man and cannabis in africa: a study of diffusion - journal of african economic history (1976)

8/10/2019 Man and Cannabis in Africa: A Study of Diffusion - Journal of African Economic History (1976)

1/20

African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Man and Cannabis in Africa: A Study of DiffusionAuthor(s): Brian M. du ToitSource: African Economic History, No. 1 (Spring, 1976), pp. 17-35Published by: African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-MadisonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4617576.

Accessed: 22/08/2013 17:40

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-MadisonandRegents of the University of Wisconsin System

are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toAfrican Economic History.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 71.172.230.211 on Thu, 22 Aug 2013 17:40:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aspuwhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4617576?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4617576?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aspuw


2/20

17

Man

nd

Cannable

n

Africa:

Studg

f

Diffuesion

Brian

M. du Toit

University

of

Florida

The

past

decade has seen

an

awakening

of

research interests

regard-

ing

psychoactive

and

hallucinogenic

drugs.

While the

New World is

par-

ticularly

rich

in these natural

products,

no

drug

has as wide

a

distri-

bution nor as universal an appeal as cannabis. This hallucinogen is

known

y

different

local referrents

but the

most

widely

distributed

is

marijuana

in the United States

and

Latin

America,

and

hemp

or

Indian

hemp

n

many

of

the other

Anglophone

areas

of

the

world.

While

it

has

near universal

distribution,

it is nonetheless

to the Old World

we

must

look for

its

origin

and

original

acceptance.

Cannabis was

originally

cultivated as

a

fiber

plant

and

only

its

leaves

were used in

the

pharmacopoeia

of

different

peoples.

Linnaeus

classified it as a

simple species

Cannabis

sativa,

but "recent research

indicates that

there

may

well

be

several

species."'1

At this

stage

we

are not

concerned

with

this

botanical

question

but intend

to focus on

the

social

use and

diffusion

of

the

plant

through

Africa.

In

this paper we will examine in turn the historical, sociological,and

linguistic

evidence

relating

to the cannabis

plant

in

Africa.

Then,

after

a

brief review

of

current

hypotheses

regarding

the

diffusion of

cannabis,

we will

propose

a more

encompassing

hypothesis

to

account

for

its

spread

in

sub-Saharan Africa.

HISTORICAL

EVIDENCE

The

early trading

contacts

between India

and the

Arabian

Penin-

sula,

as

well as

trade and

settlement

by

Indian

and

Arabian

merchants

started

around

the

Horn,

but soon

extended southward

along

the east

African

coast.

Early

trade

links

between Arabia

and the east

African

coast are well documented and were flourishing by the first centuries

A.D.

Doubtless

such

trading

involved

valued

products

from

India,

Turkey,

and Persia in

exchange

for

minerals,

precious

stones,

and

ivory.

According

to

classical sources an

Arabian trade center

existed at

Rhapta

and

in

time

settlers and traders

spread

southward,

along

the

coast.

Neville

Chittick

reports

that

by

the eleventh or

twelfth

century

Muslim

settlements could

be found on

Zanzibar and

Pemba,

and

also at

Kilwa.2

The same

author

suggested

that

"By

the

early

tenth

century

A.D.

(al-Mas'udi),

there

were Muslims in

Qanbalu

(Pemba?)

and there

were

already

Bantu settled in

this

zone.

By

the

mid-twelfth

century

(al-

Idrisi),

most the

inhabitants

of

Zanzibar

were

Muslim;

there were

num-

bers of

towns

on the

mainland,

most

of which

appear

to

have been

pagan,"3

and there was close contact between these settlers and Bantu speakers.

This

is

also

the

period

during

which cannabis

spread

westward

from

India

and

Persia to

Egypt.4

African

conomic

History,

pring,

976.

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/20

18

AhmadKhalifa, referring to Arabic historians, stated that cannabis

was

introduced into

Egypt

during

the

reign

of

the

Ayyubid

dynasty,

around

the

mid-twelfth

century;

"as a

result

of

the

emigration

of

mystic

devo-

tees from

Syria.5

We

might

then

suggest

that

the

Arab communities

on

the

African east coast were

associated

with

cannabis,

either in

the

form

of

the domesticated

variety

used for its

fiber,

or the wild

variety

which

was

used as medication and as a

mind-altering

substance.

Much

of the

trade with the

interior

regions

of Africa

was

by

ascent

through

river

valleys

but these

frequently

were rendered

impassible

during

the

rainy

season,

thus

necessitating

extended

periods

of

stay

in

the interior.

A.McMartin6

n

fact

suggests

that at

various

inland centers

the

Arabs had

semi-permanent

settlements

where

they

would

spend

one or

two

years away

from

the coast.

When he

Portuguese

made their

way upthe Zambezi in 1531 to establish a trading post, a small Arab community

existed

at

Sena,

almost a

hundred miles

from

the

coast.7

Based

on ethno-

historical

sources,

D.

P. Abrahamhas estimated

that

at the

start

of

the

sixteenth

century

at least ten

thousand Arabs

were

in Rhodesia

tapping

the

wealth of

the Zimbabwe

ettlers

in

Rhodesia.8

In

time

they

had a

great

influence over

the

Karanga territory--an

influence

they

later

exchanged

with

the

Portuguese

who

traded

from

their

new

base

in

Mozambique.

Two

centuries later

David

Livingstone

commented

n

the

presence

of

Arab

traders

and Arab

influences

in

wide areas

of

central

Africa.

We

need

not

overemphasize

the

presence

of the

Arab traders

in

the

interior. At the time

when the first Arab settlements were

being

estab-

lished

off

the east

African

coast,

and the

gold

trade with Sofala was

being regularized,9 there were already Bantu-speaking peoples in contact

with

them. These

Bantu-speakers

were

gradually spreading

southward

as

they

expanded

their

territory

or

grazed

their

cattle. As

far

back

as

the

second and third centuries A.D.

imports

were

reaching

central

Africa

via

indigenous

trade

routes,10

or

spreading

further westward

along

an

extensive series

of

trade routes into

the

Congo

basin11

or,

more

likely,

conveyed by

Swahili-speaking

traders into the

Great

Lakes

region.

In

a

discussion of

excavations

of

sites on

Lake

Kisale in northern

Katanga,

Jacques Neguin postulates

a

date of the seventh to the ninth

century

A.D.

for

them

and states

that

"the

perforated

cowrie

shell found

in

Burial

54

probably

comes

from

the East Coast."12 This is one

of

many

uggestions

by

research

workers

regarding

trade contacts

at an

early

date,

but

more

important, trade contacts fromeast to west. Further south there is

documentation

of

similar

indigenous

trade,

for around 1835 "the Matabele

had

considerable

traffic with

the

Amasili/Masarwa

off the

edge

of the

Kalahari,

exchanging

iron,

daggo

(sic),

spears,

hoes,

and knives

for

ostrich

eggshell

beads,

ivory,

feathers,

horns and skins."13

The same

kind of

trade into the Kalahari

region

from

the

peoples

in

South

West

Africa also

existed,

as

did

various trade

lihks

among

the

local

populations

who

cultivated

and

used

cannabis.

