The First Cup
of Tea
The birds, animals, and
human beings all have to drink and eat to live.
In regard to drink, boiled water is to quench
thirst, wine to drown sorrow, and tea is to
avoid sleepiness.
The most remarkable thing about the history
of tea, its origin, and its ultimate success,
has been ascribed to an improbable strike of
good fortune. There is no doubt that a certain
amount of luck was required before the happy
results were achieved- to mix dry leaves with
water and drink the resulting liquid.
Tea as a beverage originated in China, untold
centuries ago, but its early history as a drink
however is surrounded by cloudy legends and
mythological variations of the imaginative Chinese.
Every thing known of its beginnings is so inextricably
tangled with things apparently imaginary and
spectacular, that we can only indecisively surmise
which is fact and which are fancy. The exact
date of the discovery, that when the leaves
of this plant when boiled in water were not
found harmful or toxic for human consumption
however is difficult to fix. Probably it will
never be known when tea was first used as a
beverage nor how it was discovered that tea
leaves could be treated and used to make a palatable
drink. Just as coffee has been known and used
as food and drink in Ethiopia since time out
of mind, so too, the Chinese have known the
tea plant and have used its leaves for food
and beverage purposes from time immemorial.
The story of this beverage began in 2737 BC,
during the reign of Emperor Chen Nung, referred
to as the divine healer. The discoveries of
the medical properties of many herbs are ascribed
to him. It is said that one day as the Emperor
was boiling some water in order to purify it,
a few leaves from a near by tea plant dropped
into the imperial saucepan, giving it a delightful
scent and flavour. On tasting it, he found it
to be delicious, clean and refreshing. A new
beverage was discovered.
Tea enjoys the singular distinction of having
been discovered by a saintly person, and to
the Chinese it was a special gift from heaven,
Shen Nung is reported to have said that “tea
is better than wine, for it leaded not to intoxication,
neither does it cause a man to say foolish things
and repent thereafter in his sober moments.
It is better than water, for it does not carry
disease, neither does it act as poison, as water
does when wells contain foul and rotten matter."
Many are the legends associated with the discovery
of tea, none of which has any solid foundation
in history. A ridiculous story is related in
relation to the discovery of the tea plant in
the dynasty of Tsin. An old woman was in the
habit of proceeding every morning at daybreak
to the market place, carrying a small cup of
tea in the palm of her hand. People bought it
enthusiastically, and yet, from the break of
day to the close of evening, and the contents
of the cup never depleted. The money received
from its sale, she distributed to the orphans,
and the tramps who frequented the highways.
The people apprehended and confined her in prison.
At night, she flew through the prison window
with her little cup of tea in her hand.
Another rendering regarding the birthplace of
the tea plant is that in or about the year of
grace 510, an Indian Prince, a religious and
a God fearing disciple of the supreme being,
named Dharma, the third son of King Kosjusua,
ordained upon himself, in his wanderings the
rather difficult repentance of doing without
sleep. The Chinese story goes to say that the
Indian gentleman got on very pleasantly for
many years until all at once he gave up the
spell, and slept for a while on a mountain side.
Upon awakening, Dharma was so grieved to find
that that he could not move about without going
to sleep, that he pulled out his eyelashes and
flung those on the ground. Coming round that
way later on, he found his offending eye-lashes
had grown into bushes such as he had never seen
before. He nibbled the leaves and found them
to possess an element that would keep a person
vigilant. He related the discovery to his friends
and neighbours. The tea plant thereafter was
taken care of.
The world however requires an explanation for
this remarkable discovery as one of the most
extraordinary drinks, and the ancient Chinese
story of the Emperor Wan Tu is by far the best.
“The Emperor of China, Wan Tu, an evil,
barbarous tyrannical man, was vanquished by
his first minister and banished to a remote
southern part of China. He sat in the shade
of a large bush scheming his revenge. Driven
by poverty to drinking only hot water, he was
pleasantly surprised on day when some of the
leaves of a wild tea bush fell into his saucepan
of boiling water. He discovered that the resulting
brew was tasty, refreshing, and relaxing. It
cleared his mind so effectively that he sat
under the bush for seven years drinking it,
learning to regret his previous tyrannies, and
swearing to make amends.
