Ganja was originally the Indian name for the dried shoots of the female hemp plant which have hashishresin on them. Today it is a Jamaican slang expression for cannabis and hashish. Research Ganja
Hemp is an annual herb of the genusCannabis, natural order Cannabinaceae with an erect, hairy stem and palmately divided, long-stalked leaves with serrate edges, formerly cultivated for its fibres that are used to make rope. The plant is dioecious: the male flowers are arranged in panicles, are green, resembling those of the hop and produce large quantities of pollen; the female flowers grow in leafy spikes in the leaf axils and are pollinated by the wind. The fruit is a shiny, greyish-green achene.
Hemp is a native of Western and Central Asia, but has long been naturalized in Brazil and tropical Africa, and was extensively cultivated in Italy and many other European countries, particularly Russia and Poland. The Indian variety, often known as Cannabis indica, is the source of the narcotic drug variously known as hashish, bhang, or gunjah or simply cannabis.The oil and leaves of Indian hemp contain tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabinol and cannabidol, which have sedative, analgesic and antispasmodic properties.
The derivatives of hemp (hashish and cannabis being the oil and dried leaves respectively) are widely smoked for their narcotic effects and are also effective in the treatment of many illnesses including multiple- sclerosis, though their use is banned in the UK, where it is an offence to grow, possess or sell hemp without a government license.
The hemp fibre is tough and strong, and peculiarly adapted for weaving into coarse fabrics such as sail-cloth, and for twisting into ropes and cables. Immense quantities were exported from Russia. The finer sorts were used for shirtings, sheetings, etc, which, though coarser than that made from flax, were very much stronger and equally susceptible of being bleached.
The hemp of England was very superior, but the plant dis not pay the farmer, and very little of it was grown. In some of the United States during the 19th century hemp was a crop of considerable importance. Research Hemp
The Assassins were an Asiatic order or society having the practice of assassination as its most distinctive feature. The Assassins were founded by Hassan Ben Sabbah, a dai or missionary of the heterodox Muslim sect the Ismaelites. The society grew rapidly in numbers, and in 1090 the Persian fortress of Alamut fell into their hands. Other territories were added, and the order became a recognized military power. Its organization comprised seven ranks, at its head being the Sheikh-al-Jebal or Old man of the mountains. Upon a select band fell the work of assassination, to which they were stimulated by the intoxicating influence of hashish. From the epithet Hashishim (hemp-eaters) which was applied to the order, the European word assassin has been derived. For nearly two centuries they maintained their power under nine sheiks. Hassan, after a long and prosperous reigm, died in 1124. Most of his successors died violent deaths at the hands of relatives or dependents. After proving themselves strong enough to withstand the powerful sultans Noureddin and Saladin, and making themselves feared by the Crusaders, the Assassins were overcome by the Tatar leader Hulaku. The last chief, Rokneddin, was killed for an act of treachery subsequent to his capture, and his death was followed by a general massacre of the assassins, in which 12,000 perished. Dispersed bands led a roving life in the Syrian mountains, and it is alleged that in the Druses and other small existing tribes their descendants are still to be found. Research Assassins
Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet. He was born in 1821 and died in 1867. His first work of importance was a series of translations from Poe, ranking among the most perfect translations in any literature. A volume of poems, Les Flours du Mal (1857), established his reputation as a leader of the Romanticists, though the police thought it necessary to deodorize them. Of a higher tone were his Petits Poemes enProse; followed in 1859 by a monograph on Theophile Gautier, in 1860 by Les Paradis Artificiels (opium and hashish studies), and in 1861 by Wagner and Taunhauser. Research Charles Baudelaire
Tetuan is a town in Morocco where cannabis produced in the Rif is distributed and processed into hashish. It is listed by the United Nations as a cultural treasure, which belies the underlying drug trade and high crime rate. Research Tetuan
Black is slang for hashish from the Indian subcontinent.
Black is slang for a blackmailer.
Black is slang for the black market.
Black is British military slang for a glaring error.
Abbreviations
Research Chibouk