H.

Vedder

(1928)13a

emphasized

the

value of

cannabis

as

currency

in

transactions

where,

for

example,

the

Bergdama

who cultivated the

herb,

traded it to

the

Ovambo

for

goats

and cows.

In

fact it was "the

Bergdama's money

with which

they

could

buy

everything they

needed."

In

what

later

became

South

Africa

we have

earlier and

better

documented evidence

of the

presence 14of cannabis,

though

it was

frequently

confused with Leonotis leonurus.

The

inclusion

of

cannabis

in

the list of

trade items between

Khoikhoi



4/20

19

and Bantu-speakers on the east coast has been discussed elsewherel5

though

it would seem

that some

groups

among

the

Khoikhoi,

particularly

the

Hankumqua,

may

have

cultivated

this herb.

In addition to

the Khoi-

khoi the

San

hunters both usedl6 and traded17

cannabis.

In

fact,

when

Whites

settled at the southern

tip

of the African continent cannabis

was

in common

se.

We will return

to

this

question

when

dealing

with

the

linguistic

argument

below.

ARCHAEOLOGICALATA

That Iron

Age

Africans were

cultivating

in the Zambezi

valley

and

raising

their

cattle in

that

region by

the second

or third

century

A.D.

is now a well established fact. In

fact,

authoritatively

dated archaeo-

logical

sites

from

Zambia and Rhodesia

show the

presence

of

settled

communities of

Iron

Age

peoples

between A.D.

185 and

A.D.

300.18

These

were

village

dwellers

who

were

experimenting

with iron

smelting

and

pottery making.

We

also

knowthat

in

Zambia trade items

from

the coast

are

quite

common

n

archaeological

sites

dating

from

the

sixth

or

seventh

centuries.19 These

sites

are

also rich

in

pottery

and carved

stone

items,

indicating

that

the bowls of

pipes

essential in

the

smoking

of

cannibis could have been

readily

prepared

from either

of

these materials.

Further

south

smoking

pipes

were found

in the

Brandberg,

South

West

Africa,

where

they

were

associated

with

large, open-station

settlement

sites attributed to the

Bergdama.

Two of these

sites have radiocarbon

dates of 1590 and 1730 A.D. respectively.20 Apparently then people here-

abouts were

smoking by

the sixteenth

century.

Based

on

ethnohistorical

information

we

would

suggest

that

they

were

in

fact

smoking

cannabis.

If we

look

to the north

of

the

general

region

just

discussed,

it

is

clear that

cannabis

was

being

used

in the northern

Kenya-southern

Ethiopia region shortly

after the thirteenth

century

date

suggested

for

the

introduction

of cannabis

into

Africa.

That

it was

being

smoked is

borne out

by

excavations

in

Ethiopia

where

two ceramic

smoking-pipe

bowls

were

excavated

with a date determined to

be

1320+80

A.D.

More

important

however is the fact that

both

yielded

positive

tests

for cannabis-

derived

compounds.21

ETHNOGRAPHIC

VIDENCE

A

survey

of seventeenth

century

and

eighteenth

century

travel

docu-

ments,

ethnographies,

and

anthropological

studies

presents

a

picture

of

established

cannabis users

throughout

sub-Saharan

Africa.22 This

applies

not

only

to

the

Khoikhoi

herders

in the south

and

their

San

neighbors

but also to the

Bantu-speakers

in contact with

them.

It

applies equally

to

most of the

Negroid peoples

in

south, east,

and central

Africa. This

common

ultural

pattern

of use and the

terms used to

refer to the herb

(see

below)

suggests

a

longstanding

acceptance

of cannabis in most of

sub-Saharan

Africa.

There is by contrast

a

significant

absence

of

cannabis

among

the

traditional societies in West Africa. We do know that

early

north-

south trade routes

existed

across

the

Sahara

and

that

a

degree

of

trade



5/20

20

existed centuries before Europeans made their contacts from the sea.

This

point

must be

emphasized

because cannabis has

always

spread

due to

the

contact of

peoples

and the

trade

route would thus be

a

normal mode

of diffusion. We

also know that cannabis was

present

in

Egypt

at about

the

same

time that

it

was introduced to

the African east coast.

However,

although

the

herb

was

used

extensively

in

Egypt

where

it was

grown

in

gardens

and

traded--ultimately

as far

west

as

Spain--during

the fourteenth

century,

it failed

to

spread

along

the

trade

routes across the Sahara.

This hiatus

might

be

explained

in

terms

of a desert climate which was

not

conducive to

its

growth

or an

unwillingness

on the

part

of

desert

people

and

West African

Negroes

to

accept

it. It

is also

possible

that

it

was

not

acceptable

while in

the

form

of

dried

leaves.

We

know,

for

example, that throughout this period cannabis, under the name "hashish"was eaten in

Egypt

and

only

much

ater used in

pipes.

Thus

it

might

not

have been

accepted

because it

was

not

integrated

with an

established

cultural

pattern.

Whatever the

reason

we

have

found no

evidence

of

can-

nabis in

West Africa

before the Second World War.

It is

possible,

of

course,

that

the West

African

peoples

were

simp-

ly

not

interested

in

the

herb,

that

the

population

movementswere east

and

south,

thus

discouraging

much

diffusion or elaborate

trade routes

westward,

or that a combination

of

geographical

barriers

and

ecological

zones

discouraged

its

spread.

It is

more

than

likely

that

a

combination

of

these various factors was-involved.

West Africa's isolation

in this

regard

was breached when

its

people

went

eastward

to war.

As

T. Asuni

points

out:

"Cannabis

sativa

is not

indigenous to Nigeria, and evidence indicated that it was introduced to

the

country

and most

likely

to other

parts

of

West

Africa,

during

and

after

the

second World War

by

soldiers

returning

from the Middle East

and the

Far

East,

and

North

Africa,

and

also

by

sailors."23

There is

furthermoreno traditional name

for

it

though

a

number

of local refer-

rents have since

emerged. Although

by

1965

Nigeria

was a

supplier

for

local

consumption,

as

well as for "illicit traffic

between

neighboring

countries

and

in

international

illicit

traffic,"24

researchers have found

the herb to

be

used

primarily by

"marginal"

Africans;

by young

migrant

workers;

by "organized

political

thugs;"

or

by

"recently

evolved

secret

societies with criminal

aims,

such

as

Odozi Obodo and the

Leopard-men

society

of

Nigeria"25

apparently

used as a

compensatory

drug

under stress.

In contrast to some of the cases in East Africa where cannabis is well-

accepted

and used

by

males and females

alike,

in

Nigeria

we find that

it is

"almost

entirely

confined

to the male sex."26

Further

west,

in

Ghana,

the situation is

almost identical

to that

in

Nigeria.

The

first

illegal

cultivation of

cannabis in Ghana was

reported

by

police

in

1960 where

the herb

is

called

"Wee,"

which is seen

by

one

author as "a

corruption

of 'weed'

by

seamen."27

It is

smoked,

but

only

in

the

form of

a

rolled

cigarette.

