Ganja

The word ganja written in graffiti in Seville, Spain.

Ganja (Template:IPAc-en, Template:IPAc-en; Template:IPA) 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.<ref name="MerriamWebster">Template:Cite news</ref>

Etymology

Ganja is borrowed from Hindi Template:Transliteration (Template:Langx, IPA: [ɡaːɲd͡ʒaː]), a name for cannabis in the Indo-Aryan language that descended from an early form of Vedic Sanskrit. The Sanskrit Template:Transliteration refers to a "powerful preparation from Cannabis sativa".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="CRCPress">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Kranzler">Template:Cite bookTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref name="Steinmetz">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

One academic source places the date of introduction of ganja in Jamaica at 1845.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The term came with 19th century workers whose descendants are now known as Indo-Jamaicans.<ref name="Leafly">Template:Cite web</ref>

The word was used in Europe as early as 1856, when the British enacted a tax on the "ganja" trade.<ref name="PittNews">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1913, Jamaica banned cannabis with the Ganja Law.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="Leafly"/><ref name="Courtwright">Template:Cite book</ref>

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".<ref name="LawAndReligion">Template:Cite book</ref> 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".<ref name="PittNews"/><ref name="RaceInChicanoCulture">Template:Cite book</ref>

In other languages

Derivatives of the term are used as generic words for marijuana in several languages, such as Indonesian/Malay (Template:Lang), Khmer (Template:Lang, Template:Transliteration), Lao (Template:Lang, Template:Transliteration), Thai (Template:Lang, Template:Transliteration), Tiwi (Template:Lang),<ref>Dictionary AuSIL Template:Webarchive</ref> and Vietnamese (Template:Lang).