He named the drink Tai, meaning peace, in recognition
of its effect on him. He returned to the capital
city in disguise and became a valued adviser
to his former first minister. He was so wise
and much-loved by the people that when the minister
died, he was chosen as his successor, and he
ruled justly for many years, introducing tea
to the nation. Only on his deathbed did Wan
Tu reveal his true identity, and to honour the
wonderful changes that tea had wrought in him."
It was after this event and in the fifth century
that the poet Lu Yo wrote the tea classic, the
“Cha Ching", which unfolded the mysteries
of tea. This publication, part poetry, part
etiquette, and part textbook, had a considerable
effect at the time and many centuries later.
According to Lu Yo, tea was perfectly suited
to the Confucian way of life: temperance, moderation,
and calm.
This Classic on tea considered the first comprehensive
account of the tea industry, was based on travels
the author had undertaken, throughout the tea
growing and manufacturing areas of the country.
He describes at length its origins, history,
cultivation, harvest, manufacture, and the preparation
of the drink in China. From than on the Chinese
people, originating from the Emperor switched
over his daily mug of water to a cup of tea.
The tea drinking habit soon spread to his household,
his court, and his people. Almost overnight,
his entire country had turned into a nation
of tea drinkers.
From 2737 to 960 BC wild tea was used as herbal
medicine, and later boiled as a fresh soup and
dried and stored. Process of sun drying was
introduced much later. In more recent times,
tea was made into a cake, dried, crushed, and
then boiled before being consumed.
With the unification of China in 221 BC, cultivation
of tea spread from the “Mother Nature’s
Tea Gardens” in the monsoon district of
South Eastern Asia towards the South. The political
boundaries of the various countries where wild
tea has been found were purely imaginary lines
that the public had traced to mark the states
of India, Burma, Siam, Yunnan, and Indo-China.
Before any thought was given to dividing this
land into separate states, it consisted of one
original tea garden where the conditions of
soil, climate, and rainfall were ideal for the
propagation of tea.
According to old chronicles, tea cultivation
began in the interior province of Szechwan about
350 AD, and gradually extended down the Yangtze
valley, and then to the seaboard provinces.
With tea production now taken care of, hand
manufacture of brick tea developed. This came
about during the period 206 BC and 9 AD. Tea
soon became a marketable commodity, and before
long a prized commodity consumed in the main
by the ruling classes. During the Tang dynasty
(624 AD to 907 AD) tea was freely marketed in
Northern China, and soon became popular with
the masses. Tea markets, tea peddlers, tea stalls,
all made their appearance in the thriving Chinese
economy.
The tea plants belong to the genus Camellia
that includes as many as 82 named species found
mainly in the mainland of South East Asia. This
genus includes various ornamental plants that
are consumed after brewing. At the turn of the
century tea was used as a medical herb due to
its unpleasant character, as tea was then infused
from green untended leaf.
All the available information regarding the
history of tea, its origin, and its ultimate
success as the world’s number one drink
next to water has been ascribed today to good
fortune, weather that date is classified as
legend or not.
During the early days, the use of tea was partly
social and partly medicinal, intended to promote
digestion and to stimulate the appetite, with
the result it came to be served after every
food dish. During the period 960 to 1126 much
time was spent in developing the technique of
tea manufacture, and once this was achieved,
the tea drinking habit became a fashionable
pastime in China, and came to be recognised
as a social drink. The more civilised sectors
in China witnessed a complete transformation
in their tea drinking habits. It was always
pervaded with an air of leisure, and attended
with pomp and glory. It became a part of the
rich pattern of life in China.
For the Chinese, tea has always been more than
the sum of its chemical mineral ingredients,
and much more than just a hot beverage. It is
a symbol of warm welcome and entertainment,
whether this occurs in the house or in more
ceremonial atmosphere. Chinese generally have
a preference to extreme measures of refinement,
with the result they have over the years fashioned
their lives to a fine art. There are seven requirements
in every Chinese house, and tea took the pride
of place amongst them.
Tea originated as a beverage for some, food
for still others, and had its third use as money.