We can

thus

view

it as

a

truly

recent introduction

without the

normal

accompanying

paraphernalia

of

the

waterpipe.



6/20

21

THE LINGUISTIC PICTURE

There are two

important

terms

in

the

history

of the

herb: Sanskrit

bhanga

which

resulted

in the Hindi

use

of

bhang;

and

Arabic

kinnab,

a

word which

probably

accounted

for

the

adoption

by

Linnaeus

the

botanist

of

the sub-order

cannabis.

In

its

natural

form

n

India,

growing

either

wild

or in a

cultivated

state,

cannabis was referred to

as

bhang.

This term

applied

to

the

dry

28

leaves of the

hempplant

which

were

used

either for

a

tea

or

for

smoking.

It

is

also

the

word

which

spread

with

the

herb

itself.

Early

Muslim

writings,

from

the thirteenth

century

onwards,

refer

to

banj

or hashish29

but

the former

may

in

some cases

have referred to

henbane. Those early writers who criticized the use of the herb as a

drug,

however,

did use

banj

for

cannabis.

Medieval

Muslim

society

also

recognized

its use

and

distinguished

it

from all other medicinal herbs.

The use of

hashish,

which

could refer to

grass

as

fodder, weeds,

medici-

nal

herbs and

so forth

was

simply

a

nickname

and could

be

an

abbreviation

of

al-hashish

al-muskir

"the

intoxicating

hashish."

The

early

Arab traders introduced

the term

bang

to Africa and

in

linguistic

variant

forms,

it

is

found

all over east

and

south

Africa.

Thus

the

Dictionnaire

Swahili

-

Fransais

prepared

by

the

Institut d'Eth-

nologie

(Paris,

1939)

refers

to

Bangi,

which indicates

Indian

hemp

or

hemp-like

dried

top

sections

prepared

as intoxicants.

The

origins

of the term

are listed as:

Hindi:

bang,

Arabic:

banj,

and Persian

bandz

(banj).In the region of the East African Great Lakes, just south of Lake

Victoria,

cannabis is

referred to as

bhangi30--no

doubt the result of

early

Swahili

contacts.

When

he

explorer

Speke

during

the

1850's

made

his

way

from

the coast to

the Great Lakes

he

found Arab

communities

and

cannabis in

use. The use

of

banghi

was

common s it

still is

among

the

Swahili

along

the coast.

Variations

of

bangi

are, however,

found

further

south. Thus

the

Thonga31

in

the

Zambezi

valley

refer to

cannabis as

mbange,

while

the

Rhodesian

Shona

use

mbanji.

Just

south

of

the

Limpopo

divide,

south-

west

of the

Thonga,

live

the

Venda

who

refer

to

it as

mbanzhe,

and the

Sotho

speakers

called

it lebake

or

patse.

A

slight

phonemic

variation

occurs

among

the

Swazi-Zulu

speakers

who use

the term

ntsangu

and

the

Lambain the present Zambia have long used uluwangula.32 Referring to

a

muchmore

recent

situation

in

Rwanda,

Helen Codere-

reports

on

canna-

bis use

among

the

indigenous population.

Cannabis,

"called

injaga

in

Kingarawanda,"

is associated

with the

Twa

of both

sexes

and

only

very

rarelK

with

Hutu and Tutsi.

The

latter, however,

use the

herb medicin-

ally.34

We

find

then

a

geographical complex

along

the

east coast and

extend-

ing

some hundreds

of miles

inland,

or

along

the

Zambezi,

where

indigenous

Bantu

speakers

adopted

not

only

the herb

but also

the

term

bang.

The

presence

of

Arab traders

among

them

probably

had

some

influence

in this

regard

but the

early

dates

for

smoking

pipes

suggest

that cannabis

may

have

preceded

its

Arab

bearers

in the

process

of

diffusion.

Bang and its Bantu derivatives are not found in all of southern

Africa.

In

the

southernmost

part

of

the

continent we encounter

an

historical

accident

which

resulted in

a

common omenclature

which



7/20

22

E

l-ang-

l

dagga

-lomajor

diffusion

route

-~- minor diffusionroute



8/20

23

clouds the geographical and historical importance of this single term.

This is

due

in

part

to an erroneous

application

of the

term

and to

gen-

eralization which followed.

The earliest use

of the

term

"dagga"

of

which

we

are aware

occurs

in

the

diary

of

Jan

van

Riebeeck,

the

first

governor

of

the new

Dutch

settlement at the

Cape

of Good

Hope.

The date

was

1658,

and it was

spelled

as

"daccha."

It

is almost certain that here

and

in

numerous

subsequent

references

we

are

not

dealing

with

Cannabis

sativa

but

with

Leonotis

leonurus

a well-known

flowering

shrub

used

by

the Khoikhoi.

Van

Reibeeck

refers to this

daccha as

"een

droogh

cruyt

dat de Hottentoos

eeten ende droncken

van worden"

(a

dry

powder

which the Hottentots

eat

and which makes

them

drunk).

In

discussing

the medicinal and

poisonous

plants

of

southern

Africa,

J. M. Watt

and M.

G.

Breyer-Brandwijk pointout that Leonotis leonurus R.

Br.,

also referred to as Rooi

dagga,

Wilde

dagga,

or

Klipdagga

was in

early

times

smoked

by

the

Khoikhoi

instead

of

tobacco.

They

also

quote

early

authors to

the

effect

that the

White

Colonists

employed

the

plant

and that "the

preparation produces

narcotic

effects if

used

incautiously,"35

and that

"Laidler

records that in

olden

times the

Namas

formed

the

powdered

leaf into cakes

which were chewed

evidently

for the

intoxicating

effects."36

Many

of the same

properties

are

ascribed

to

another

member f the

family,

Leonotis leonotis

R.

Br.,

also

referred

to as

Knoppies

dagga

or

Klipdagga.

While it

is

impossible

to

confuse the adult

plant

of

Cannabis

sativa

and

adult

specimens

of the

Leonotis

group

which bear

clusters of

bright

red

flowers,

it is

likely

that

the

common se

and related effects

of

these two plants lead to the similar termbeing applied to both plants.

This

classificatory

error

also underlies

suggestions

that

Cannabis

pro-

ducts

were eaten

or

drunk

in the

Cape.

As well

as

being

eaten,

the

Leonotis leaves

were also

smoked,

usually

after

being

mixed with

tobacco,

so that a double

confusion

arose

in

contemporary

writings.

One of

the

most

complete

linguistic analyses

of

the term

"dagga"

37

has

been made

by

G. S. Nienaber

in his

study

entitled

"Hottentots"

(1963).

In

suggesting

two

possible

origins

for this term

he refers

to the

works

of

a number

f

previous

researchers:

(a) Following

Hahn

and

Lichten-

stein,

it

is

possible

that

Dutch

term tabak

(tobacco),

which

frequently

appears

as

twak,

was

corrupted

to

twaga,

later

toaga

and

finally

dagga.

This however

seems

a farfetched

origin.

