Ganja



Ganja is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689.

Etymology
Ganja is borrowed from Hindi (गांजा, IPA: [ɡaːɲd͡ʒaː]), a name for cannabis in the Indo-Aryan language that descended from an early form of Vedic Sanskrit. The Sanskrit refers to a "powerful preparation from Cannabis sativa". 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.

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 traffic enslaved Indians to the Caribbean to strengthen the workforce on sugar plantations. They brought with them elements of their culture, including ganja.

One academic source places the date of introduction of ganja in Jamaica at 1845. The term came with 19th century workers whose descendants are now known as Indo-Jamaicans.

The word was used in Europe as early as 1856, when the British enacted a tax on the "ganja" trade.

In 1913, Jamaica banned cannabis with the Ganja Law.

English use
Ganja is the most common term for marijuana in West Indies.

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". 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".

In other languages
Derivatives of the term are used as generic words for marijuana in several languages, such as Indonesian/Malay (ganja), Khmer (កញ្ឆា, kanhchhea), Lao (ກັນຊາ, kan sa), Thai (กัญชา, gancha), Tiwi (kanja), and Vietnamese (cần sa).