This magical island having acquired some endearing terms from all those who visited the island was finally called Ceylon by the British, and now enjoys the title Sri Lanka. The Portuguese being the first colonial rulers, all through the sixteen century and until the middle of the seventeenth century traded in all exotics and all spices that were required in European kitchens.

The Dutch, who came in later, established a monopoly in cinnamon that grew wild in the low country jungles and traded 400,000 pounds annually. Although the cinnamon monopoly did not last long, it was ultimately coffee and not tea that Ceylon first supplied to the West. It is reported that the Dutch had acquired by theft, some coffee plants from Arabian sources as early as 1616, and the Netherlands East India Company had planted them throughout the Dutch colonies.

In 1796, Dutch holdings had to be abandoned when a British expedition from Madras threatened their supremacy in the island, and at last Ceylon became a Crown Colony in 1802. The most important economic event that followed in the British period was the opening of the island to European enterprise. The second important event was the acquisition of the Kandyan territory in 1815. With it, British took possession of the entire island. It ushered in a period of great importance, not only for the industry but also to the entire nation with tea as the staple.

It has been said with a great deal of truth, that the British acquired this Empire not by deliberate intent, but by accident. They moved in fast with no exact knowledge of their final destination. They came in to fulfil their urge for adventure, to seek their fortunes and enlarge their possessions. The British nevertheless were able to lay the foundation for a great empire of modern times in this island of Ceylon.

The British realised that the cinnamon plants had been stripped too heavily, and substitutes were bringing down world prices. It was at this stage that they encouraged locals to alternate crops.

Coffee was not new to the country than. They were grown primarily for flowers that were used to decorate Buddhist shrines. The coffee of the mid-thirties changed all that, and with government encouragement, coffee cultivation got on to a flying start. There was a sudden upsurge in Indian emigrant labour. It was estimated that over two million workers made the distance between Malabar Coast and the planting districts between 1837 and 1874. Many may have died on the way.

Construction of the necessary infrastructure found essential for the promotion of an agriculture economy commenced thereafter. It was Sir Edward Barnes who laid the foundation for future development of the island by his prudence in constructing roads and bridges during the period 1824 to 1834. His first task was to construct the great highway into the hill-country.

Many commercial enterprises followed. In 1820, Mr. George Bird commenced coffee planting in Kandy, and in 1824 opened up his own plantation at Sinnapitiya near Gampola. This project, in a sense was the real beginning of what has since grown into the vast plantation industry of the present day.

Recorded in buried musty files are the land sales during the early days. It contains a story of individual enterprise, hardship, fortune and heartbreak that would fill many a volume. Within nine years, Crown lands totalling 294,526 acres were sold to Ceylonese and Europeans. These new settlers pushed their way initially into the valleys of Dumbara, Ambegamuwa, Kotmale and Pussellawa, and then over the hills to the sprawling grasslands of Uva.

The coffee boom ended quite unexpectedly, but without it, the tea industry may not have ever started. In 1869, when the future of the coffee industry was deep-rooted in the country, and the prospects well assured, there appeared for the first time an enemy most insignificant on arrival, but in less than a dozen years brought down the export of this staple to one-fifth of its amount. The bright orange spots that were later recognised as “Coffee Leaf Disease” was first discovered on Galloola estate in the planting district of Madulsima. Though it appeared as a minute fungus and new to science, it destroyed an entire industry.

Banks failed, agency houses went into liquidation, and most planters were rendered penniless. Other crops were tried out but salvation was found in the substitution of tea for coffee. This switchover is considered one of the brightest chapters in the story of private enterprise in the country.

By the turn of the century, tea had taken over and was on its way becoming the staple export of the country, exporting 149,265,000 pounds of tea to many parts of the world. New markets were developed in the New World. Methods of cultivation and manufacture improved and soon tea planting became more scientific and more profitable.

The speed and efficiency with which the new plantations were developed are well illustrated in the success story of Mariawatte Estate Gampola. One hundred acres were planted in 1879. In 1884 and 1885 crops of 1,092 lbs and 1,180 lbs were harvested. For many years it continued to give crops of over 1,000 pounds per acre

The growth of the tea industry is reflected in the following figures.

1873 10 Kilos
1888 10,442,000 Kilos
1903 68,554,000 Kilos
1953 153,679,000 Kilos
2000 305,843,761 Kilos

Earliest Reference to Tea

Tea, although not indigenous to Ceylon, had attracted a great deal of attention in the Island. A few experiments had been carried out even before coffee became a major export crop.