(b)

A

much

more

plausible

postulate is that the Khoikhoi term daXa-b or baXa-b, which amongother

things

refers to

tobacco,

is the root

noun fromwhich

dagga

could

be

derived. When

eferring specifically

to

dagga

we find the

qualifier

am

-

(green)

being

added

to

the

root

mentioned

above,

and the

result

is amaXa-b

namely

"green

tobacco"

or

dagga.

Lichtenstein,

Meinhof,

and

Nienaber

himself

doubt that

dagga

is

an

original

Khoikhoi

word. Meinhof

goes

so

far as to

suggest

that

dagga

is

really

a

derivative

of the

Arabic

word

duXan

(actually

duXXan

or

tobacco,"38

which came

in

by way

of the

early

Khoikhoi

migrants.19

We

should

immediately

point

out that

no

other

language

group

in South

Africa

ever

used such

a

term

or

anything

resembling

it.

Early

European

observers

in

South

Africa

normally

had

difficulty

in recording phonetically the terms they

heard

among ndigenous peoples.In time a

variety

of

spellings

for this common hoikhoi word

began

to

appear

in the

literature.

Thus

we find

daccha

(1658),

dacha

(1660),



9/20

24

dackae (1663), dagha (1686), daggha (1695), dagga (1708), tagga (1725),

dacka

(1775),

and

daga

(1779),

as

writers recorded the

practices

asso-

ciated with the

plant.40

We must

repeat

that

not

all these writers in

fact were

referring

to

Cannabis sativa.

Furthermore,

not all of

them

were

speaking

of

smoking

the herb

to which

they

referred.

Since

early

white

settlers were introduced to cannabis

in

southern

Africa

by

way

of

the Khoikhoi

herders,

it was

only

natural that the

term

dagga

became

the

common eferrent.

Today

it

is the

standard

term

in formal

English

and

Afrikaans

references,

social,

medical and

legal.

We thus far

have established two

terminological

complexes

in

Africa,

namely,

terms derived from

the Hindi

term

bang,

and

the

widely

used

but

narrowly

distributed

term

of

dagga.

There

is, however,

a

third

terminolo-

gical complex

which extends over a

relatively

wide

region

covering

Angola and Zaire. Here we find the terms diamba, riamba, liamba, or

chamba. When

t was

discovered that

cannabis

in Brazil

was known

by

these

terms it was

thought

that

these

words had

perforce

to be of Portu-

guese origin.

It was furthermore

rgued

that

either the herb had

reached the

African south-west

coast

by

the time

slaves were

taken to

the

new

world

or that the

Portuguese

were instrumental

in

the

diffusion

of the

term--and

possibly

the

plant.

One

of

the most

interesting

areas

from

which

our

analysis

may begin

is the

Congo drainage

area

and its

border

districts. From

ethnographic

sources

we know

that

cannabis was used

in

present

day

Zaire,

where

for

example

hemp-smoking

as said to be "the curse

of the Batetela in Kasai

province.'41

Harry

Johnston summarized the situation

by

stating

that

"hempas a narcotic is not muchused in the Congo basin except in the

southern,

south-western,

and

south-central

parts,

and the

western

Mubangi.

This

practice

has

nearly

died out

in

the

Kingdom

f

Kongo,

though

it was

prevalent

once. Of late

years

hemp-smoking

as

developed

in

a

rather sensational fashion

among

the excitable

Bashilange..."42

The

latter

is

a

sub-group

of the

larger

Luba

people

and

occupy

the

area

around the confluence

of the Lulua and the

Kasai.

It would

appear

that Swahili

traders from Zanzibar43

introduced

Cannabis

into

the

region

after the 1850's and the

original

"bhang"

was

here referred

to as

"riamba."

During

the

civil

strife

in

the

early

1870's

a

secret

society calling

itself Bena-Riamba was

formed.

Early

writers translated this as

"Sons"

of

hemp,

but

Johnston

pointed

out that

we

should

differentiate bena

(meaning "brothers") frombana (meaning "children"). He suggested the

use

of

an initial D-

rather

than R-44

to read Bena-Diamba.

Because

the use

of

riamba

is

ubiquitious

we

will

retain it

in

this discussion.

In

time there was concern about the

increasing

use of

the herb

in the

Congo region

and

secret societies

were

formed to

counter its use.

A

quarter

of a

century

after Johnston's

remarks

H.

Wissman

pointed

out

45

that

"among

the

younger generation

it is

already beginning

to decrease."

It is

interesting

that

among

the

Badjok,

a

southern

Bantu

people,

who

reside

in

the same

region

reported

on

by

Johnston

and

Wissman a research-

er

met informants

who

"denied

ever

smoking

hemp,

but

a

great

quantity

of

it

grew

near

Mayila's

hut--probably

as

an

ornament."46

47

Cannabis

was

also smoked

n

the

northern

part

of

Zaire

and

had

spread

into

the

former

French

Congo.

A. L.

Cureau stated that

peoplesmoketocacco moderately, but "the same cannot be said for Indian hemp,

the habit

of

indulging

in

which

is

making frightful

progress"'(sic

)48

49

even

using

what

was then

recognized

as

a

"peculiar pipe

for

smoking

it."



10/20

25

Northeast of the area just discussed namely in the Great Lakes

region,

around

Ujiji,

Richard

Burton

discovered

that

almost

every

one,

"even when on board the

canoe,

smokes

bhang",50

but

it was

not as common

in

the Lower

Congo.

Writing

slightly

later

than

Burton,

Herbert

Ward51

tells us that "wild

hemp

smoking

(Liamba)

is

practiced

by

some of the

natives...The

practice

however is not

extensive,

and

it would

appear

to

be

a

habit

of

comparatively

recent

origin."

The

picture

which

emerges

is one in

which

cannabis

was

used

widely

but

not

necessarily

by

all

ethnic-linguistic

groups.

We

do,

however,

find

a common erm

through-

out

the

Congo

drainage region.

According

to Jose

Pedro

Machado's

Dicionario

Etimologico

da

Lingua Portuguesa52

the

words diamba and

liamba are

derivatives

of the Kimbundu

word

riamba

which refers to the

cannabis plant. Also in TchiLuba the herb is referred to as diamba and,

we are

told,

but

need

to

confirm,

that it

is known

n

KiKongo

as

mfanga.

We find the same noun-stem

being

used in the southern and

eastern

part

of

Angola among

the

Vangangella53

and the Ovimbundu. The

latter

in

fact

refer

to cannabis

as

epangue

and

it is

cultivated

and smoked

exclusively

by

men.54

We are

thus

left with the

major terminological

divisions of

an

-ang-

complex

derived

from

the

term which was

originally

introduced and

an -amb-

complex

said to be

of

Mbundu

rigin.

It

is

significant

though

that

neither

J.

Gossweiler and

F.

A.

Mendonca

in

their

highly

regarded

Carta

Fitogeografica

de

Angola

(1939)55

nor

Do

Espirito

Santo in Nomes

Vernac-

ulos

de

Algumas

plantas

da Guine'

Portuguesa

(1963)56

refer

to cannabis

in these

territories,

either

by

botanical

classification

or

by

the

more

general

term. We

might

suggest oversight

on their

part

or failure to

recognize

the

presence

of the

plant.

