The Cultivation of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Bihar: A Study of the Role of Koeris in the Production Process

Pre-colonial records indicate that opium cultivation in India was practised to meet both medicinal and recreational purposes. Its ability to produce short-lived mind-altering conditions is well known.1 Owing to the caste-mediated nature of the agrarian landscape, it was the koeri community that was long associated with the crop. It is believed that the koeris possessed both specialist knowledge as well as the patience required for successful harvest of the poppy crop. The koeris performed both the skilled and unskilled labour involved in opium production, which was even cultivated domestically by the community.