In remote parts of China and later in Mongolia,
bank notes or coins were of little use to the
Nomadic tribes from the interior. Compressed
tea in brick form, on the other hand were used
both as an article of consumption and for further
bartering. Brick tea unlike currency, tends
to enhance its value, the further it was carried
from the tea gardens of China. Brick tea was
used as the medium of exchange up to recent
times in certain parts of China and Tibet.
Tea became such an important item of merchandise
that by 641 AD Chinese federal rulers implemented
a policy of controlling the boarders through
tea. Tea was traded for horses, and came under
the control of the government. It became a state
monopoly, offering the public great many varieties
of tea. The government was confident that the
constant use of tea afforded an effective protection
against epidemics. Production of tea expanded,
and in 1162, tea was grown in 242 counties totalling
over 7,950 tons in the South East regions, and
a further 10,510 in the South West China.
Returning to China- the concept of tea grew
beyond the act of tea making. It embraces all
the skills associated with the growing and processing
of tealeaves. It had to be performed so as to
extract the maximum flavour and aroma and in
doing so, cultivating the taste for delightful
ceramics and other accessories to make and serve
the brew. Poems, songs, and stories were written
on tea in ancient times. Most of all, in the
days of yore and even today, the finest association
to tea is the art of relaxing and savouring
the brew, in pleasant surroundings to shed the
stresses and strains of everyday life. It in
fact became a holy thing.
As seen today, the Chinese tea industry has
recorded a consistent and an impressive growth
rate, to attain the second berth in tea production.
China however dominates the green tea market.
Chinese agriculture has undergone major reforms
in the fields of production and marketing since
the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. After two decades
of commune based co-operative agriculture and
state controlled marketing, the government has
now encouraged household based farming.
The state has opened up the market to link production
to consumer demands. They are now permitting
the producer and the seller to interact freely,
with the result an accurate evaluation of the
market conditions could be determined. A process
of price restructuring is taking place, presumed
to reward the producer of quality teas, and
also to ensure the supply of adequate volumes
of tea to satisfy an increasingly consumer oriented
and economically more prosperous population.
The legendary story of tea originating with
the emperor Shen Nung generally referred as
the divine healer who lived about 2737 BC has
today captured the world by surprise. Numerous
stories are told of how tea was first received
in the western world. One popular story is centred
round a woman who cooked the tea leaves, threw
away the liquid, spread the leaves on bread
and butter and served it to her family as a
meal.
Many are the encomiums and descriptive phrases
applicable to this beverage. Above all it is
referred to as the aroma of the mystic East,
liquid jade of China, a beverage of sobriety
that cheers but does not inebriate. It is regarded
as the most popular and elegant drink in the
world, and the greatest corroborator of human
strength. Tea is regarded a fountain that can
cure the ills of passion, a fragrant gift that
does not intoxicate, and above all a symbol
of hospitality. It is no doubt the latest product
of resplendent Lanka. This long cherished treasure
of the mother earth it is hoped will continue
to stimulate the world and remain the cup of
no regrets.
Tea Planting In
British India
The rapidity at which the
consumption of tea grew in Britain would have
driven any person, with natural wisdom, to study
the economic importance of growing tea in India
or anywhere in the British colonies. The subject
of tea had been freely discussed in India way
back in the mid seventeen centuries though no
attempts had been made to cultivate it. They
were ignorant of the fact that they were in
possession of the very same plant they were
trying to foster, a native jat best suited to
its requirements.
During the initial stages, it was Chinese tea
all the way—their seeds, their plants,
and their workman. Many rewards were offered
to persons who would prepare the greatest quantity
of the best Chinese tea in any of the British
colonies. All these offers were made for the
expansion of tea cultivation based on Chinese
tea culture, not knowing the fact that hidden
in the wild hills of Assam the indigenous tea
plant was all the time flourishing. The ready
availability of Chinese planting material however,
did not stop the search for more suitable indigenous
varieties, and this task was pursued with vigour.
Before long “tea tracts” large enough
to justify exploitation was discovered in Assam.
This discovery changed apathy into enthusiasm,
and before long, a complete transformation was
taking place in the Himalayas and in the Assam
and Nilgiri hills.