(This

would

not

be

an

out-of-the-

way

explanation,

for in a volume entitled

Harvest

of

Time

-

Angola

of

the

Past the

author,

Jose Maria d'Eca

de

Queiros,

uses

a

photograph

of him-

self57

smoking

a cannabis water

pipe apparently

without

being

aware

of

the

content since

the

caption

reads:

"After

choking

several

times,

the

author

at last

learns

to

smoke the

water

pipe

of the

Quicos."

The

Ango-

lan

onlookers were

obviously

enjoying

the

experiment.)

What we would

suggest

is that cannabis

might

be

of

fairly

recent

origin

so

that

it

is

still

seen as

a

foreign

herb

and not

one of the

"native"

plants

of

Angola

or

Guinea.

CURRENT IFFUSION

HYPOTHESES

The

literature

contains

a numberof

suggestions

on the

spread

of

cannabis

into southern

Africa:

(1)

J.

M.

Watt,

a

pharmacist,

has

suggested

that: "the

plant

may

have

been

introduced

by

the

early

travellers

circumventing

the

Cape

from

the

east."58

Almost

all our

historical documentation

and

linguistic

evidence

suggests

a

date

long

before

the

fifteenth

or

sixteenth

century

return

of

European

navigators.

(2)

Theodore

James,

basing

his

argument

on

a

single

case

of

termino-

logical

agreement

(namely

Hindi and

Shangaan

/Thongaj

-

already

men-

tioned) states that: "the plant was first carried to the coast of 59

Mozambique...by

the

Portuguese

militant traders

returning

from

India."

This

sets

the date

even

later,

and

certainly

does not

recognize

documents

regarding

early

use.



11/20

26

(3) J. E. Morley and A. D. Bensusan, point out that the plant is not

indigenous

to Southern

Africa.

"It

appears

most

likely

that

it was

brought by

Arab traders to the

Mozambique

coast

from

India. From there

it was carried southwards

by

the

migrating

Hottentots

and

Bantu."60

In

general,

this

position

is

supported

by

A.

J. H.

Goodwin.61

While rec-

ognizing

an

earlier date of

introduction

of

cannabis,

this

hypothesis

is

rather

vague

as

to

"Hottentots

and

Bantu."

(4)

James Walton refers

to

his own

survey

of

archaeological

reports

which refers to

pipes

found in

early

Bantu

settlements,

and also to Dos

Santos'

description

of

cannabis cultivation

by

the eastern Shona

in

the

sixteenth

century.

He then

suggests

that cannabis "was

introduced

into

southern

Africa

by

the

very

first waves

of Bantu

invaders

from

the

North."62

The

use

of

the

herb

would then have

spread

from

Bantu

to

Khoikhoi and San. Walton's

suggestion

certainly

comes closest to the

accumulated

evidence

being

presented

in

this

paper.

(5)

There is

one

additional route we must

keep

in

mind,

although

this

has

not

been

incorporated

in

any

of

the

diffusion

hypotheses:

a

spread

from south Arabia

through

Ethiopia.

It is well established

that

the

Amhara

people

very

early

on came

from

Arabia,

but

a

variety

of

products

preceded

and followed

this

Semitic invasion.

Thus Simoons

suggests

that contacts

between ancient Cushitic

peoples

and settlements

north of

the

Red

Sea

were

continued

in later

times

when

Amhara ettlers

continued

these contacts.63 In

the

process,

plough

agriculture,

a

zebu

strain

of

cattle,

and

various

agricultural

products

spread

to

Ethiopia.

The

question

which

arises

is

whether

cannabis could have been one of

these

products. Recently N. J. van der Merwereported on two ceramic pipe

bowls excavated at Lalibela cave near Lake

Tana. Both

were

parts

of

water-pipes

and had been

impregnated

with

definite cannabis-derived

compounds.

The author concluded that "some

variety

of Cannabis sativa

was

smoked

around Lake Tana in the

13th-14th

century,

in

much the

same

way

as

it is

today."64

The

importance

of

the Lake Tana find and the associated radiocarbon

dates are

of

great

significance.

They

imply

either that

cannabis

entered

Ethiopia

from

southern

Arabia,

or that

it

spread

from the

east African

coast

in a

northerly

direction from

Bantu-speaking

to

Cushitic

peoples.

One

problem

which

arises is

that Lake

Tana

is in

the north

central

part

of

Ethiopia.

Could

we

postulate

a

trade

route from

the

present-day

Kenya into northern Ethiopia? Unfortunately we have not yet come across

a

thorough study

of

early

trade routes

in

northeast Africa

and are

thus

not able to

suggest

diffusion

from

the

Kenya

coastal

region

to

Lake

Tana. Such diffusion

may

in

fact

have

occurred

prior

to

the east Africa

settlement

of

the

Arabs.

However,

if

we are

dealing

with

a

spread

of cannabis from

the

north

into

Ethiopia,

and

Franz

Rosenthal

suggests

that "the use of

hashish

spread through

India,

China and

Ethiopia...,"65

there remains one cri-

tical issue

involving

the

way

it

was used.

Referring

to

the

use

of

hashish in medieval

Muslim

society

Rosenthal

also notes

emphatically

66

that

"in our

sources,

hashish

is never described

as

having

been

smoked."

Since

the estimated

date

for the Lake

Tana

excavation

is

no more than

a century later than most of the other references used by Rosenthal we

are

dealing

either

with a

very

rapid

change

in

method

of

use,

or with

an

independent

diffusion

not

typical

of

the

other methods

used

around

the

region.



12/20

27

The available evidence then seems to allow for a possible diffusion

of

cannabis

from

Syria

to

Ethiopia.

Diverse

sources

of

evidence

suggest

Khoikhoi

contact,

for instance in the

presence

of

pottery,

cattle,

and

words.

Merrick

Posnansky

points

out that "evidence

of a

trickle

of

peoples

from

the

Horn in

the last

millennium of the

pre-Christian

era

and in the first

of

the

post-Christian

era

is

available

from the

Eryth-

riote

(or

caucasoid)

skeletal remains from the

Horn,

Kenya,

Tanzania

and

Malawi."67

The

first contacts with

Khoikhoi

found

them

to

possess

"a

form

of zebu

cow

which

probably accompanied

them sometime

in

the

first half of the

present

millenium

if

pottery

parallels

between East

Africa and

South Africa are

any

indication

of

a fold movement." We

have

already

mentioned

the Khoikhoi

word for

tobacco.

If

the

argument

outlined here is considered seriously it would imply that Khoikhoi had

close

contact

with

Ethiopia

and

then

spread

south

along

the east coast

prior

to

the

Bantu

expansion.

As

the

Bantu

occupied

the

coastal

region

and

migrated

southward,

they

forced the Khoikhoi into

a similar

migra-

tion which

finally brought

them to the

Cape.

An alternative

explanation,

of

course,

is that cannabis

and the

water

pipe

diffused from East

Africa.

