Hindu Kush cannabis landraces. The Hindu Kush mountain range is an ancient centre of cannabis cultivation. The range lies within the wider Central Asian region in which the charismatic cannabis landraces popularly known as ‘Indicas’ were probably domesticated. Historically, Indica-type cannabis domesticates were cultivated for charas (hashish) around ‘Silk Road’ cities such as Balkh, Bukhara, and Yengisar. Xinjiang – i.e., eastern Central Asia – is plausibly their centre of origin.
In the ‘countercultural taxonomy’, Indicas are understood to be compact and early maturing, with broad leaflets, ‘skunky’ aromas, and sedative effects. In formal taxonomy, landrace Indicas can be classified as C. sativa subsp. indica var. afghanica. Formally, their South Asian counterparts – landrace Sativas – can be classifed as var. indica.
Crucial to grasp here is that real Indica landraces are domesticated for hashish production, not for sinsemilla. The population of a real landrace Indica typically segregates into Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 chemotypes: i.e., high ratio of THC to CBD; balanced ratios of THC to CBD; high ratio of CBD to THC. Central Asian landraces are a bulk-selected crop and do not show consistent potency unless subjected to generations of individual plant selection, as was done by undeground botanists in the ’70s and ’80s in North America and Holland.
For potent Indicas suitable for sinsemilla, there are intensively selected cannabis heirlooms such as ‘Deep Chunk’, ‘X18’, and ‘Afghaan 90’ available along with resurrected ’90s classics in this Heirloom section, together with stealth shipping for the complete catalogue of The Real Seed Company.
Central Asian cannabis populations – i.e., Indicas and their wild-growing relatives – interface with South Asian populations along the southern Hindu Kush in regions such as Tirah Valley and Chitral. Here, wild-growing cannabis can be classified as one of the two formal wild-type varieties of subsp. indica, namely South Asian (var. himalayensis) or Central Asian (var. asperrima), or as hybrids between them. Similarly, some landraces in the southern Hindu Kush and Karakoram could have originated as hybrids between South and Central Asian varieties.
A classification of endangered high-THC cannabis (Cannabis sativa subsp. indica) domesticates and their wild relatives provides more detail. Note that there’s plenty of nuance to the overall picture of Central versus South Asia, as evident from large landraces that are famed among Afghans themselves such as the strain charas farmers know as ‘Mazari’.
See also this blog post by Angus: What’s the difference between landrace Indicas and heirloom Indicas?
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Afghaan 90
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Afghaan 90 (Dwarf Broad-Leaflet)
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Afghan Mix
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Balkhi
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Chitrali
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Cider Kush (X18)
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Freak Chunk (Deep Chunk)
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Helmand
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Hispar Valley
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Hopar Valley
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Hunza Valley
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Iranian
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Iranian #2
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Iranian #3
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Kandahar
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Kashmiri
£16.49 – £33.99 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page