operated via Canton, was so important to the Company that when the Chinese Government forbade the importation of opium, the EIC pretended to give up their connections to the opium trade by not carrying the drug on its own ships. In reality, deals were done with the owners of Country Ships who continued to smuggle the drug into China on their vessels. As the country ships were under licence to the East India Company this meant the company still had control of the sale of opium. This practice continued until 1833 when the trading monopoly of the East India company was abolished.

Opium Wars

• 1st China War 1839-42

Opium addiction in China had become such a problem that to prevent imports the Qing Dynasty closed the waterway up to Canton and seized over 1 million kilograms of opium, requiring merchants to enter into a bond not to deal in the drug. The Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China tried to negotiate with the Chinese but was continually rebuffed. Naval confrontations took place and Britain sent an expeditionary force from Singapore, capturing Canton and Shanghai. The war ended in August 1842 with the Treaty of Nanking which opened five treaty ports to trade, ceded Hong Kong and granted an indemnity to Britain.

• 2nd China War 1856-60

The Western Powers sought to renegotiate their commercial treaties with China. The British wanted all of China open to merchants, legalization of the opium trade and exemption of import tariffs. The Qing Government refused and relations deteriorated. The French, Russians and Americans also became involved. In the First Campaign British and French forces captured Canton and took the Taku Forts outside Tianjin. There was a temporary end to hostilities with the Treaty of Tianjin (giving extensive rights to the Western Powers) but the Qing Government rejected the treaty and this led to a Second Campaign. In June 1859 Anglo-French forces failed to take the Taku Forts but later captured Tianjin. In September the Chinese were defeated and the Summer Palace in Peking destroyed. The Convention of Peking ratified the Treaty of Tianjin, the opium trade was legalized, China was opened to western merchants and Britain and France were paid a huge indemnity.

External links

• The opium godown or store within its compound at Patna An interior view. Watercolours from British Library Online Gallery
• Opium: A "morally indefensible trade in a "horrible drug" Cambridge University Library
• The Opium Trade Maritime Heritage Project
• “Narcotics and empire” from Frontline-The Hindu. A review of the book Opium City, The Making of Early Victorian Bombay by Amar Farooqui

Historical books online

• “Report no.1: On the Poppy Cultivation, and the Benares Opium Agency” by WCB Eatwell MD ‘First Asst. and Opium Examiner. Board of Customs, Salt and Opium’ from Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal (1851) Google Books