The discovery of the indigenous tea plant is
attributed to Major Robert Bruce who in 1823
discovered it growing wild in the wild hills
of Assam. Although, at the initial stages, Chinese
seeds were used for its propagation with varying
fortunes, it was the native Indian tea plant
discovered by Bruce that finally established
the tea industry outside China with complete
success.
The initial work associated with the pioneering
work of the plantations was carried out by the
respective governments, and having set the project
on track, the private sector was invited to
join in. For this purpose the Assam Company
was formed. The formation of the company that
exists even today was the outcome of a meeting
held at 6, Great Winchester Street, in the city
of London. It was formed to promote private
enterprise.
By 1841 about 2,638 acres had been cleared and
10,212 pounds of tea produced. The way to the
top was no easy task, and after falling back
on many a production target, a turn-around came
about in 1846. The Company was able to declare
a dividend of 10 shillings per share. The Company
was incorporated a Limited Liability in 1845.
Despite all these changes the degree of mismanagement
that prevailed in the company continued. Land
speculation became the order of the day. The
“tea madness” reached its climax
in 1865 and with it a panic followed. Estates
that were sold for ten times its value earlier
changed hands for less than one tenth the purchase
values. The Government was once again forced
to step in to weed out the sheer speculators
from the real builders of the industry. After
completion of this task, general confidence
was once again restored, and the industry witnessed
a steady growth from about 1870.
Ceylon was confirmed
a nursery for plantation crops
Ceylon enjoys a long history
of plantations of one sort or another, dating
from the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th
century in search of cheap supplies of spices
and gems. Cinnamon then was cultivated on a
wide scale, though mainly cared for as a smallholder’s
crop. When the Dutch succeeded they took over
the cinnamon trade and reorganised the production
on plantation lines.
The British conquest in 1779 and subsequent
administrative unification of the country in
1815, gave them a free hand to open up virgin
forests. This gave the colonial capitalists
to set up agricultural enterprises in the mountainous
interior. Cinnamon was of little use to the
British, as it had only a limited market. The
cinnamon monopoly was revoked in 1833, only
to be replaced by a new crop, coffee.
Ceylon was a nursery for plantation crops, and
many varieties of produce had been tried out
in different parts of the country. It was long
after, that the British settled for Coffee initially,
and on its failure switched over to tea.
The state offered all assistance to the investor.
The reduction of export duty made consumption
levels rise in the western world and in the
colonies. The personal interest taken by the
Governor Sir Edward Barnes to promote the growth
of coffee took various forms. Land grants and
loans were freely available to the investor.
They were exempted from land taxes. The state
provided the planters with the latest rundown
on coffee culture. The Colebrooke-Cameron reforms
that followed assisted the private sector to
expand their activities further, by removing
all impediments pertaining to the free movement
of labour.
It was Sir Edward Barnes who pointed out that
the hill districts were more suitable for coffee
growing than the low country areas. For the
European colonist, it was coffee that claimed
their attention, although other crops were tried
out. Jungle clearing for the cultivation of
coffee continued at higher elevations in complete
disregard to the suggestions made by people
of more prudent disposition, who recommended
the planting of mix crops. Destruction and the
clearing of the most beautiful and varied tropical
forests in the country went on, until about
500 square miles of the forest land was covered
with one shrub, Coffee Arabica, carefully planted
and scientifically pruned.
Rajakariya was abolished, and this ushered in
a new era in the commercial activities of the
country. This in turn opened new prospects for
the enterprising Ceylonese to make a positive
contribution towards nation building.
Agency Houses were established to resolve management
problems on the plantations. Shortage of labour
that stood in the way of establishing a plantation
economy was solved, by the recruitment of cheap
Indian workers from South India. The state saw
to it that land, labour and finance were made
available to the coffee planter.
The stage was set once again for the rehabilitation
of the plantation sector. In 1856, there were
27 planting districts, 404 plantations, and
80,950 acres under coffee yielding 324,438 crates
per annum.
