History Of Hash

ANCIENT ORIGINS & MAYBE ALIENS

Hashish is the pressed resin extracted from female marijuana plants and is the original cannabis concentrate. The myths, legends and ancient histories of cannabis are littered with tales of herbalist Chinese Emperors, Indian Gods, Egyptian hieroglyphics and other fantastic stories.

The trouble with ancient history is we are constantly making new discoveries to rubbish the old and embracing the latest radical theories. Moreover, who knows what’s been edited out of the history books to suit the agenda of the regime of the day?

Our history of hash is completely unique compared to all others. We will endeavour to stick to the facts and resist the temptation to beat the History channel to the punch with a claim hashish was gifted to man by ancient aliens. And if it turns out in years to come it actually was, well then the theory was postulated here first.

One thing we can all agree upon is that hashish has been around for at least a thousand years. What cannot be absolutely confirmed by history can at least be estimated by geography.

A cursory inspection of a globe with reference to regions renowned for hash production puts a huge bull’s eye on the Middle East.

It’s entirely likely cannabis plants originated further east still somewhere in or around China. But our moneys on the “Cradle of civilisation” for the epicentre of hash making and commercial production.

HASH CULT MINDCONTROL, SEX & SUICIDE MISSIONS

If you thought the illegal mind control program AKA MK Ultra project the CIA was running for 20 years from 1953-73 was the first, your way off. All the way back in 1090 a dude by the name of al-Hassan became the grandmaster of the peculiar Islamic sect the Nizari Ismailis.

He founded a hardcore group of “fida’in”, that were to become his personal suicide squad assassins. His outfit were the elite special forces of the 12th century Middle East. Based in a mountain fortress in Alamut, the Grandmaster didn’t have a large army at his disposal. Nor did succeeding grandmasters.

Rather they had to rely upon asymmetric warfare tactics to fend off both Christian and Muslim powers bent on destroying the tiny fringe sect.

Young warriors were indoctrinated into the cult within a cult of assassins with a ritual hash smoke up and hands on access to a beautiful harem in an idyllic Garden of Eden type setting. The young braves were virgins so this really was like taking a trip to paradise.

But it was just a slice of heaven after years of preparatory training in espionage, close quarter hand to hand combat and with pointed weapons especially daggers.

Just before being dispatched on a medieval black-op, perhaps to infiltrate an enemy crusader King’s court and murder the King with the dagger as soon as the opportunity arises.

Sometimes these missions might even take years, with the assassin posing as a loyal servant just to get within dagger range of the target or while awaiting a green light from a grandmaster still deciding if the King has outlived his usefulness.

By the way, these were invariably suicide missions as public assassinations for added shock value were often specified in the grandmasters instructions, the King’s guard would be sure to slice and dice the assassin once the deed is done.

The derogatory term Hashashin clung to these guys even in their own time. In 1256 they were eventually wiped out by the Mongols, but the guts of the legend are true.

The grandmasters incorporated hash into their vision of heaven should be the takeaway rather than the overall objective of political assassination. The assassins didn’t whack VIP’s while high, that would be amateurish.

AFGHAN SQUIDGY BLACK & RARE MOROCCAN CHOCOLATE

Hashish was certainly a precious commodity regularly in transit on the “Silk Road”. Cannabis cultivation on a commercial scale and specialisation in hashish production organically evolved in Afghanistan and Morocco during the 15th century at the very latest.

Modern Kush variants and hybrids like Lemon Kush, Power Kush and Vanilla Ice owe at least a portion of their genetic heritage and healthy coating of trichomes to the heirloom landrace Kush strains from the mountains bordering modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Old school squidgy black Afghan hash is still prized stash by 21st century cannabis connoisseurs. Resin dripping Kush buds and frosty leaves are beaten and sieved over screens before being repeatedly cooked in water and hand rolled before final pressing into sticky blocks.

The technique is ancient and although machinery from Pakistan has replaced most of the hand labour the modern finished product is pretty close to the original ancient squidgy black.

Moroccan chocolate is high-grade hash, that’s also at least 500 years old. North African Indica plants differ from Kush plants and as all cannabis plants adapt to climate and environment over generations, the dope is a little different from region to region.

Old school processing of resin by beating and sieving raw plant material and direct pressing without heat makes for a very chocolate brown looking and feeling hashish. Of course batches of reds and blondes were once also prevalent in Morocco.

Unfortunately, the influx of modern genetics has made the chocolate consistency hashish more difficult to find. Plus production practices have also changed with the times. A brownish version of squidgy black is more typical these days.

A Moroccan ganja farmer has got to earn a living so you can’t blame them. The market demands more flowers and old school Moroccan hash plants are too leafy and lacking bag appeal in bud form to fit the bill.

INDIAN HEMP, EDIBLES & TINCTURES

Dr. W.B. O’Shaughnessy was a 19th century physician to the Queen of England and perhaps the first western medical professional to seriously research and subsequently recommend medical cannabis use.

The base material for most of the doctor’s experiments on animals and humans was in his own words “Nipalese churrus dissolved in spirit”. Of course, he was referring to charras, which is hand rubbed hash. The resin is literally scraped from the palms of the hands, following a vigorous rubbing of the ripe resin dripping flowering ganja plants.

Charras is ancient hashish and it’s logical to assume something like Nepalese temple balls was the very first kind of hash ever made by man. The good doctor stumbled upon it and introduced the Western World to charras probably thousands of years late. But better late than never.

Indian cannabis eating lore goes all the way back to Shiva, but hash infused Bhang lassi is still with us in the 21st century and proof the Indian subcontinent has a long tradition of infusing hashish into culinary delights and tasty beverages.

21st CENTURY MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE: SUPER CONCENTRATES

BHO, Wax, Shatter, Honeycomb and many other types of sky-high potency extracts have burst on the hash scene in the 21st century. Even home growers can easily turn trim leaf into high-grade ice hash with a modern hash washing machine or some isolator bags.

Convenient hash making tools from handheld pollen shakers to pollinator machines and rosin presses has made for a hashish renaissance. The dabbing phenomenon is proof positive millennial stoners love hash as much as veteran stoners, perhaps even more.