Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Evolution of Alcohol Use in India

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
AIDS and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper traces the role of alcohol production and use in the daily lives of people in India, from ancient times to the present day. Alcohol use has been an issue of great ambivalence throughout the rich and long history of the Indian subcontinent. The behaviors and attitudes about alcohol use in India are very complex, contradictory and convoluted because of the many different influences in that history. The evolution of alcohol use patterns in India can be divided into four broad historical periods (time of written records), beginning with the Vedic era (ca. 1500–700 BCE). From 700 BCE to 1100 CE, (“Reinterpretation and Synthesis”) is the time of emergence of Buddhism and Jainism, with some new anti-alcohol doctrines, as well as post-Vedic developments in the Hindu traditions and scholarly writing. The writings of the renowned medical practitioners, Charaka and Susruta, added new lines of thought, including arguments for “moderate alcohol use.” The Period of Islamic Influence (1100–1800 CE), including the Mughal era from the 1520s to 1800, exhibited a complex interplay of widespread alcohol use, competing with the clear Quranic opposition to alcohol consumption. The fourth period (1800 to the present) includes the deep influence of British colonial rule and the recent half century of Indian independence, beginning in 1947. The contradictions and ambiguities—with widespread alcohol use in some sectors of society, including the high status caste of warriors/rulers (Kshatriyas), versus prohibitions and condemnation of alcohol use, especially for the Brahmin (scholar-priest) caste, have produced alcohol use patterns that include frequent high-risk, heavy and hazardous drinking. The recent increases in alcohol consumption in many sectors of the general Indian population, coupled with the strong evidence of the role of alcohol in the spread of HIV/STI infections and other health risks, point to the need for detailed understanding of the complex cross-currents emerging from the past history of alcohol use and abuse in India.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Benegal V. India: alcohol and public health. Addiction. 2005;100:1051–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Achaya KT. Alcoholic fermentation and its products in ancient India. Indian J Hist Sci. 1991;26(2):123–9.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Singh G, Lal B. Alcohol in India: a review of cultural traditions and drinking practices. Indian J Psychiatry. 1979;21(21):39–45.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Parkar SR, Dawani VS, Apte JS. History of psychiatry in India. J Postgrad Med. 2001;47(73).

  5. Boesche R. The first great political realist: Kautilya and his Arthashastra. Lanham: Lexington Books; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Wolpert S. A new history of India. Fifth ed. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Sharma HK, Mohan D. Perspectives of alcohol consumption in India. In: Peele S, Grant M, editors. Alcohol and pleasure: a health perspective. Philadelphia: International Centre Alcohol Policies, Brunner/Mazel; 1999. p. 101–112.

  8. Prakash O. Food and drinks in ancient India. Munshi Lal Manohar Lal. New Delhi; 1961.

  9. Praskara. Grhya Sutra. Bombay: Venkatesvara; 1956.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Sastri U. Arthasastra of Kautilaya. Lahore; 1925.

  11. Bhattacharyya NN. History of the Tantric religion. 2nd revised ed. New Delhi: Manohar; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sharma HK. Socio-cultural perspective of substance use in India. Subst Use Misuse. 1996;31(11&12):1689–714.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Francis HT. The Jataka, vol. V. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1905.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Saxena S. Country Profile on Alcohol in India. In: Riley L, Marshal M, editors. Alcohol and public health in developing countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1999. p. 37–60.

  15. Mahdihassan S. The word ‘Kohala’ in Susruta and ‘alcool-vini’in paracelsus. Indian J Hist Sci. 1991;26(2).

  16. Manucci N. Aurangzeb and prohibition. In: Kaul HK, editor. Historic Delhi: an anthology. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 1996. p. 156–8.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Din Barni Z-D. Alau-d din Khilji and prohibition. In: Kaul HK, editor. Historic Delhi: an anthology. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 1996. p. 155–6.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bernier F. Wine. In: Kaul HK, editor. Historic Delhi: an anthology. Delhi: Oxford University Press; 1996. p. 155–6.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Pryor A. Indian pale ale: an icon of empire. London: Institute for the Study of the Americas; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Statemaster. Mohan Meakin Brewery. Encyclopedia 2010. http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Mohan-Meakin-Brewery. Accessed April 2010.

  21. Mohan D, Sharma HK. India. In: Heath DB, editor. International handbook on alcohol and culture. Westwood: Greenwood Press; 1995. p. 128–41.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Suguna B. Women’s movements. New Delhi: Discovery Printing House; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Sudhir SN. Tribal women launch anti-arrack movement. http://sudhirjourno1.blogspot.com . Vol 20102007:Blog.

  24. Rao SSVV, Rao CRP. Drinking in the tribal world: a cross-cultural study in ‘cultural theme’ approach. Man India. 1976;57(2):97–102.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Boban J. Tribal ethnomedicine: continuity and change. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corp; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  26. National Family Health Survey. In: Welfare MoHaF, editor. New Delhi; 2005.

  27. Deb PC, Jindal RB. Drinking in rural areas: a study of selected villages in Punjab in the wake of the green revolution. Ludhiana: Punjab Agricultural University; 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Lal B, Singh G. Alcohol consumption in Punjab. Indian J Psychiatry. 1978;20:217.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Rai S. Foreign distillers seek to slake India thirst. New York Times; 2002.

  30. Mohan D, Chopra A, Ray R, Sethi H. Alcohol consumption in India: a cross-sectional study. In: Demers A, Room R, Bourgault C, editors. Surveys of drinking patterns and problems in seven developing countries. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2001. p. 103–14.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Singh KK, Bloom SS. Influence of alcohol use on male sexual behaviour leading to HIV/AIDS in Uttar Pradesh, India. International conference on AIDS Bangkok, Thailand; 2004.

  32. Verma R, Lhungdim H. Sexuality and sexual behaviours in rural India: evidence from a five state study. In: Verma R, Pelto PJ, Schensul SL, Joshi A, editors. Sexuality in the time of AIDS. New Delhi: Sage Publications; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sivaram S, Srikrishnan AK, Latkin CA, et al. Male alcohol use and unprotected sex with non-regular partners: evidence from wine-shops in Chennai, India. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008;94(1–3):133–41.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Benegal V, Shantala A, Murthy V, Janakiramaiah N. Alcohol Use and misuse in Karnataka: dimensions of the alcoholism epidemic, the case for urgent action. Bangalore: National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences; 1997. http://www.nimhans.kar.nic.in/deaddiction/lit/Karnataka_alcohol.pdf. Accessed April 2010.

  35. Chandra PS, Krishna VA, Benegal V, Ramakrishna J. High-risk sexual behaviour and sensation-seeking among heavy alcohol users. Indian J Med Res. 2003;117:88–92.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    H. K. Sharma & B. M. Tripathi

  2. Society in Aid of Neglected Youth and Addiction Management, New Delhi, India

    H. K. Sharma

  3. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Pertti J. Pelto

Authors
  1. H. K. Sharma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. B. M. Tripathi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pertti J. Pelto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. K. Sharma.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sharma, H.K., Tripathi, B.M. & Pelto, P.J. The Evolution of Alcohol Use in India. AIDS Behav 14 (Suppl 1), 8–17 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-010-9727-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-010-9727-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation