History of tea in India

The cultivation and brewing of tea in India has a long history of applications in traditional systems of medicine and for consumption. Research shows that tea is indigenous to eastern and northern India, and was cultivated and consumed there for thousands of years. However, commercial production of tea in India did not begin until the arrival of the British East India Company, at which point large tracts of land were converted for mass tea production. Today, India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, though over 70% of the tea is consumed within India itself. A number of renown teas, such as Darjeeling, also grow exclusively in India. The Indian tea industry has grown to own many global tea brands, and has evolved to one of the most technologically equipped tea industries in the world. Tea production, certification, exportation, and all other facets of the tea trade in India is controlled by the Tea Board of India.

Ancient India and the Ramayana Tea cultivation in India has somewhat ambiguous origins. Though the extent of the popularity of tea in Ancient India is unknown, it is known that the tea plant was a wild plant in north east India that was indeed brewed by local inhabitants of the region. The Singpho and Khamtitribes living in northern Burma and Arunachal Pradesh have stated that they have been consuming tea since the 12th century[citation needed]. Some cite that the first recorded reference to tea in India was in the ancient epic of the Ramayana, which referenced the "Sanjeevani tea" plant when Hanuman was sent to the Himalayas to bring it for medicinal use. However, studies have shown that Sanjeevani plant was likely a plant unrelated to the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and more likely refers to either Selaginella bryopteris or Desmotrichum fimbriatum.[1]

East India Company In the early 1820s, the British East India Company began large-scale production of tea in Assam, India, of a tea variety traditionally brewed by the Singpho tribe. In 1826, the British East India Company took over the region from the Ahom kings through the Yandaboo Treaty. In 1837, the first English tea garden was established at Chabua in Upper Assam; in 1840, the Assam Tea Company began the commercial production of tea in the region, run by indentured servitude of the local inhabitants. Beginning in the 1850s, the tea industry rapidly expanded, consuming vast tracts of land for tea plantations. By the turn of the century, Assam became the leading tea producing region in the world.[2]

Writing in The Cambridge World History of Food', Weisburger & Comer write: "The tea cultivation begun there [India] in the nineteenth century by the British, however, has accelerated to the point that today India is listed as the world's leading producer, its 715, 000 tons well ahead of China's 540, 000 tons, and of course, the teas of Assam, Ceylon (from the island nation known as Sri Lanka), and Darjeeling are world famous. However, because Indians average half a cup daily on per capita basis, fully 70 percent of India's immense crop is consumed locally."

Modern tea production in India India was the top producer of tea for nearly a century, but recently China has overtaken India as the top tea producer due to increased land availability. Indian tea companies have acquired a number of iconic foreign tea enterprises including British brands Tetley and Typhoo. India is also the world's largest tea-drinking nation. However, the per capita consumption of tea in India remains a modest 750 grams per person every year due to the large population base and high poverty levels.

Government and the Indian tea industry The Indian tea industry as the second largest employer in the country has enjoyed the attention of the Indian government. When the export sales went down, the government has been sympathetic to the demand of the industry and its cultivators. It has passed resolutions supporting the industry domestically and has also lobbied extensively with organizations like the WTO internationally. The Indian administration along with the European Union and six other countries (Brazil, Chile, Japan, South Korea and Mexico) filed a complaint with the WTO against the Byrd Amendment which was formally known as the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 legislated by the US. The essence of this act was that non-US firms which sell below cost price in the US could be fined and the money given to the US companies who made the complaint in the first place. The act adversely affected the commodities business of the complainant states and has since been repealed after WTO ruled the act to be illegal. Furthermore, the Indian government took cognizance of the changed tea and coffee market and set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to look into their problems in late 2003. The IMC has recommended that the government share the financial burden of plantation industry on account of welfare measures envisaged for plantation workers mandated under the Plantation Labour Act 1951. Moreover, IMC has recommended to introduce means so that the agricultural income tax levied by the state governments can

be slashed and the tea industry be made competitive. It has recommended that sick or bankrupt plantation estates should be provided with analogous level of relaxation for similarly placed enterprises/estates as are available to industries referred to BIFR. A Special Tea Term Loan (STTL) for the tea sector was announced by the Indian government in 2004. It envisaged restructuring of irregular portions of the outstanding term/working capital loans in the tea sector with repayment over five to seven years and a moratorium of one year, which was to be on a case to case basis for large growers. The STTL also provides for working capital up to Rs. 2 lakhs at a rate not exceeding 9% to small growers. In addition to these measures, the Tea Board plans to launch a new marketing initiative, which will include foray into new markets such asIran, Pakistan, Vietnam and Egypt. It also plans to renew its efforts in traditional markets like Russia, the UK, Iraq and UAE. Noteworthy is its intent to double tea exports to Pakistan within a year. Assam Orthodox Tea is set to receive the Geographical Indications (GI) exclusivity. A GI stamp identifies a certain product as emanating from the territory of a WTO member or region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs set up the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) under the tea Board on December 29, 2006. The aim is to fund replantation and rejuvenation (R&R) programme. In the same year, Tata Tea entered into an agreement to take over Jemca, which controls a 26 percent market share in the Czech Republic. The CCEA gave its approval for pegging the subsidy at 25 per cent and adoption of a funding pattern of 25 per cent promoter's contribution, 25 per cent subsidy from the government and 50 per cent loan from the SPTF. Banks have also been instructed to increase the lending period to over 13 years.

The Story of Tea

In ancient times, tea was unknown beyond China. Rumors of its existence had reached other lands, and those who heard of it tried to find out what it was in accordance with their desires or imagination. The king of Inja sent an envoy to China, who returned with a gift of tea from the Emperor. But the envoy had seen peasants drink tea, and decided that it was unfit for his royal master; he suspected that the Emperor was trying to deceive them by substituting some lesser substance for the celestial drink. A philosopher of Anja gathered what information he could find, and determined that tea must be rare, unique and mysterious, for it was known as an herb, a beverage, green, black, at times bitter, at other times sweet. In Koshish and Bebinem, people tested every herb and liquid they could find. Many were poisoned; all were disappointed. The tea plant had never been brought to their lands, so no one could find it. Still they continued the search The people of Mazhab knew of tea a small bag of it was carried in their religious processions as a talisman. But no one thought or knew how to taste it. When a wise man told them to pour boiling water over it, he was hanged as an enemy of their religion, for who else but an enemy would suggest destroying their magic? Before he died, he told his secret to a few, who then managed to get some tea and drink it secretly. When someone noticed and asked what they were doing, they answered that it was a simple medicine. It was this way throughout the world. Some had seen the bush, but did not recognize it; others had tasted tea, but thought it common, certainly not a drink of legend. Still others possessed and worshipped it. Beyond China only a few drank it, and only in secrecy.

A man of understanding spoke to the tea merchants and tea drinkers. "The one who tastes, knows. The one who tastes not, knows not. Don't speak of a heavenly beverage; offer it at your banquets and say nothing. Those who like it will ask for more; those who don't aren't fit to drink it. Close the shop of debate and mystery. Open the teahouse of experience." Tea was soon carried on every caravan on the Silk Road. Pausing to rest, merchants made tea and offered it to their guests and companions, whether they knew the legends or not. This was how chaikhanas came to be established from Peking to Bukhara and Samarkand. And those who tasted, knew. At first only the powerful and those who pretended to possess wisdom sought the ambrosia, then protested, "But this is only dried leaves!" or "Why do you boil water when all I want is the celestial drink?" or yet again, "Prove to me what this is. It looks like mud, not gold!" When the truth was widespread, and when tea was given to all who would taste, only fools asked such questions. And it is still that way.