[INDOLOGY] April 29th GCSAS Lecture Series: Surā's Many Cups: A Survey of Humans using Plants to make Mind-Altering Substances in Pre-modern South Asia

[Akshara Ravishankar]

Dear colleagues,



We are excited to announce a talk by James McHugh titled "Surā's Many
Cups: A Survey of Humans Using Plants to Make Mind-Altering Substances in
Pre-modern South Asia." This is the fifth lecture of the series
“More-than-Human South Asia: Ecologies, Knowledge, Bodies, and
Senses,” organized
by the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies.



The lecture will take place entirely online *at 4:00 pm CET this Wednesday,
April 29th, 2026.*



More information can be found below and in the attached document, and you
can register here
<https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/2c25c205-0876-4aae-8b7d-9ed00adbe5e8@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c>
for
online participation.


Hope to see you there!

Title: Surā's Many Cups: A Survey of Humans using Plants to make
Mind-Altering Substances in Pre-modern South Asia


Speaker: James McHugh, University of Southern California


Abstract: Studies of religion and history in South Asia sometimes
characterize the region as historically dominated by mind altering
substances other than alcohol, such as soma, datura, or cannabis. This
paper challenges and even overturns this view of drug history in ancient
and early medieval South Asia. After a brief consideration of soma, the
paper argues for most of the ancient period the only mind-altering
substance anyone consumed was alcohol, with betel appearing roughly about
300 CE. And cannabis is only prominent at least, in our sources) from about
1000 CE. Datura has been suggested as a powerful entheogen taken in this
middle period, a "bridge drug" between ancient soma and medieval cannabis.
Yet on closer examination, our sources from this period typically present
datura as a plant used to stupefy people for nefarious means. Following a
presentation on these and some other substances, the paper presents some
recipes for alcoholic drinks, considering how fermentation was
understood. Throughout, the paper also reflects on the considerable
methodological difficulties involved in relying largely on surviving
ancient texts to study plants and processed products, such as beers.
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