'Opium teaches only one thing, which is that aside from physical suffering, there is nothing real'.. Andre Malraux- MANS FATE..

3400BC.. Mesopotamian cultivation of the poppy. Sumerians refer to it as 'Hul Gil'- Joy Plant.. Knowledge of cultivation and production passes to the assyrians, babylonians and egyptians..

1300BC.. Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes grows Opium Thebaic*m in their famous poppy fields. Trade flourishes in the reign of Tutmoses IV, Akhenaton and Tutankhamun with trade routes including Phoenician and Minoan trading to Greece, Carthage, and Europe..

1100BC.. Cyprus Peoples of the sea use surgical culling knives to harvest opium.. 460BC.. The father of medicine Hipocrates dismisses magical attributes but acknowledges its use as a narcotic and styptic in treating diseases.. 330BC.. Alexander the great introduces opium to peoples of Persia and India..

400AD.. Egyptian poppy product is introduced to china by arab traders.. 1020AD.. Avicenna of Persia teaches that opium is the most powerful of supificiants.. 1200AD.. Ancient Indian medical scripts 'the shodal godanigrah samahrta' and 'the dhanvantri highantu' describe medical properties of opium..

1300AD.. Opium disapears from european historical record for 200yrs and was deemed a taboo during the period of Holy Inquisition as in their eyes anything from the east was 'evil'.. 1500BC.. Portuguese open trade routes through the east china sea and introduced the method of smoking which chinese deemed as barbaric..

1527AD.. Parecelsus introduces opium to european medical litrature in the form of Laudanum pills that were dubbed 'stones of immortality' and marketed as painkillers.. 1600AD.. Residents of persia and india begin eating and drinking opium, the portuguese direct their trade through india to china..

1601AD.. Ships chartered by Elizibeth I of england are instructed to buy the finest indian opium and transport it to england.. 1620-1670.. Rajput troops fighting for the Mughals are given opium daily, from 1630 onwards opium becomes the main comodity of british trade with china..

1680AD.. Thomas Sydenham introduces Sydenhams Laudanum as ailment relief.. 1700AD.. Dutch begin export of opium to china and islands of south east asia, they introduce smoking opium with tobacco pipes..