Tea Advisor
Aspects of Tea Production
Robert Bruce, an ex-army businessman, had gone to Assam before the war looking for trading opportunities, and had become an agent for an Assamese chief who the East India Company were backing for the control of Upper Assam. In 1823 Bruce had learnt of the existence of tea plants in Assam, and made arrangement to obtain some. Meanwhile, the war had broken out with Burma, and Robert Bruce's brother, C.A. Bruce, arrived to command some British gunboats.
C.A. Bruce, who was to become perhaps the most important figure in the development of tea in India, had led an adventurous life before he came to Assam. He had left England in 1809 as a midshipman on an East India Company ship. On the journey he had been twice captured by the French, marched across Mauritius "at the end of the bayonet," and kept prisoner until the island was taken by the British. He then went with the British to take Java.
As it happened Bruce's area of command in Assam covered Sadiya - the very place from which his brother was hoping to get tea plants. C.A. Bruce collected the promised tea plants, grew some in his garden at Sadiya, sent some to the British Agent in Assam to grow in his garden, and dispatched leaves and seeds to Calcutta for examination. The Company's Botanical Gardens at Calcutta declined to confirm that the samples were tea rather than another variety of camellia, and the probable discovery was not pursued.
Tea | By Roy Moxham
Back To Top ‹ Previous Article | Next Article ›