This would

certainly

tie

in with

the rest

of

the data

presented

here. It

also

rests

very

heavily

on

a

dispersal

from the south

into

Ethiopia

along

trade

routes described

for

a later

period

by

Richard Pankhurst.68

Just

as

likely

an

hypothesis

is

one which

postulates

the

spread

of

cannabis

from earlier

Arab

settlements or Indian trade centers around

the Horn

of

Africa. Diffusion would then

have

been

effected

along

the

salt-trade routes discussed

by

Abir.69 This would even allow for the

spread

of

cannabis

directly

from

ndia,

since it

is

recognized

that

in

the tenth

century

"Indian merchants were

visiting

Sokotra

in

vessels

70

called

baraja,

and

/that/

they

were often

in

conflict

with the Muslims."

If we were to

accept

the Horn

of

Africa

as

a

diffusion center

it

would

imply

either that these Indian traders used

the water

pipe

and

introduced

it

along

with

cannabis,

or

that

they

learned about the

water

pipe

fromArab

traders

during

these

excursions, or,

finally,

that

the

water

pipe

was

independently

invented

near Lake

Tana,

a

somewhat

unlikely

conclusion in

the

light

of

the

subsequent

diffusion

of

the water

pipe.

Though

he was not concerned

in detail with the diffusion

of canna-

bis,

A. H.

Dunhill,

writing

for

the

Encyclopaedia

Britannica,

apparently

has his chronology and his migration routes backwards. He states:71

"The

Bushmen nd

Hottentots of

southern Africa

used

the

dakka

pipe;

which cooled and

mitigated

the

effects of

hemp

smoke

by drawing

it

through

a horn of

water.72 While Africa continued

to

produce

more

orthodox

pipes

of

almost

every

possible

material and

size

the water

pipe spread

to India...

and

the

Far

East,

and...was

popular...in

Persia

in the 17th

Century."

Most scholars

eg.

Laufer73

recognized

the

water-

pipe

as

originating

in Persia

and

spreading

south

and east from

there.

We

should

once

again

point

to

the

significance

of

van

der

Merwe's

statement

(vide

supra)

that the two 13th

century

ceramic

pipe

bowls

excavated

in

Ethiopia

"formed

part

of

waterpipes."74

We

are

aware

of

course

that

the

water

pipe

did not

require

the

elaborate parphernalia now associated with it. In Africa a wealth of

forms

appeared,

as

gourds,

antelope

horns,

and other containers were

adopted.

In

modernurban

settings everything

from

milk

bottles

and soft



13/20

28

drink cans to coconut shells are used as water containers. In this

respect

it is of

interest

that

the

waterpipe

which

was

integrated

into

Indian

hemp smoking

came

to be called the

Nargila,

derived

from

Nargil,

the

word for a

coconut,

and

based

on

Sanskrit narikera

meaning

coconut.

CONCLUSION

In the

light

of all

the evidence

available to

date,

none

of

which

is

either

conclusive

or

quite

satisfactory,

we

should like to

offer

the

following

hypothesis regarding

the diffusion routes of

cannabis in

major

outline

only

in

sub-Saharan

Africa.

We

have,

for reasons cited

above,

presumed

that the

Khoikhoi, whopreceded the later Negroid migrantssouthward across the African

plateau

and

along

the east

coast,

were not

the

major

bearers of

cannabis.

During

the first

centuries

A.D. Arab

traders

who

had settled around

the Horn

and

southwards

from

Mogadishu

had

introduced cannabis

to the

indigenous

African

population.

It

would

appear

that

the

herb was intro-

duced as a

product

to smoke

rather than

in

the form of

hashish to

be

eaten as

it was in

Egypt.

From

these northern locations

along

the coas-

tal

settlements of

what is

today

Somalia

and

Kenya,

cannabis was carried

and traded

into the

interior

where its

presence

and use in

northwestern

Ethiopia

have been

documented.

At about the same

time Bantu

speakers

were

living

not

only

on

the

east

African

plateau

but also

occupied

"in force

the humid

coastal

belt"

as far north as the Juba.75 This is just south of the city of Mogadishu

in the

general

area of

the earliest settlements

referred to above. The

Arab settlements

during

this

period

which

are

best

documented,

however,

were

further south

on

Pemba and

Zanzibar,

and

also on

the mainland

as

far south as

Kilwa. From

here Swahili

(and Arab)

traders introduced the

herb to

Bantu settlers.

The

latter were

mostly

Iron

Age

peoples

who

were

expanding

their

population

and

incorporating

new

territory,

inclu-

ding

most of

the drier inland

areas

of

Kenya

and

Tanzania and no doubt

northern

Zambia

and

Katanga

(Shaba).

The herb needed no

advocate. It

is after all a

"social"

plant,

basically

associated with human

ettle-

ments and

given

the warm

limate

of

central

Africa

it

was

capable

of

spreading quite

readily.

It would seem logical that with the early contact and trade by

Africans from

Angola

cannabis

might

have

reached

the

Kongo

and

Mbundu

by

the

early

part

of the

sixteenth

century.

This was

a

period

of inten-

sive interaction

during

which slaves were traded and

political

alliances

formed. In

his discussion of

valued items traded

by

the

Kongo,

Mbundu,

and

Ndongo,

David

Birmingham76

oes not mention cannabis or

anything

related to

it,

but he

does show the

kind

of

networks which extended

from

the west coast to

peoples

in the interior. The

Portuguese

traders first

moved

up

the Kwanza and

contacted the Mbundu.

They

also traded slaves

from

the

Kongo,

and these

two

groups

(the

Mbundu nd the

Kongo)

were

in

contact

with

the

Lunda and the Luba

further

east.

It was

here,

we

would

suggest,

that

cannabis

was

used

in

the

form

of

mfanga

and

where

the phonemic change occurred so that it was referred to as riamba. Thiswas also the word

accepted

by

the

Portuguese

and

exported

to

Brazil with

the

slaves.



14/20

29

At the same time that cannabis was carried into the interior of

Africa,

Arab traders settled

further

south,

and then moved

up

the

Zam-

besi

River

in

order to trade

with the

Rozwi

Empire.

Brian

Fagan

and

D. W.

Phillipson77

refer

to a

pipe

"with

a

male stem" which

was

un-

earthed at

Sebanzi in Zambia.

They

date

it

as

coming

"from

the level

dated cir. A.D.

1200."

In a

personal

communication

Joseph

Vogel,

who

is

currently conducting

research in the

area,

informs

us

that

he tends

to treat "the Sebanzi conclusions

as

interesting,

worth

investigating

more

fully,

but

necessarily

tentative."

It still

leaves

us,

however,

with an

early

date for the

presence

of a

smoking

pipe.78

The

Zimbabwe

complex

may

offer more

convincing

evidence. Within

an

archaeological

stratum which reached

its climax about 1450

A.D.,

Summers ound "some pipes for smokingdagga (Indian hemp)."79 He

neither indicates the

depth

of

the

particular

find

in

terms of

the

level,

nor whether the ash in the

pipes

was

tested

for

cannabis

deriva-

tives. We are thus left with

archaeological

evidence

of

smoking

pipes

and

cannabis in

southern

Africa no later

than the

middle of

the

15th

century,

and

possibly

earlier.

