Tirah

Description

Genetics: Traditional Hindu Kush Domesticate (“Landrace”)
Sourcing: Landrace Genetics, Tirah Valley, Hindu Kush, 2022 Harvest
Purpose: Charas (sieved resin)
Latitude: 33° N
Harvest: late-September through October
Height: 1 – 4 meters
Aroma: Coffee, hazelnut, hash, citrus, kush, earthy musk
Characteristics: Resinous, narcotic effect, broad- to narrow-leafleted, early maturing
Classification: C. sativa subsp. indica var. afghanica x C. sativa subsp. indica var. indica
Grow Type: Outdoors, greenhouse, or indoors

A pristine Hindu Kush landrace from Tirah Valley, a renowned centre of hashish production in Northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan. Tirah landraces exhibit a spectrum of variation from Indica-type plants, i.e. short and heavily branched with relatively broad leaflets to Sativa-type variants, as in the “Khyber Sativa” strain of old seedbank catalogues.

Tirah Valley is in a region once known as the Tribal Agencies, a mountainous and ethnically Pashtun (Afghan) area beyond the direct control of the Pakistan government. The valley cuts through Orakzai, Kurram, and Khyber agencies. It’s a major centre of Cannabis cultivation and best known for Tirah garda, a refined form of hashish with a potent, narcotic effect. Tirah garda is usually blonde or golden, though it darkens and ‘melts’ with age.

This accession is from the 2019 harvest. Seeds have been hand-selected from plants with desirable traits such as intense resin, high yield, and impressive aromas.

Every serious collector should have landrace seeds from the Pakistani Hindu Kush in their collection. It won’t be long before the Internet brings modern hybrid seed to Pakistan in a big way too, as is already happening across India.