Ceylon received the first consignment of tea seeds from Assam at the Gardens in Peradeniya in December 1839.

Facts with regards to the first introduction of Assam tea into this colony are as follows:-- “In December 1839, Dr. Wallich, the eminent Indian Botanist, at that time as head of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens, sent to Peradeniya, seeds of the then recently discovered “Indigenous Assam Tea," and these were followed in February 1840 by 205 plants. In May, the Superintendent of Peradeniya, Mr. Normansell, sent several plants to Nuwara Eliya, and a person supplied to look after them. This was after representations were made to the government that tea was likely to prove a “new and profitable speculation, and a valuable source of revenue to the government."

Again in April 1842, another instalment of Assam plants was received from Dr. Wellich, and in October some of these were sent to Mr. Mooyart at Nuwara Eliya with directions to cultivate them, but was not sure as to what became of them.

By accident he met in London E. F. Gapp, to whose care the plants had been sent. He was at that time tutor to the son of Sir. A. Oliphant, Chief Justice of Ceylon. He informed that in October 1842 he received the plants from Mr. Mooyart at Nuwara Eliya, about thirty in number, and cleared a piece of jungle for them on Sir Anthony’s land. They were doing well when he left the island a few years after. Mr. Gapp thinks the ground was somewhere in the neighbourhood of the present Queens Cottage. Some of the Nuwara Eliya plants were put out near Essex Cottage, now Naseby tea plantations.and it may be worth a search to discover whether these plants are still in existence.

Worms' brothers of the Rothschild family had in 1841, attempted to raise the Chinese tea plant on a correctly prepared clearing on Rothschild estate Pussellawa, and later on Lobookellie on the slops of Ramboda Pass. Manufacture was undertaken with the assistance of a Chinese tea maker. The project was abandoned due to high costs involved, which often exceeded pounds sterling 5 per pound. Many other planters too tried growing tea as a subsidiary crop to coffee, but all failed due to the high cost involved in its manufacture.

Very little headway was made during the initial stages to expand its cultivation. Though the first attempt at manipulating the leaf was a total failure, the tea plants flourished well.

When the above properties were taken over by the Ceylon Company Ltd. in 1865, they found a small extent of tea on Congeal on the Ramboda Pass, growing well, and soon they began to pay attention. An Assam tea planter of some experience was employed to manage the estate, assisted by Bengali coolies, but the experiment did not prove a success. This in a way prevented other planters from taking to tea planting in a big way.

In a much quieter way, and as early in the field, the then proprietors of Loolecondera estate Hewaheta, Messes G. D. B. Harrison and W. M. Leake and later the Anglo Ceylon and General Estates Company Ltd. who under the careful management of Taylor, were able to acquire the highest eminence among Ceylon teas?

Taylor on Harrison’s orders, collected tea seeds from the Peradeniya Gardens and planted them along the road sides in 1866. Further, Mr. W. M. Leake, being the Secretary of the Planters Association, was able to influence the Governor to send Mr. Arthur Morice an experienced coffee planter on a mission to India to inspect and report on the Assam tea districts. The report that followed was well accepted by the planting community. This report persuaded Mr Leake to order for his firm M/s Keir Dundas & Company a consignment of Assam hybrid tea seeds in 1866. These seeds were handed to the care of Taylor, who in turn planted them in a clearing of twenty acres,

In almost four year's Taylor was able to sell his teas in the Kandy market. The samples forwarded to London however were also well reported on, and this convinced them to extend their cultivation further. Taylor, being a perfectionist, was involved in the manipulation of the leaf, so as to obtain the best possible results. He was lucky to have served under Mr. Jenkins, an Assam tea planter, who knew all the complexities of tea manufacture. He was able to draw on his knowledge, and before long Taylor too became an expert tea maker and began to produce teas equal to Assam’s in preparation and quality. The Company continued to import Indian tea seeds on a regular basis, and Loolecondura teas began to be classed as being equivalent to the best in the world.

Taylor died on 2nd May 1892, and his successor Mr. G.F. Deen reporting on the same fields twenty-seven years later, had the following to say. “They are still full of vigour, showing no signs of decay and up to date the oldest tea fields have been giving yields at the rate of 471 pounds of made tea per acre. It is still flushing and yielding well."

Commercial Planting Of Tea

It was not until 1867 that tea came to be grown commercially, and it was James Taylor who proved on Loolecondera that tea could be grown profitably as an alternate crop to coffee that was on its way out. Had it not been for the pioneering efforts of the British planters who took to tea with confidence rather than with despair, coffee would have gone on its way and thousands and millions of people the world over would not be enjoying “Ceylon” tea today.