The

hypothesis

regarding

this diffusion would

then allow

for the

spread

of

cannabis

from

Rhodesia

southward

or

westward

into

and across

the

Kalahari. It would

seem

likely

that

the

Bergdama by

this date were

already growing

the herb

which

they

had

received from earlier

Khoikhoi

or from

their

neighbors

to

the

north,

the Ovambo nd

Ovimbundu,

repre-

senting

the furthest known

pread

westward

of

the

linguistic

stem

-ang-.

The

Ovimbundu

efer to

epangue,

a term

very

close to the

Ovambo

epangwe.The Bergdamaspeak of daXab suggesting that they obtained knowledge about

the herb

from

Nama-speakers prior

to

contact

with the

Orambo.

While

the herb was never of

major

economic

significance throughout

most of

Africa

it was

recognized

as

having

a

strong

traditional

value

and

therefore

formed

part

of

the trade

goods

of

many

peoples.

The

hypo-

thesis

which

has been

presented

in

this

paper

pointed

at a

number

of

areas

in

which more

information

is needed.

The

linguistic

picture

is

perhaps

the most

complete.80

Much of the historical

and

archaeological

evidence

may

have been clouded

by acceptance

of

the

argument

that

nothing

was smokedbefore the

Portuguese

introduced

tobacco.

Currently

I am

involved

in an

extensive literature

survey

to

trace

all

references

to

cannabis use. Such research

is

linking

historical information

with the

modern ituation. As its users migrated to urban areas, cannabis has

gained

in economic

importance

and

finally

its

illegal

status

has

placed

an

even

greater

monetary

value on

this ancient herb.

NOTES

The research

on

which this

paper

is

based

was

supported

in whole

by

P. H. S.

Research Grant D.A. 00387 from the National Institute

on

Drug

Abuse.

Field work was

conducted

in southern Africa

during

1972-1974

and

the

analysis

of

research

data

is

now

being

concluded. While

I

express

my

incere

gratitude

for

the

financial

support,

the

findings

are

not

necessarily shared by the granting agency or any person associated with

it.

Appreciation

should

also

go

to Drs.

Haig

Der-Houssikian,

and David

Niddrie who commented

n an earlier draft

of

this

paper.



15/20

30

Richard

E.

Schultes,

"Man

and

Marijuana,"

Natural

History,

Vol.

LXXXII,

No.

7,

1973.

2Neville

Chittick,

"Kilwa

and

the Arab

Settlement of the

East African

Coast,"

Journal

of African

History,

Vol.

IV,

No.

2,

1963.

3Neville

Chittick,

"The

'Shirazi'

colonization of East

Africa,"

Journal

of

African

History,

Vol.

VI,

No.

3,

1965.

4Franz Rosenthal, The Herb, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1971, p. 160.

5Ahmad

M.

Khalifa,

"Traditional

patterns

of

Hashish

use

in

Egypt,"

in

Vera

Rubin

(ed.),

Cannabis and

Culture,

The

Hague:

Mouton Pub-

lishers,

1975,

p.

199.

6A.

Mc

Martin,

"The introduction

of

sugarcane

to Africa

and

its

early

dispersal,"

The South

African

Sugar

Year

Book, 1969-70,

Durban,

1970, p. 16.

7See

the

excellent

discussion

in M.

D.

D.

Newitt,

Portuguese

settlement

on the Zambezi, New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1973.

Brian Fagan, Southern Africa, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1965.

9Chittick,

"'Shirazi'

colonization,"

p.

271.

B. M. Fagan,

"Early

trade

and raw

materials

in

South Central

Africa,"

Journal

of

African

History,

Vol.

X, 1969,

p.

10.

lJ.

Vansina,

"Long-Distance

trade routes

in

Central

Africa,"

Journal

of

African

History,

Vol.

III,

1962.

12Jacques

Nenquin,

"Notes

on

some

early

pottery

cultures

in

northern

Katanga,"

Journal

of African

History,

Vol.

IV,

No.

1,

1963,

p.

236.

13N.

Sutherland-Harris,

"Trade

and

the

Rozwi

Mambo,"

in

Richard

Gray

&

David

Birmingham

eds.),

Pre-Colonial

African

Trade,

London:

Oxford

University

Press, 1970,

and

S.

S.

Dornan,

Pygmies

and

Bushmen

f

the

Kalahari,

London:

Seeley,

Service

&

Co.

Ltd,

1925.

13aH.

Vedder,

Quellen

zur

Geschichte von

Siidwest

-

Afrika,

Vol.

2.

Type-

script

in State

Archives,

Windhoek.

14See

the discussion

in

Brian

M. du

Toit,

"Dagga

-

the

history

and ethno-

graphic

setting

of

Cannabis

sativa

in southern

Africa,"

in Vera

Rubin

(ed.),

Cannabis

and

Culture,

The

Hague:

Mouton

Publishers,

1975.

15Ibid.



16/20

31

16Phillip V. Tobias, "Physique of a desert folk," Natural History, Vol.

70, 1961,

p.

24.

17Dornan,

"Pygmies...

,"

p.

122.

18R.

R.

Inskeep,

"The

Archaeological Background,"

in

Monica

Wilson and

Leonard

Thompson

eds.),

The Oxford

History

of

South

Africa,

New

York,

Oxford

University

Press, 1969,

p.

32.

19Fagan,

Southern

Africa,

p.

93.

20Leon

Jacobsen,

personal

communication,

September,

1975.

N.

J.

Van

der

Merwe,

"Cannabis

Smoking

n

13th-14th

Century

Ethiopia:

Chemical

Evidence,"

in

Vera Rubin

(ed.),

Cannabis and

Culture.

The

Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1975.

22du

Toit,

"Dagga..."

T.

Asuni,

"Socio-psychiatric

problems

of

cannabis

in

Nigeria,"

Bulletin on

Narcotics,

Vol.

16,

1964.

A.

Tella,

et.

al.,

"Indian

hemp

smoking,"

Journal

of

Social Health

in

Nigeria,

Vol.

40, 1967,

p.

40.

T. A.

Lambo,

"Medical

and

Social

problems

of

drug

addiction in west

Africa,"

Bulletin

on

Narcotics,

Vol.

17,

1965,

pp.

3 and

6.

A.

Boroffka,

"Mental

illness

and Indian

hemp

n

Lagos,"

Bulletin

on

Narcotics,

Vol.

18, 1966,

p.

378.

E. C.

Sagoe,

"Narcotics

control

in

Ghana,"

Bulletin

on

Narcotics,

Vol.

18, 1966,

p.

8.

28Brian

M. du

Toit,

"Historical

and Cultural factors of

drug

use

among

Indians

in

South

Africa,"

Journal of

Psychedelic

Drugs

(in

press).

29Rosenthal, The Herb, pp. 19-20.

