The Parsis of India and the opium trade in China

Abstract

The article examines the role of the Parsis of India in the opium trade between China and India during the 18th and 19th centuries. It examines the significant role of a non-European group in the history of drugs. The Parsi involvement in the opium trade constituted an important component in the rise of Western capital in Asia, the development of the Indian and imperial economies, and the growth of Bombay and other colonial centers. Furthermore, the article examines the ability of drugs to serve the interests of non-Europeans under imperialism, as opium provided for the economic, social, and political development of the Parsi community. The article notes an episode in the history of both a community and a drug. The Parsis constitute one of the first and arguably most significant examples of the ability of drugs to positively transform the state of one of the world's smallest communities.