Tea Industry in Assam
Different opinions about the origin of tea There are different opinions about where in the world and when the tea plant first originated. However, it is generally believed that the cultivation of tea as a beverage was first introduced in China. According to a Chinese legend, about five thousand years ago, Emperor Shennong (Sinnong) finished his journey in the forest when he was boiling water under a tree, and some leaves fell into the hot water. The inquisitive emperor sipped the water with the leaves and marveled at the taste and smell of the water. According to the Chinese writer Lu-Yu, this is how tea became popular as a drink in China.
According to Chinese Buddhism, a Buddhist monk named Bodhidharma suddenly fell asleep during meditation. Due to untimely sleep, Bodhidharma got excited and cut off his eyeball and threw it on the ground. The tea plant is born from the place where the eyeball was worn.
On the other hand, some scholars believe that the Sanjivani tree that Ramachandra ordered Hanuman to bring when Lakshmana was injured in the battle with Ravana in the Ramayana was actually a tea tree. For this reason, all those scholars preach India as the birthplace of chagacha. However, the origin of tea is still shrouded in mystery, regardless of opinion.
Establishment of Tea Industry in Assam There is debate as to who first introduced tea to Assam. However, Suryakant Bhuiyan in his book 'Anglo-Assamese Relations 1771-1826' mentions that the Scottish merchant and traveler Robert Brush found wild tea plants from the Singpho chief in 1823 while in captivity by the Burmese in the Ahom capital of Rangpur (near present-day Shivshagar) in northern Assam. Others claim Robert Brush's brother Alexander Brush and some Maniram Dewan as the father of tea industry in Assam.
However, although there are differences of opinion about the inventor of tea industry in Assam, there is no room for disagreement about the role of the English East India Company in the development of tea industry in Assam. In fact, after the East India Company lost its tea monopoly to China in 1834, India became desperate to expand the tea industry. As a result, the Governor General Lord William Bentinck (1828-35) himself initiated the Tea Committee in 1834 to establish the tea industry in India. The editor of this committee, George James Gordon, sent circulars throughout British-occupied India to find out which regions of India were suitable for tea cultivation. In view of this, Captain F. Jenkins, who was in Assam at that time, demanded to choose Assam for tea cultivation. As a result, Jenkings associate Lieutenant Chalton sent some forest tea from Assam to Kolkata for testing. Since tea cultivation was not widespread in India at that time, the company's Tea Committee sent George Hames Gordon, the editor of the committee, to China to gain hands-on knowledge about the tea plantation industry. Gordon brought some species of Chinese plants and some skilled workers in the tea industry to India. But especially due to climatic reasons, there are various disasters in the production of Chinese tea in Assam, brought by Gordon. In such circumstances, Charles Alexander built a nursery in the Russian Saadia region and continued one experiment after another. Finally indigenously produced Assam's so-called forest teas proved to be of superior quality. On 8 May 1838, 159 kg of Assam tea was sent to England, and on 10 January 1839, it was quickly sold at India House. Thus began the journey of tea business in Assam. In a short time Assam tea gained reputation as 'Black Tea' in western countries.
Establishment and Initiation of the Assam Company The Assam Company was established in London on 12th February 1839 as per the decision of the British Parliament with the objective of expanding the chabagan industry in Assam. The Assam Company took a leading role in setting up extensive nurseries for the development of tea seeds and saplings, conducting soil tests, researching the development of improved flavors through blending, making rules for auctioning and selling tea in the global market, etc. As a result, by 1840, two-thirds of the experimental plantations under the control of the East India Company were handed over to the Assam Company. Besides the Brahmaputra valley, tea plantations were established in Cachar in Assam and Srihatt and Chittagong in present-day Bangladesh by 1855. Gradually, tea plantations spread in hilly areas like Tripura, Darjeeling, Dehradun, Garhwal etc. In 1872, tea cultivation started on 56 thousand acres of land in Assam, which became 338 thousand acres in 1901. In view of this, in 1888, India was able to export more tea to England than China.
Establishment of tea estates in Assam by private initiative A section of wealthy European community with the Assam Company started the Assam Company Umadari with the intention of owning tea estates in Assam. At the same time, many wealthy people of Assam came forward to establish tea plantations in Assam by maintaining good relations with the Assam Company. Notable among them are Maniram Devam, Raseshwar Barua etc.
Influence of tea industry in Assam
First, railways extended through Assam's remote hill-forests to facilitate the transport of tea from Assam's tea plantations to nearby ports and from there to Europe by ship. Between 1881-1903, 715 miles of railways were extended within Assam. Roads, bridges and overall infrastructure were gradually developed following the railways.
Secondly, the old commercial centers like Goal Para, Barpeta, Shivshagar became lifeless and lifeless due to the lack of connectivity due to the construction of railway lines targeting only the tea plantations.
Thirdly, farmers, laborers, artisans, carpenters etc. from different parts of India entered Assam in droves from different parts of India centered on tea plantations. According to the census of 1911, the total population of the Brahmaputra valley at that time was 31,08,669 out of which 6,31,552 came from outside Assam. As a result of such a large number of people coming from outside, a serious complication was created in the population structure of Assam, which has not been solved even today.
Fourthly, after earning a huge amount of money from Assam tea plantations in a very short period of time, the plantation authorities started to live a lavish and luxurious life and on the other hand, they lured the poor people from different parts of Hindi region including Bangladesh, Orissa, Bihar and Madras Presidency to the tea plantations of Assam on very low wages. forced to work. Malaria, black fever, cholera etc. death of workers without treatment was a daily occurrence in the plantations. As the profits earned from the tea gardens of Assam went abroad, there was no change in the position of Assam and the people of Assam.
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