BICENTENARY OF ASSAM TEA

By Sukanya Chakraborty

Assam tea is a black tea named after the region of its production. It is manufactured specifically from the plant Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Masters) indigenous to Assam. Assam tea is known for its body, briskness, malty flavour, and strong, bright colour. Incidentally, Assam is the world’s largest tea-growing state by  production,  lying on either side of the Brahmaputra River, and bordering Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and very close to China in a high rainfall region. This tropical climate contributes to Assam tea’s unique taste and colour.

For over 200 years, Assam, which is called the birthplace of Indian tea, has been brewing the perfect cup for drinkers worldwide, accounting for almost 52 per cent of India’s total tea production. The estimated annual average production of tea is about 630- 700 million kg in Assam where tea was discovered in the wild in 1823 in the upper Brahmaputra Valley. This year, the Assam government which is celebrating the 200 years of the state’s tea industry, has announced plans to hold a variety of events   including road shows in major cities across the country as well as abroad to promote Assam Tea as a brand and  showcase  the rich socio-cultural heritage of the tea garden communities. It has also announced several incentives to the tea industry and its workers.

According to Bidyananda Barkakoty, Adviser, North Eastern Tea Association (NETA), tea was discovered in Assam by a Scottish adventurer, Robert Bruce, with the help of an Assamese nobleman, Maniram Dutta Barua (who is also known as Maniram Dewan). This was in 1823 and Bruce was on a trading mission. Bruce was reportedly directed by Maniram Dewan to Bessa Gam who was the local Singpho chief. Bessa Gam showed Bruce how local tribesmen (known as the Singhpos) brewed tea from leaves of this bush. But Bruce passed away a few years later, never having seen this plant being properly classified, Barkakoty said, quoting Scholar and writer Dr. Arup Kr Dutta.

After this  initial  foray, a tea garden was established in 1833 in erstwhile Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam. Freedom fighter and martyr Maniram Dutta Barua, who along with Piyali (or Peali) Barua was hanged on February 26, 1858  at Jorhat  Central Jail at the age of 51, also pioneered tea plantations in Assam. His execution by the British sparked off a rebellion against colonial rule. By now the tea industry in Assam occupies an important place both in economy and social life and it plays a very useful part in the national economy as well. According to experts, Assam tea has an international reputation and commands a significant share in the world tea market.

The total area under tea  cultivation in Assam accounts for more than half of the country’s total area under tea. Dr. Dutta in one of his articles said that within the second half of the 19th century, encouraged by the success in Assam, tea cultivation spread to other parts of India, especially in Darjeeling and the South Indian states. Though tea cultivation spread to other parts of the world, the Assam variety  of tea became the best preferred species in most of the producing nations. Thus, in a sense, the history of the Assam tea industry is also the history of contemporary global tea manufacturing, he said.

Today, Assam’s tea industry is not only one of the primary industries  of  the state, but tea is also a major item of export and foreign-exchange earner. In the recent development, the increase in the number of small tea-growers, has ensured a  role  for the industry in the economy at a grass- root level. According to  tea  researcher and writer Dr Pradip Baruah, Assam has the largest track of the continuous tea cultivation areas of the world. India is the second largest tea producing country in the world producing 1,257.53 million kg, 20.91 per cent of the total production  of tea in the world, next only to China which produced 2,740.00 million kg, 45.57 per cent (2020), said Dr Baruah, whose book “Two hundred years of Assam tea (1823-2023),” published recently. Incidentally, commercial production of tea started in the state of Assam in 1839 through it was discovered in the  wild in 1823. Official recognition of the wild variety  of  tea  plants of Assam as real tea came in 1834. He said that the teas of Assam, Darjeeling of West Bengal, Kangra of Himachal Pradesh have distinct unique characteristics.

Assam tea is famous all over the world for its strong liquoring character, while Darjeeling tea is famous for its unique aroma. Assam Finance Minister Ajanta Neog in her current budget speech has announced that Assam Tea Industries Special Incentives Scheme (ATISIS), 2020 will be further strengthened to incentivise the production of orthodox tea and specialty tea. She said that as promised, an increase in the production subsidy for orthodox and specialty tea from Rs 7 to Rs 10 per kg is already under process. Celebrating the 200 years of  Assam  tea, the budget announced that an enhanced production subsidy of Rs 12 per kg will be extended for 2023-24. Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for this scheme. The budget has also announced extension of a tax holiday on agricultural income tax for the next three years, development of infrastructure in the tea garden areas, special relief, waiver of all the electricity dues arrears of tea garden workers living in the lines, wage compensation scheme for pregnant women of tea garden areas and construction of 10,000 houses under the Mukhya Mantri Awas Yojana.

The Assam government also decided to recognise tea garden workers and the Adivasi community in the tea garden areas as a separate sub- category within the Other Backward Community. Around three per cent reservation in government jobs, within the OBC quota, will be considered for them subject to fulfilling the legal stipulations in this regard. Assam has more than 10 lakh tea workers in the organised sector, working in about 850 big estates. Besides, there are lakhs of small tea gardens owned by individuals. The tea belts of the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys are home to more than 60 lakh people.

Monk, Monkey and Tea!

Like many discoveries, tea too was discovered by accident. According to legend, in 2737 BC, the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was sitting beneath a tree while his servant boiled drinking water, when some leaves from the tree fell into the water. Shen Nung, a renowned herbalist himself, decided to try the infusion that his servant had accidentally created. It was the first tea in the world.

According to another fable, tea that grew  in  the  wild in the Wuyi Mountains of China was once so difficult to harvest that it was said only monkeys could gather leaves from such inaccessible mountain cliffs. Folklore has it that monkeys were trained by monks to pick the choicest leaves from wild tea trees.

This monkey-picked tea was presented as tribute to Emperor Qian Long in 1741 and, for many years, was enjoyed  exclusively by the Imperial Court. It provided inspiration for poets, artists, scholars and philosophers.
Later monkey-picked tea became a rare and famous brand.