The transfer of power from the Dutch to the
British over the maritime-provinces in the island
was undertaken in a very peaceful manner. All
Dutch possessions were finally handed over to
the British in 1802. Pitt described this event
in parliament as “the most valuable colonial
possession on the globe. Giving to our Indian
Empire a security it had not enjoyed from its
first establishment”. No body at that
stage would have doubted the importance of Ceylon
to Briton and the East India Company, but they
did not really know what it had succeeded to,
what the Dutch possessions were, or the power
possessed by the sovereign of Kandy. They decided
to carry on the administration of the country
as the Dutch had done, but they seemed totally
ignorant of the Dutch system of farming taxes.
The first move in this direction was undertaken
by Robert Andrews, the Superintendent of Revenue
by levying a tax on all owners of coconut trees.
This was considered most unfair, and the masses
reacted with vehement opposition to the difference
in the way they were treated by their new masters.
Lord Hobart arrived in Ceylon in 1797 to investigate
the situation on the spot. It was revealed that
the main cause of this uprising was due to the
indiscriminate manner the Madras officials who
had been entrusted with the task of administrating
the country as an interim measure had reacted.
They had introduced a system that was foreign
and unfamiliar to the natives. Once the old
system was restored and the tax on coconut trees
withdrawn, everything turned out quite. Ceylon
was considered too precious a possession to
be governed from Madras, and the British government
decided to administer the country through the
colonial office in Britain.
In October 1798 the first civilian Governor
the Honourable Frederic North arrived in Ceylon.
He was an aristocrat with the best possible
social and political connections. On his departure
from Ceylon in 1805, he felt that he had done
very little to clear the ground for the development
of British rule in the island.
The three other governors that followed him
were army officers who had been in active service,
and proved capable of defending the country
militarily. Lt. General the Right Hon. Sir Thomas
Maitland G.C.B who followed North on 19th March
1805, measured all schemes and enterprises on
their attributes to benefit the country at large.
His fame to success was his ability to make
every colony pay for itself, and this formula
he claimed should be applied in the appointment
of governors.
His administration of the maritime-provinces
was rated extraordinarily successful. He made
Ceylon pay its way, and this he did by tightening
the financial regulations in the civil service.
He prohibited public servants from engaging
in trade. He in a way was responsible for the
establishment of an efficient civil service
in the country. Above all, he was the first
to recognise the importance of agriculture to
the colony, and accordingly lifted the ban on
the sale of land to Europeans outside Colombo.
He encouraged the cultivation of rice in the
country, to supplement imports, thereby saving
on exchange. Large-scale cultivation of commercial
crops however had to await the conquest of the
Kandyan provinces, where the most suitable land
for the cultivation of coffee was found.
Brownrigg, who succeeded Maitland in 1811, was
a professional soldier too, with a long record
of active service in the forces. With the revenue
on a sound footing, and the government well
organised, he as a military person, directed
all his energies towards the subjugation of
the Kandyan kingdom.
Brownrigg made capital of the intrigue that
existed in the Kandyan Court during this period,
and swiftly moved against the Kandyan militia
that he commanded in person. The Kandyan kingdom
was captured on 18th February 1815, and the
dominion of the Kandyan provinces vested in
the sovereign of the British Empire. When Brownrigg
captured Kandy, did he little realise that after
four centuries, a small island composed of various
racial groups in numerous stages of economical
development were once again united under the
“one umbrella”.
Major-General Sir Edward Barnes, K.C.B. during
his two terms of governor-ship between 1820
and 1831 was able to exercise affective control
over the entire country. His approach to the
all-important task of maintaining the security
of the country was different to the views expressed
by his predecessors. He put an end to the earlier
policy of building fortified posts, but concentrated
on developing a wide network of roads He made
use of Maitland’s order in council to
make land freely available to the British. He
felt that government’s encouragement was
necessary to get this project off the ground,
and set an example by getting himself involved
in coffee planting. The Botanical Gardens, which
was originally situated at Slave Island in Colombo
was moved to Peradeniya to facilitate planters
to draw freely from the research conducted at
the station.
His vision was to set up a large-scale agricultural
enterprise under the aegis of the government,
and to provide all assistance to the planters
to achieve this end. The roads built by Barnes
soon became springboards for the planters to
plunge into the hills and woods of the newly
acquired lands in the central hills. All this
only meant that Ceylon was fast transforming
itself from a subsistence economy to a nineteenth-century
colony of the British Empire, producing for
world markets a commercial crop on which the
entire nation depended.
