Very nice info! It would make sense that both Bengal and Kerala are similar. In the mid/late 1800s during larger scale ganja production by competing liscenced suppliers in India, they would have sought out the best tropical varieties around. While Bengal was the main hub of consumption, production and export (big port of Kolkata), if there was a great variety in Kerala, it may have been collected and grown in Bengal and vice versa. This is just speculation based on how competition usually works. Kerla and Bengali NLDs are tropical (relatively) lowland varieties that are geographically close together (compared to South Africa) and are more than likely quite inter- related. Preserving Bengali NLDs for DNA testing is needed.Having grown out CBGen Durban I can say that there are some similarities, but the most symilarities phenotypically in terms of leaf expression, pigmentation of the stems and rubberyness feel of stem rub as well as terpene expression is very similar to idukki Kerala offered by trsc. The Jamaican I have is from @Roms collection. But I see a stronger symilarity in aspect between JLB and Kerala than Durban. But JLB remains rather distinct from either the Durban and the Kerala in terms of terpene profile. These are preliminary observations from having grown all three of the purported strains. That said, I remember reading a marker distribution graph and Durban is weirdly enough almost it's own niche genetically, if there was a Landrace closer to a speciation event within cannabis that would result in textbook hybridization that would be some SA cannabis populations.
Here is a funny very angry editorial by an English expat living in India producing Opium, bashing the anti-Opium politicians back in England, arguing that Opium is much safer than ganja and alcohol, and that Charas is the real evil haha. But here he notes- like in many other sources- that the notable place for ganja consumption is in Bengal (now West Bengal/Bangladesh/Kolkata). Bengal was where many Indians "Coolies" were from and Kolkata (Bengal in the East) and Madras (South) were the main ports where they emigrated to Mauritius/South Africa/Jamaica from. The second article notes that Madras ganja was not as good or as prevalent as in Bengal at that time. Ok I will shut up now
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