With the coffee industry fast failing, the British planters had a choice of other products such as cinchona, cardamoms, cocoa, Indian Rubber, Liberian coffee, and many others, but only a very few turned out to be as promising as tea.

It was the belief, and often remarked, that the western and the greater portion of the central divisions of the island were evidently intended by nature for tea growing. “Leafage” is the predominant characteristic of the vegetation, and the constant humidity and the almost uninterrupted monthly rainfall, often so averse to blossom and fruit formation, were the ideal conditions in which the tea plant ought to flourish, and bring forth flushes more abundantly.

With the future of tea now looking bright, the problem of obtaining planting material in sufficient quantities to meet the ever increasing demand surfaced as a major restraint to its steady progress. A large quantity of plants of both the Assam hybrid and the Chinese variety was distributed from Peradeniya and Hakgala Botanical Gardens during the period 1873 and 1874. These were found insufficient, and the planters were forced to turn to India for the supply of Assam tea seeds. A considerable business in tea seeds resulted during the initial stages, but with the steady growth in the tea coverage, a great deal of local tea seeds was available from the older plantations.

Elphinstone, a pioneer coffee planter, who witnessed the conversion to tea, was quick to take advantage of this difficulty, and became the forerunner in the sale of tea seeds in the country. In 1882 he was able to raise an extra Rs. 16,000 from the sale of tea seeds from Horagalla estate (Nagastenne Group) Dolosbage. By 1890, there was not a single planting district in the island, in which tea did not dominant, except perhaps in places such as Dumbara, Pangwilla, and in lower divisions of Matale, where cocoa was being tried out.

Innovative role played by the private sector come into prominence thereafter. The introductory care taken by the Worms Brothers in the promotion of coffee and then tea cultivation in the country cannot, at this stage be disregarded. “The Warms brothers belong to a remarkable family," says Ukers in his book All About Tea. The eldest, Solomon, was the first Baron de Worms, son of Benedict Worms of Frankfort-on-Main, and his spouse, who was the eldest sister of the Baron de Rothschild. The brothers were born traders and adventurers. They were both members of the London Stock Exchange. The sprit of adventure made Maurice to set sail East in 1841, and Gabriel followed him the ensuing year. They set themselves up in shipping and banking business, with Maurice looking after the planting end in the up-country. He inaugurated the planting enterprise in the country with some Chinese cuttings, which he brought home after a voyage in 1841.”

Subsequently, the Ceylon Company, which later was renamed the Eastern Produce and Estates Company Ltd. imported Indian labour, and under the direction of Mr. Jenkins, a retired tea planter from Assam, were able to make tea by hand in a temporary factory at Condegalla and at Hope.

The 2000 acre Rothschild estate at Pussellawa was well known for its completeness and efficiency, and was considered a model for others to review. For over twenty-five years Rothschild tea was the standard for quality in Mincing Lane. With the start made at Pussellawa, they soon reached out and opened Keenakelle in Badulla, Meddecombra in Dimbulla, Thotulagalla in Haputale, Condegalla and Labookelle in Ramboda, and Norwood in Dikoya, with the total holdings of 7318 acres. They held these properties for twenty-four years and sold them to the Ceylon Company for Pounds sterling 157,000, considered a record transfer of European-owned assets.

Whilst on this subject, mention must be made of the other famous coffee estates that went over to tea. There was Delta estate, adjoining Rothschild on the one side, owned by Rev, James Glenie, and Captain Harry Bird’s Black Forest where Mr. F.R.Sabonadiere, the founder of Sabonadiere & Company Colombo resided. .

The progress made into tea was rapid, but there was a period of mistrust that existed between 1867 and 1874. The rush into tea really started in 1875. The extant under tea increased from 350 acres in 1874 to 1,080 in 1875, and by 1883 the tea coverage had expanded to 32,000 acres.

By mid 1875, tea was growing in thirteen districts out of the thirty-seven planting areas then recognised. There were no tea plantations north of Kandy, and none on the Uva side. Hewaheta no doubt is indicated as the oldest stronghold of the tea plantations, but what is most significant is the rate of development that took place in the district of Nuwara Eliya and Yakdassa. In 1875 when James Taylor had planted 100 acre's tea in Loolecondera in Hewaheta lower, Jenkins on Hope in Hewaheta upper had expanded the tea coverage to 136 acres.

