Ganja

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Ganja ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|æ|n|dʒ|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|ɡ|ɑː|n|dʒ|ə}}; {{IPA|hi|ɡaːɲd͡ʒaː}}) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.{{Cite news |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/10-english-words-from-hindi-and-urdu/ganja |title=10 Words From Hindi & Urdu |work=Merriam-Webster |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415002454/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/10-english-words-from-hindi-and-urdu/ganja |archive-date=15 April 2019 |url-status=live }}

Etymology

Ganja is borrowed from Hindi {{transliteration|hi|gāñjā}} ({{langx|hi|गांजा|links=no}}, IPA: [ɡaːɲd͡ʒaː]), a name for cannabis in the Indo-Aryan language that descended from an early form of Vedic Sanskrit. The Sanskrit {{transliteration|sa|gañjā}} refers to a "powerful preparation from Cannabis sativa".{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25597374|jstor = 25597374|title = Iranian L, and Some Persian and Zaza Etymologies|last1 = Schwartz|first1 = Martin|journal = Iran & the Caucasus|year = 2008|volume = 12|issue = 2|pages = 281–287|doi = 10.1163/157338408X406056|url-access = subscription}}{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/mcgregor_query.py?qs=%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%81%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BE&searchhws=yes|title=The Oxford Hindi-English dictionary|first=R. S. (Ronald Stuart)|last=McGregor|date=29 November 1993|website=dsal.uchicago.edu}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trUgpMbT5gcC&pg=PA1674 |title=The Cross Name Index to Medicinal Plants, Vol. IV: Plants in Indian medicine, p. 1674, ISBN 9780849326356, OCLC 34038712 |last=Torkelson, Anthony R. |date=1996 |website=CRC Press|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780849326356 }}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rspaDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA3-PA28 |title=Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Additive Behaviour |last1=Kranzler, Henry R. |last2=Korsmeyer, Pamela |date=2009 |publisher=Gale |isbn=978-0-02866-064-6 |page=28 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite news |url=https://time.com/4747501/420-day-weed-marijuana-pot-slang/ |title=420 Day: Why There Are So Many Different Names for Weed |last=Steinmetz |first=Katy |date=20 April 2017 |magazine=Time |access-date=16 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812115237/http://time.com/4747501/420-day-weed-marijuana-pot-slang/ |archive-date=12 August 2018 |url-status=live }} But the word only refers to a certain product derived from cannabis plants. Gāñjā is the title given to the flowers, whereas “charas” refers to the resin, and “bhang” the seeds and leaves.{{Cite web |title=Origins and Modern Use of Ganja - RQS Blog |url=https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-origins-and-modern-use-of-ganja-n1369 |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Royal Queen Seeds |language=en}}

The word ganja reached the Western world through victims of slavery. Victims of the Atlantic slave trade were brought from Africa to Jamaica in 1513. In 1845, the British Empire started to call for indentured Indians to come to the Caribbean to strengthen the workforce on sugar plantations. They brought with them elements of their culture, including ganja.{{Cite journal |last1=Ren |first1=Guangpeng |last2=Zhang |first2=Xu |last3=Li |first3=Ying |last4=Ridout |first4=Kate |last5=Serrano-Serrano |first5=Martha L. |last6=Yang |first6=Yongzhi |last7=Liu |first7=Ai |last8=Ravikanth |first8=Gudasalamani |last9=Nawaz |first9=Muhammad Ali |last10=Mumtaz |first10=Abdul Samad |last11=Salamin |first11=Nicolas |last12=Fumagalli |first12=Luca |date=16 Jul 2021 |title=Large-scale whole-genome resequencing unravels the domestication history of Cannabis sativa |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=7 |issue=29 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abg2286 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=8284894 |pmid=34272249|bibcode=2021SciA....7.2286R }}

