Malwa Opium

Malwa Opium refers to the opium that was produced in the Malwa plateau, presently the part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Malwa opium was the generic name given to the opium produced in Malwa(Gwalior, Ujjain, Ratlam, Indore, Udaipur, Kota) the large parts of Central India and the princely states of Rajasthan. The land in Malwa was highly fertile due to the presence of black cotton soil and was well suited for the cultivation of poppy, which became an important crop of Malwa besides grain wheat, jowar and cotton. The rulers also found opium as a good source of revenue therefore promoted traders in their respective states.

During the 19th century 

From 1821 onwards the East India Company regulated the export of opium from Malwa region to China via the western coast by holding auctions at Bombay which were later discontinued.