'Mumbai for much of its history was kept afloat by the Malwa opium trade'

Updated On: 17 July, 2023 02:23 PM IST | Mumbai | Nascimento Pinto

In an exclusive interview with Mid-day.com, Indian writer Amitav Ghosh says why he is fascinated by the Opium trade, ahead of the launch of his latest non-fiction book ‘Smoke and Ashes’ in Mumbai on July 18. It has previously been the subject of Ibis Trilogy but the Padma Shri awardee also delves into how it shaped many aspects of Indian life

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Amitav Ghosh will be in Mumbai on July 18 for the launch of his latest book ‘Smoke and Ashes’ at the Royal Opera House. Photo Courtesy: Avid Learning

For Amitav Ghosh, the celebrated Indian author, the fumes of the opium trade are still as intoxicating as it was 20 years ago when he explored the subject in his Ibis trilogy. The books Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015), revolve around the First Opium War with marvelous characters conjured by Ghosh. While these were fiction, his new non-fiction book ‘Smoke and Ashes: A Writer‘s Journey Through Opium‘s Hidden Histories’, which comes after Jungle Nama (2021) and Gun Island (2019), circles back to opium.

It is one that he arrived at after spending many years researching about the trade when he was writing the trilogy between 2005 and 2015. Interestingly, at the time, he thought it would mainly be about the transportation of indentured workers from India to Mauritius in the early nineteenth century but there was more. He stumbled upon how opium was being transported between India and China, and that piqued his curiosity.

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Home / Lifestyle / Culture / Article / 'Mumbai for much of its history was kept afloat by the Malwa opium trade'