Before colonial rule, land revenue rather than
the export of cinnamon had been the principal
source of revenue in the kingdom of Kotte. It
was with the arrival of the Portuguese, and
then the Dutch, that cinnamon became the prop
of state revenue. According to authentic records
Ceylon cinnamon was regarded the finest in the
world, and one indigenous to the island. Arab
caravans on the look out for markets had sold
to the Romans this fragrant spice at the rare
of pound sterling 8 per pound, and with it the
country earned the name “Mother of Cinnamon”.
Cinnamon cultivation and trading in it was a
closely protected monopoly of the Dutch.
The Dutch attempted strongly to cultivate this
plant originally seen growing wild in the country.
In 1770, De Koke made a strong bid to meet the
entire European demand for cinnamon. This was
achieved before long, and about 400,000 pounds
were annually shipped to these countries. They
completely ruled the trade, and there had been
instances where excess cinnamon had been destroyed,
lest its abundance should reduce the price.
Excess plants even at home were burnt, and only
the required quantities were raised. It is on
record that in 1760 an enormous quantity of
cinnamon valued at eight million of livres was
destroyed near the admiralty at Amsterdam. The
air had been perfumed with the incense, but
no one was permitted to retrieve any of the
wasting elements.
The best quality cinnamon was found on the southwest
coast of Ceylon, on a strip of land some twelve
to fifteen miles broad, extending from Negombo
to Matara. In comparison to coffee, these plots
were small, and according to Sir Emerson Tennant,
the extent of the five most prestigious gardens
found in this area could not have exceeded twenty
miles in circumference.
The British that succeeded the Dutch in 1796
inherited this legacy, and maintained it as
a state monopoly, under the English East India
Company. This move was not without condemnation
both from the colonial officers and the local
traders.
Colebrooke condemned the cinnamon monopoly and
recommended its abolition. He went further to
urge the government to sell the cinnamon lands
held by them to the private sector, and abolish
the monopoly in the belief that the sale of
the product would increase. They believed that
cinnamon would remain the staple of the country’s
economy, and yield substantial revenue to the
state, not knowing that the cinnamon trade was
on the verge of a steep collapse. The sudden
abolition of the governments monopoly, resulted
in a drastic reduction in state revenue, and
the treasury was compelled to impose an export
duty of 3 shillings per pound on cinnamon exported.
This made the local product virtually un-saleable
in world markets, and this set the seal on the
decline of the industry.
The sale of cinnamon lands as recommended by
Colebrooke proceeded expeditiously, but the
prices realised were well below expectations.
During the period 1834 and 1839 over 2,000 acres
of abandoned cinnamon lands were sold which
were soon converted to coconut and coffee. The
sale of productive cinnamon lands in Moratuwa,
Kadirana and Ekala commenced in 1840 and were
mostly purchased by low-country Sinhalese.
With the entry of the private trade into the
cinnamon trade, a strong agitation for the removal
of the export duty commenced backed by the Ceylon
government, the colonial office and the Board
of Trade, but the Treasury did not give way.
The relentless decline in prices that followed,
forced the Treasury to finally abolish the duty
in 1853, but failed to liberate the industry
that had gone beyond hope of recovery.
It was at this stage that most local capitalists
diverted their attention to the cultivation
of other crops such as coconut and coffee. A
few plantations however survived as the domain
of a few Ceylonese plantation owners and the
small holders, but the main trust was for the
expansion of coconut cultivation in the coastal
areas.
Ceylon is known to have had over twenty fire
different types of palms of which the most important
are the coconut, palmyrah, areca, kitul or jaggery
palm and the talipoy palm. These varieties over
the years, have provided sufficient food for
the millions and have remained a general purpose
commodity for the people of Ceylon and other
tropical lands. Percival, an authority on the
country’s history, relates that a small
ship from the Maldives islands arrived at Galle,
which was entirely built, rigged, provisioned,
and laden with the product of the coconut palm.