In most cases, estates opened up in the Nuwara Eliya district had been mainly for growing tea, and it is only for this reason that it had acquired the proud title of a “Tea District." The leading planter in this district was L.A.Rossiter who in 1875 owned 203 acres. Rossiter remained the owner and superintendent of Fairyland (35 acres) Hazelwood (18 acres) and Oliphant (150 acres), with Alston Scott & Company as agents.

He also owned Florence in Yakdassa comprising 100 acres of prime tea. He had been operating extensively in the purchase of suitable tea lands, and amongst them was Ratnillakelle, which he named the “Great Western” estate. Other plantations were Pedro (35 acres) owned by F.Bayley and Tullibody (50 acres) owned by G.Armitage, both under the supervision of E.A Watson.

During the initial stages, it was the China jat that was widely used in the country with good results, and the reports received from the London brokers had been vary favourable. It was Dr Thwaites, the then director of the Botanical Gardens who directed the public to the advantages of this hardy plant. At the early stages, there were doubts as to the suitability of Assam jat at elevations above the limit of coffee.

This impression however was dispelled when Assam varieties were found flourishing well at the Hakgala gardens in the 1860’s. In 1872, Dr Thwaites saw no reason why the sides of the higher mountains should not be covered with tea, and by 1875 the cultivation of tea in the island was an established commercial success.

Taylor sold his first lot of Assam hybrid tea in Kandy in 1872, and in the following year 23 pounds were valued at Rs. 58 and sent to London. Expansion of tea cultivation thereafter was accelerated, and the two Botanical gardens were hard pressed to supply the industry with the required planting material.

Development of the Small-holder Sector

The plantations in the South were opened up during the early part of the twentieth century. It was no doubt an uphill task all the way, but they took it on the stride, and although the start was difficult, the Korean Boom of the 1950’s provided them with the much needed capital, and assured them of a steady growth for the future.

Another important event that affected the progress of this sector came about with the Land Reform Law No 1 of 1972. Until the above reforms were enforced, there was no law in the country that fixed a sealing on land ownership. By 1972, there were about 5,600 owners of agricultural property who had nearly 1.3 million acres with an average land holding of 200 acres, as against the national average of 0.36 acres per person. The maximum extent of land that may be owned by any person was defined as follows:

(a) If such land was exclusively paddy land, 25 acres, OR
(b) If such land does not consist exclusively of paddy land, then 50 acres.

Under this new law, lands owned by public companies and religious institutions were exempt. It was at this stage that the expansion of the small holder sector really developed.

According to a survey conducted in 1874, the total population of Ceylon was 852,000 of which 47% lived in the maritime provinces stretching from Chilaw to Tangalle, reflecting a very high concentrating of people along the sea coast. All of them were not Sinhalese. Many were Europeans, but there were also Chettiars Burghers and Malays. In addition, there was a regional distribution between the low country Sinhalese and those of the Kandyan provinces.

British as the Colonial masters accepted the differences present among the Sinhalese, but established a judicial and administrative system which held all people equal before the law.

Under the British, no one was discriminated against, and everyone benefited from the expanding economy. Casts became increasingly a matter for political concern, although a differentiation was generally made on an occupational basis.

In the case of the Sinhalese, the community’s major internal division has been geographical between the Kandyan families and the aristocratic families in the low country. This division was broadly reinforced by their respective economic resources. The Kandyan families, holders of Nindagam (Kings land) found themselves reduced to poverty after the unification of the country by the British in 1815. Many of the low country aristocracy however maintained or enhanced their economic power through the cultivation of commercially viable lands in coconut, rubber tea and other products.

The people of the low country had been greatly influenced during the long years of colonial rule. They had been constantly exposed to the economic propositions and activities of the West, whereas the Kandyans prided themselves on embodying the virtues of Sinhalese traditionalism.

The people living in the maritime provinces on the other hand were considered more responsive to changes, and after having acquired all the trading skills of the foreign invaders, they came to be regarded as giants in commerce trade and industry, though out of proportion to their numerical size.
The older families from Moratuwa and Panadura such as the De Mels, the Peirises, and the De Soysas were heavily involved in the estate owning sector, chiefly in coconut and rubber, and later tea. The older generation followed a pattern of accumulation rather than entrepreneurship, while the younger generation took up too commercial and trading activities.

A great deal has been said about the British planter who started a great plantation industry in the early 1830’s. Very little is known of their local counterparts who alongside the British helped to establish a plantation enterprise in the island at about the same time.