Poverty in India Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, were dedicated to producing poppy and opium, which were then exported to southeast and east Asia particularly China, with the trade an exclusive monopoly first of East India Company, and later the colonial British institutions. The economic importance of this shift from industry to agriculture in India was large; by 1850, it created nearly 1,000 square kilometres of poppy farms in India in its fertile Ganges plains, led to two opium wars in Asia, with the second opium war fought between 1856 and 1860. After China accepted opium trade, the colonial government dedicated more land
China War Medal (1842) were authorised for this medal. The medals were named in bold block capital letters with stars used to fill in the spaces as on the Waterloo Medal. However, since new punches were used for this medal the naming appears somewhat sharper than on Waterloo Medal examples. Recipients of this medal who also qualified for the Second China War Medal in 1861 received a clasp inscribed "China 1842" to add to their existing medal, in addition to any clasps relating to the second war to which they were entitled. Although these clasps were intended to be fixed to the earlier medal,