Coconut plantations were seen along the coastal
belt when the Dutch arrive in the country, but
they in reality encouraged its further expansion
along the maritime districts. To the wealthy
native mercantile, trading and the industrious
class, coconut cultivation was their favourite
form of investment. Within the Dutch period,
and to a lesser extent during the British term
the entire coastal areas were planted with this
palm. The coconut palm, together with a piece
of cloth and a little rice, supplied most of
the wants of the indigenous people. Food, drink,
domestic utensils, building material and thatching,
wine, sugar and oil are the many gifts this
magnanimous tree offers man. No other staple
can offer in such proportions the various other
products as the coconut tree.
The calamity that struck the coffee industry
in the late 1880’s did not in any way
affect coconut cultivation instead it gave a
further boost for the indigenous estate owners
to expand their coconut holdings. Land sales
to locals increased two fold and three fold
in the north western province during this period
in complete contrast to trends elsewhere. It
also set in motion a new trend in internal demographic
migration, without which this expansion in coconut
cultivation could not have taken place. Coconut
cultivation in a way demanded less capital than
for coffee or tea
It was a common scene to observe coconut trees
inter-planted with other trees, From the early
1840’s coconut plantations were opened
in the Jaffna Peninsula, and along the eastern
coast, mostly by the British capitalists, but
the principal agents in this expansion were
the Ceylonese from the low country who had acquired
wealth mostly through the profits of the coconut
trade itself, the arrack trade, the service
industries, the timber trade, artisan occupations
and from the granite industry. During the 1880’s
about 70% of the coconut plantation land in
non-European hands were owned by Sinhalese,
and about 28% by Ceylon Tamils.
Production of coconut supported a number of
rural small industries, besides providing material
for a number of domestic needs. Preparation
of copra, and the extraction of oil were the
most important in terms of employment and capital
generated. Arrack, an intoxicating sprit had
been in great demand in South India, but what
is exported cannot be compared with the large
local consumption, which expanded with the increasing
wealth of the people, and this habit had been
securely established in the island long before
the British arrived. This proved a sure source
of revenue to the government, and the British
had been blamed for having regulated and protected
the liquor traffic. The findings are that seven
million rupees have been spent by the people
of Ceylon on intoxicants, as against a tenth
of this amount devoted to education.
Another lucrative business that developed as
a result of the coconut palm was trade in coil
fibre and oil. The coir fibre turned out from
the husk found a ready market in South India.
The oil obtained from the kernel of the nut,
was freely used as a lubricant, for soap making,
and dressing cloths in the European countries.
The coconut oil was further used for candle
making, and lighting purposes.
During the mid 1850’s there had been over
thirty million coconut palms cultivated in the
island, covering about 30,000 acres yielding
around hundred million nuts per year. The annual
export value of coconut products was reckoned
at a total figure of about pound sterling 600,000
while the value of the products locally consumed
could have been well over half a million sterling
per year.
An off shoot of the coconut palm—the palmyrah
tree, usually referred to as the jaggery tree,
is considered one of the richest plants in the
east, and can boast of a life span over 300
years. This palm is especially adoptable to
the drier regions of the island, and thrives
well in the north and the eastern regions. Edible
sections are well sought after and provided
food to the many inhabitants in these regions.
Its timber is priced for house building purposes
During the 1820’s indigo cultivation was
unsuccessfully attempted near Veyangoda in the
wet zone lowlands. A more concerted effort was
made to cultivate sugar, in keeping with the
economic pattern of the West Indies. The emphasis
was going to be placed on sugar and coffee as
major industries, and cotton and tobacco as
subsidiaries. High hopes were entertained for
sugar, but it was proved later that the soil
was not suitable for the cultivation of sugar.
The plantations that were opened up in Negombo,
Kalutara, and in the central hills were the
first to fold up. The plantations in the Baddegama
areas struggled for a little longer, but its
fate had been sealed.
Many attempts were made by the British capitalists
to strike profitable roots so as to pay for
“European Enterprise”, and an attempt
was made to promote cotton culture in the more
drought-ridden sections of the country. They
were tried out in the Eastern Province and in
the Jaffna Peninsula, but the results did not
prove worthy of confidence, and had to be abandoned.
There after, with most of the attempts at cultivating
other crops having failed, the British capital
was largely attracted to coffee plantation culture
and business concerns, and much lesser extant
to coconut cultivation. The indigenous capitalist
class on the other hand preferred to try a stake
at cultivating coffee and coconut as major investments,
but continued to invest in cash crops.
