Opium and Colonialism: Reflecting on the Role of Opium in the European Colonial Penetration of Asia and China

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review conceptual and methodological issues surrounding the study of the opium trade in Asia from the 16th to the 19th centuries, as well as its connection to the rise of European colonial empires in that region. To this end, I will analyze recent contributions to this subject from the fields of anthropology and global history so as to improve our understanding of the role of opium in the penetration of European powers into East and Southeast Asia during the Modern Age, as well as the rise of imperialism in the 19th century. In this paper, I will present the relation between opium and colonialism from a historical perspective, focusing on its increasing importance in the European trade in Asia during the period stated above. The foundations of this process were laid upon the commodification of opium through a centuries-long process which developed simultaneously with the gradually intensifying presence of Europeans in Asia. Opium was an increasingly important commodity for the European traders in their adaptation to the conditions that ruled trade relations in India, Southeast Asia and the South China Sea. In these regions, China played a crucial role as one of the most important trade poles due to the activities of Chinese traders.
Before opium became a key factor in the depolarization of the trade in the region, European traders observed and analyzed this commodity in local trade contexts. Such observation was initiated by the Portuguese who arrived in India in the 16th century, noticing how commodifying opium could serve to advance their trade interests in the region. Their aspirations, however, exceeded their capabilities. Later, the Dutch trader and colonizers in India also realized the increasing importance of this commodity in the trade between India and Southeast Asia during the 17th century. Such development was caused by the appearance of opium smoking in Java, as a completely new way to consume the drug. The Dutch achieved an initial consistent monopoly on the opium trade in India and Batavia, where the main distribution point for the drug on Southeast and East Asia was established. From there, Chinese traders imported this new habit to China. Decades later, after the British conquest of northwest India, gave the British the chance to completely commodify opium through rationalizing and monopolizing its production. Only then would opium become a commodity destined to transform the trade relations in Asia during the 19th century.