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This research examines the trade dynamics of opium and hashish along key routes in Central Asia.

April 16, 2026Open Access

Hashish and Opium Trade along the Roads to Kashgar and Yarkand

Key Points

This research examines the trade dynamics of opium and hashish along key routes in Central Asia.
Analysis of 19th and 20th century archival trade statistics and reports
Focus on the trade routes to Kashgar and Yarkand
Evaluation of commodity impact on trade relations and route development
Documented the export of Badakhshani opium to China
Identified the import and distribution of Xinjiang-grown hashish in Kashmir
Noted significant changes in exchange relations by the late 1930s due to political turmoil.

Abstract

Looking from the South, trade routes to Kashgar were important thoroughfares and competing corridors across the Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalaya for the export of Badakhshani opium (Papaver somniferum) to China, for the import of high-quality Xinjiang-grown hashish (Cannabis indica, charas) into Kashmir, and for its distribution in British-India. The analysis of a long-neglected aspect of opium export from British-India to China in the mountainous rimlands of Xinjiang is based upon trade statistics and reports from 19th and 20th century archival sources. The importance of these two commodities is evaluated in terms of their effects on route development and trade relations enabling the exchange of goods across High Asian passes. Towards the end of the 1930s, exchange relations significantly changed and almost came to a standstill as a result of political upheavals.

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