Tea Advisor
Aspects of Tea Production
There had been rumours that tea might be indigenous to India for some years before the establishment of the 1834 Tea Committee. In 1815, Colonel Latter, the British Resident at Katmandu in Nepal, had observed that some of the Assamese drank tea. In 1816, he had obtained what was probably a tea plant and sent it to Calcutta for identification, but tests had proved inclusive.
The East India Company had annexed Assam in 1826. In essence, the territory was the valley of the upper Brahmaputra, one of Asia's greatest rivers. About 400 miles long, it was bounded on all sides, except for a gap where the river ran south, by high mountains with dense forests. It is often supposed that Assam itself is mountainous, like other tea areas, but for the most part it is not. Although 300 miles upstream from the ocean, the Brahmaputra enters Assam only 150 feet above sea level, and most of the land is below 300 feet. The intense flatness of the country is what strikes visitors. A multitude of smaller rivers run down from the mountains into the Brahmaputra, often flooding the planes. Swamps abound. It is a country of excessive rainfall and extreme humidity. In consequence, for those who live there, the climate is unhealthy and enervating. For many plants, however, the climate is ideal.
The country had been ruled by the Ahoms, a Shan Dynasty, who had conquered it in the thirteenth century. It was a naturally defensible valley, and the Ahoms managed to keep the mughals and other warlike neighbours at bay. In the eighteenth century, however, the regime was weakened by a number of incompetent monarchs, and the country began to descent into anarchy. This decline coincided with a desire of the Burmese to expand their influence. They invaded Assam in 1817, quickly took control, and before departing installed a puppet ruler. This ruler was deposed and mutilated, prompting a new invasion by Burma in 1819. The Burmese put the country to the sword, and laid it waste. By 1822 Assam was totally under Burmese control. They commtted terrible atrocities - "some they flayed alive, others they burnt in oil and others again they drove in crowds into village namghars or prayer houses, which they then set on fire."
Many fled the country, but huge numbers of men, women and children were killed or taken as slave. It is estimated that the population of Assam was halved.
It was events to the south of Assam, however, which brought about the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Burmese had taken over the coastal Kingdom of Arakan in the late eighteenth century. Refugees from Arakan had fled north into Bengal and then made raids into Burmese-controlled areas. The Burmese had retaliated by incursions into Bengal, but been repulsed by the Company's army. A further incursion into Bengal, and the capture of an island which belonged to the Company, led the British to declare war on Burma in 1824. The Burmese then fought back, inflicting heavy losses on the British forces, who were incompetently directed. At least 15,000 "British" troops died, nearly all Indians. The Burmese were finally defeated in 1825. The entire cost of the war was charged to the Indians. In the treaty that followed, large areas of territory were ceded to the Company, including Assam.
The people of Assam welcomed the Company as saviours. Soon, however, they hankered for self-rule, and there were various rebellions in the 1830s and 1840s, but none seriously threatened the Company's regime.
Tea | By Roy Moxham
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