P30aul

Kollmann,

The

Victoria

Nyanza,

London:

Swam

Sonnenschein,

1899.

31H.

A.

Junod,

The

Life

of a

Southern

African

Tribe,

New York:

Univer-

sity

Books,

1962

(originally

published

in

1912).

32V.

Clement

Doke,

The

Lambas

of Northern

Rhodesia,

London:

George

G.

Harris,

1931.

33Helen

Codere,

"The Social and

Cultural

Context of

Cannabis use

in

Rwanda,"

in Vera

Rubin

(ed.),Cannabis

and

Culture,

The

Hague:

MoutonPublishers, 1975.



17/20

32

34Bydeleting the typical Bantu noun prefixes and allowing for some pho-

netic

adaptation,

the

reader

will be able

to

see the

noun-stem

-ang-

or

slight

phonemic

variations

on

this

form.

35J.

M. Watt and M.

G.

Breyer-Brandwijk,

The Medicinal

and

Poisonous

Plants

of

Southern

Africa,

Edinburgh:

E. And

S.

Livingstone,

1932,

p.

156.

36Ibid,

p.

157.

37G.

S.

Nienaber, Hottentots,

Pretoria:

Van

Schaik,

1963,

p.

157.

38Ibid, p. 243.

39See

also in

this

regard

the discussion

under

diffusion

hypothesis

no.

5

below.

40Vide

Nienaber, Hottentots,

pp.

241-242 and

R.

Raven-Hart,

Cape

Good

Hope

1652-1702: The First

Fifty

Years of

Dutch Colonization

as

seen

by

callers,

Vol.

1,

Cape

Town:

Balkema,

1971,

p.

507.

M.

W.

Hilton-Simpson,

Land and

people

of

the

Kasai,

London:

Con-

stable and

Co.

Ltd.,

1911,

p.

156.

42Harry

H.

Johnston,

British

Central

Africa,

London: Methuen

&

Co.,

1897, pp. 607-608.

43A.

Keane,

Man,

past

and

present,

Cambridge:

The

University

Press,

1920,

p.

114.

44Johnston,

British Central

Africa,

p.

608.

45H.

Wissman,

My

second

journey

through

equatorial

Africa,

London:

Chatto

&

Windus, 1891,

p.

308.

46E.

Torday,

On

the

trail

of

the

Bushongo,

London:

Seeley,

Service

6

Co., Ltd., 1925,

p.

271.

47M.

R.

P.

Dorman,

A

Journal

of a

tour

in

the

Congo

Free

State,

London:

Kegan

Paul,

1905,

p.

88.

A.

L.

Cureau,

Savage

man

in

central Africa:

A

Study

of

primitive

races

in

the

French

Congo.

London: T. Fisher

Unavin, 1915,

p.

229.

49Ibid.,

p.

238.

50Richard F.

Burton,

The

Lake

Regions

of

Central

Africa,

Vol.

II,

New

York:

Horizon

Press,

1961,

p.

70.

51Herbert Ward, A Voice fromthe Congo, London: William Heinemann, 1910,

pp.

265-266.



18/20

33

52Jose' Pedro Machado, Dicionario Etimolo'gico da Lingua Portuguesa (2nd

Edition),

Vol.

II, Lisbon,

1967,

p.

812.

53Childs

points

out that the Ovimbundu

ecognize

a

common

umanity

with

their southern

and northern

neighbors

who

are seen

either

as

"people"

or "comrades." "Similar

recognition

is not extended

to

the

eastern

and

south-eastern

neighbors

who

are

lumped

together

under

the

dero-

gatory

term

'va

Ngangela'

or

ovingangela.

This

eastern

region

as

far as the Great Lakes was the

happy

hunting-ground

of the slave-

traders..."

(G.

M.

Childs,

Umbundu

inship

and

Character,

London:

Oxford

University

Press, 1949,

p.

189).

54Wilfrid D. Hambly,The Ovimbundu f Angola, Field Museum f Natural

History,

Publication

329,

Chicago,

1934,

p.

152.

55

5.

Gossweiler,

F.

A.

Mendonga,

Carta

Fitogeografica

de

Angola,

Edicao,

Do

Gog'erno

geral,

Angola,

1939.

56J.

do Espirito

Santo,

Nomes

Verna'culos de Algumas

plantas

da

Guin4

Portuguesa,

Lisbon:

Estudos,

Ensaios E. documentos No.

104,

1963.

57Jose

Maria

d'Eca

de

Queiros,

Seara dos

Tempos

-

Harvest

of

time,

Lis-

bon:

Empresa

Nacional

de

Publicidade

(1969?),

p.

290.

58J. M.

Watt,

"Dagga

in

South

Africa,"

Bulletin on

Narcotics,

Vol.

13,

1961, p. 9.

59Theodore

James,

"Dagga:

A

review of fact

and

fancy,"

South

African

Medical

Journal,

Vol.

44,

1970,

p.

575.

60J.

E.

Morley

and

A.

D.

Bensusan,

"Dagga:

tribal uses and

customs,"

Medical

Proceedings,

Vol.

17,

p.

409.

A.

J.

H.

Goodwin,

"The

origins

of

certain

African food

plants,"

South

African Journal

of

Science,

Vol.

36, 1939,

p.

456.

62James

Walton,

"The

Dagga

pipes

of Southern

Africa,"

Researches

of the

National Museum,Vol. 1, 1963, p. 85.

63Frederick J.

Simoons,

"Some

questions

on

the economic

prehistory

of

Ethiopia,"

Journal

of

African

History,

Vol.

VI, 1965,

pp.

11-12.

64

van der

Merwe,

"Cannabis

Smoking...," p.

80.

65Rosenthal,

The

Herb,

p.

45.

66Ibid,

p.

65.

67Merrick

Posnansky,

"The

Origins

of

Agriculture

and Iron

working

in

Southern Africa," in Merrick Posnansky (ed.), Prelude to East

African

History,

London:

Oxford

University

Press, 1966,

p.

89.



19/20

34

68Richard Pankhurst, "The trade of Southern and Western Ethiopia and

the

Indian

Ocean

Parts in

the Nineteenth and

early

Twentieth

Centuries,"

Journal

of

Ethiopian

Studies,

Vol.

III,

No.

2,

1965.

69M. Abir,

"Salt,Trade

and

Politics

in

Ethiopia

in

the

ZThmihai

gsafent,"

Journal of

Ethiopian

Studies,

Vol.

IV,

No.

2,

1966.

70

Richard

Pankhurst,

"The

'Banyan'

or

Indian Presence

at

Massawa,

the

Dahlak

Islands

and the

Horn of

Africa,"

Journal

of

Ethiopian

Studies,

Vol.

XII,

No.

1, 1974,

p.

186.

71

.

H.

Dunhill,

"Pipe

Smoking,"

Encyclopedia

Britannica, 1969,

p.

1098.

72

In

this

regard

see

also

Brian M.

du

Toit,

"Continuity

and

Change

in

cannabis use

by

Africans in

South

Africa,

man and cannabis in africa: a study of diffusion - journal of african economic history (1976)

Documents