History of Tea Plantation in Assam

The humble tea bush used to be tall tree, harvested on the back of elephants in the jungles of the Northeastern Indian state to make native brews known for its healing powers

• Native Singpho people used to harvest tea for hundreds of years in Assam
• Maniram Dewan, Assam’s first freedom movement martyr also laid the foundation of the indigenously owned tea industry in Assam
• It took seven years for the British to recognize that Assam tea was unique.

Assam tea plantations have an interesting history that forms a part of India’s freedom struggle from British crown. This Northeastern Indian state is the largest tea-growing region in India, as the tea plant that grows here contributes approximately of fifty-two percent of the country's total tea production.

Ever since tea was discovered in Assam in 1823, all the credits had been taken away by the Bruce brothers. The world knew Robert Bruce to discover tea in Assam whereas very little was known about the Singpho who used tea as herbal drink much before the British discovered it.

Indigenous Assam tea plant was first mentioned by a historian called Samuel Baidon who published Tea in Assam in 1877. While Bruce’s discovery was celebrated by the European historians, Baidon’s account also talked about merchants in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) about tea growing in the wild and consumed by the local indigenous tribes in Assam. Baidon rectified his error and acknowledged the contribution of Maniram Dewan, a wealthy nobleman close to the Ahom kings, the erstwhile rulers of Assam.

The gift of the indigenous

Historians initially missed the fact that when Robert Bruce, an opium trader once fell ill during one of his expeditions, the Singphos offered him the same herbal drink which was later discovered to be tea. It was Maniram Dewan who directed Bruce to the local Singpho chief Bessa Gam. When Robert Bruce met the Singpho chief in his quest to discover tea, the tribe not only taught him the local way to grow these profitable yielding leaves but also helped him understand different kinds of teas. Robert Bruce, however, died leaving a journal detailing his ‘discovery’ of tea. His younger brother, Charles Alexander Bruce found his elder brother’s journal and wanted to pursue this discovery.

In 1825, Charles Alexander Bruce contacted Dewan to take him to Singpho chief, Beesa Gam. Charles Bruce managed to secure a boatful of tea plants from the Singpho chief. He planted some of these tea trees. Unlike the tea bushes we see in the plantations, Singphos harvested tall tea trees in the wild sitting on backs of elephants. Bruce planted some of the tea plants outside his living quarters in Upper Assam. Using the methods, he learnt from the Singpho Chief, Bruce harvested those leaves and sent it to the Captain David Scott, first Commissioner of Assam.

Captain Scott having realized its huge possibilities himself wrote to Nathaniel Wolff Wallich, a Botanist who would become a part of the tea committee appointed by the Viceroy, William Bentick. Wallich initially dismissed the samples sent to him by Captain Scott as ‘not true tea’. Assam tea had to wait seven years more for getting recognized and finally certified through a zealous effort of one Lieutenant Andrew Charlton.

Charlton was appointed in May 1826 to command a military post at Sadiya in Upper Assam – he was there to serve promote commercial relations with tribes and also worked as an administrator. In 1831, while working in the Assam Light Infantry, Charlton found tea growing in eastern Assam in the hill tracts around Sadiya. He had learnt to recognize tea trees during his travels in the Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia).

For the cause of tea

In November 1834, Charlton sent tea plants with fruits to Wallich, which the botanist and he finally declared that ‘Assam tea was as real as the tea of China’. The leaves of the Assam tea bush are dark green and glossy and fairly wide compared to those of the Chinese tea plant, producing delicate white blossoms. Wallich wrote to the just appointed Tea Committee of Charlton’s discovery of Assam tea on December 6, 1834. In 1835, when Wallich visited Assam as a part of the Tea Committee. Maniram Dewan, who was Minister in the court of Ahom King, Purandar Singha presented a proposal. Dewan told Wallich about the potential of setting up tea gardens in Assam. Maniram Dutta Baruah popularly known as Maniram Dewan was the first Indian to start planting tea in Assam. He was a Dewan (chief administrative and financial officer) of the newly formed Assam Tea Company until he resigned in 1841 to start his own tea estate. In 1845, he developed Chinnamara and Toklai Tea Gardens, the first plantations owned by any Indian.

As the tea plantations spread, the colonial forces with their upper hand over the tea exports started discriminating the native tea planters like Maniram Dewan favoring the British companies in Assam. Dewan made several petitions to the Crown apprising the authorities about the appalling condition of the Assamese people under the Raj especially the tea garden workers. As India’s first war of independence started, Dewan organized protests and took part in the demonstrations against the British Empire. He was charged for taking part in the 1857 revolt against the British and arrested. His tea estates, Chinnamara and another one, Singlo were sold off illegally to George Williamson, at throw away prices.

In 1858, Maniram Dewan was hanged by British for conspiring against the British crown. This sparked an outrage against the British rule in Assam. Curiously, Williamson could barely enjoy the fruits of his newly acquired tea gardens as workers started leaving the estates. Unable to run the gardens, Williamson went through a change of heart and later sold off the tea gardens, donated the entire proceeds to the people of Assam. Inspired by Maniram’s sacrifice, several Assamese tea planters started their own tea cultivation.

At present, Tocklai in Jorhat hosts the biggest research center for tea in the world. Assam now has over 800 organized tea plantations. There are also over 100,000 small-scale cooperative and individual tea farms. On average, Assam produces over 600 million kilograms of tea per year, making it one of the largest tea-growing regions in the world.

The tea industry in Assam plays a very important role in India as well as Assam's economy, both in terms of revenue and employment. Owing to its distinct character and taste, Assam tea holds a unique position in the tea industry.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.