One academic source places the date of introduction of ganja in Jamaica at 1845.{{cite book|title=Home Away from Home: 150 Years of Indian Presence in Jamaica, 1845-1995 |url=https://archive.org/details/homeawayfromhome00mans |url-access=limited |author1-first=Laxmi |author1-last=Mansingh|author2-first=Ajai|author2-last=Mansingh|publisher=I. Randle Publishers|year=1999|isbn=9768123397|page=[https://archive.org/details/homeawayfromhome00mans/page/127 127]}} The term came with 19th century workers whose descendants are now known as Indo-Jamaicans.{{cite web|publisher=Leafly|title=Jamaica's Cannabis Roots: The History of Ganja on the Island|author=Lisa Rough|date=14 May 2015|url=https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/jamaicas-roots-the-history-of-ganja-on-the-island|access-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411020545/https://www.leafly.com/news/lifestyle/jamaicas-roots-the-history-of-ganja-on-the-island|archive-date=11 April 2019|url-status=live}}

The word was used in Europe as early as 1856, when the British enacted a tax on the "ganja" trade.{{Cite web |url=http://pittnews.com/article/1195/opinions/pot-patois-a-comprehensive-etymology-of-marijuana/ |title=Pot patois: A comprehensive etymology of marijuana |last=Linder, Courtney |date=19 April 2015 |website=The Pitt News |access-date=17 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403063353/https://pittnews.com/article/1195/opinions/pot-patois-a-comprehensive-etymology-of-marijuana/ |archive-date=3 April 2019 |url-status=live }}

In 1913, Jamaica banned cannabis with the Ganja Law.{{cite web |date=2013-12-02 |title=The ganja law of 1913: 100 years of oppressive injustice - Columns |url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-ganja-law-of-1913--100-years-of-oppressive-injustice_15548584 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725062712/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-ganja-law-of-1913--100-years-of-oppressive-injustice_15548584 |archive-date=2015-07-25 |access-date=2015-07-24 |publisher=JamaicaObserver.com}}

Contemporary use of the term ''ganja''

=English use=

Ganja is the most common term for marijuana in the Caribbean brought by the Indian indentured laborers.{{cite book|author=Courtwright, David T.|title=Forces of Habit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHqV3elHYvMC|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674029-90-3}}

= In popular culture =

Cultural figureheads such as Bob Marley popularized Rastafari and ganja through reggae music. In 1976, Peter Tosh defended the use of ganja in the song "Legalize It".{{cite book|editor1=Pieter Coertzen |editor2=M Christiaan Green |editor3=Len Hansen|title=Law and Religion in Africa: The quest for the common good in pluralistic societies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IgjTCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA186|year=2015|publisher=African Sun Media |isbn=978-1-919985-63-3|page=186}} The hip hop group Cypress Hill revived the term in the United States in 2004 in a song titled "Ganja Bus", followed by other artists, including rapper Eminem, in the 2009 song "Must Be the Ganja".{{cite book|author=Rafael Pérez-Torres|title=Mestizaje: Critical Uses of Race in Chicano Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GI_9h27AHLQC&pg=PA97|year=2006|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-4595-4|pages=97–}}

In other languages

Derivatives of the term are used as generic words for marijuana in several languages, such as Indonesian/Malay ({{lang|ms|ganja}}), Khmer ({{lang|km|កញ្ឆា}}, {{Transliteration|km|kanhchha}}), Lao ({{lang|lo|ກັນຊາ}}, {{Transliteration|lo|kan sa}}), Thai ({{lang|th|กัญชา}}, {{Transliteration|th|gancha}}), Tiwi ({{lang|tiw|kanja}}),[https://ausil.org.au/Dictionary/Tiwi/lexicon/main.htm Dictionary] AuSIL {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303205015/https://ausil.org.au/Dictionary/Tiwi/lexicon/main.htm |date=3 March 2023}} and Vietnamese ({{lang|vi|cần sa}}).

References

Category:Cannabis

Category:Cannabis culture

Category:English words

Category:Etymologies