The coffee cultivation initiated by Sir Edward
Barnes in the early 1820’s was all concentrated
in the central hills, and near the village of
Matale. They were the pioneers in every sense
of the word learning by trial and error was
the only form of guidance accessible to them,
as no research had been conducted earlier to
determine the correct methods to grow coffee
commercially. More often than not, they were
faced with economic failures. Very little attention
was paid to proper sighting of their properties.
They localised their efforts on unsuitable lands
at lower elevations, and it took a long time
to realise that the best way to guard against
failure was to plant coffee at much higher elevations.
From about the mid 1850’s coffee plantations
were opened in the forest-clad high elevations
in Dimbula, Haputale, and the region around
the Adams Peak. The rush for land continued,
and by 1860, vast tracts were opened in areas
that tea is said to display promise and guarantee
success. In the tea world of today, the following
planting district names such as Dimbula, Dickoya,
Madulsima, Hewa Eliya, Matale East, Sabaragamuwa,
Haputale, and Udapussellawa are household words,
and it would have been the same in the 1850’s.
The ownership of coffee plantations was largely
European but not wholly so. Even as early as
1840’s a handful of Ceylonese capitalists
such as Jeronis De Soysa, Alexander Dunuwille,
Cornelius Perera, Galagoda Basnayake Nilame,
and J P De Silva Karunaratne Muhandiram purchased
plantation properties. This catalogue of names
should have increased during the later years,
as the extent of land holdings of the Ceylonese
had risen from 6.4 % during the period 1871-1872
to 7.9 % during the period 1880-1881.
The non-European stake in the coffee industry
was considerably exaggerated by the production
of coffee in smallholdings. To arrive at an
accurate figure with regards to their apportion
in the total production of coffee may be difficult,
as the official figures pertaining to the locals
are not very accurate. It is however indicated
that approximately 50,000 acres had been the
share of the native coffee growers, and through
rough assemble, about 49 per cent of the acreage
and 31 per cent of the properties in the Central
Province were in the hands of the so called
“Natives”.
Collapse of Coffee
In 1869, when the future
of the coffee industry was well entrenched 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, was responsible for bringing
down the export of this great staple to one-fifth
of its extent. Though it appeared as a minute
fungus, and new to science, it destroyed an
entire industry.
The bright orange spots that were later established
as the “Coffee Leaf Disease” that
appeared on an estate in a remote corner of
Badulla, was treated as a matter of little concern.
The sudden increase in the international price
of coffee completely eclipsed the gradual decrease
in crop intakes.
The insidious leaf disease had been working
deadly mischief. When it was found difficult
to arrest, the planters had no option but to
turn to science. It was found too communicable
for arresting, and before long it had spread
to coffee districts of India and Java.
Nature in a sense had revenged her-self as she
had done in Island, when potatoes threatened
to become the universal crop, as well as on
extensive wheat fields elsewhere, and on the
French vineyards. The chief provocation for
this visitation had been the limitation of one
crop over vast areas, which had previously been
covered with varied vegetation.
The Coming Product
King Coffee is dead, we grieve for him
And mourn his short-lived reign
For never shall we hope on earth
To see him again.
Cinchona too once raised our hops
We thought that we really had
A fortune, but to tell the tale
Is very, very sad.
Of how our hopes were dashed to earth
For people will not drink
Quinine all day to make us rich
Unreasonably we think.
And cardamoms need friendly shade
We tried, but oh, the price
Has fallen sadly, and we wish
We’d never grow that spice.
And now queen tea, our eyes are turned
With hopeful gaze of thee,
We look to thee, to bring once more
Our lost prosperity.
Grow sturdy plant, though carest not
For cold or cruel heat,
Soon Kaltura and Pedro’s height
Will bow beneath thy feet.
Grow sturdy plant, our coffers fill
Which long have empty been,
Grow on, we will gladly own
Thee, gentle, gracious queen.
Grow sturdy plant, if thou should fail
to bring us timely aid,
Then must we leave fair Lanka’s isle
Or drop the pine and fade.
Tea takes over
The rise of Ceylon as a
tea producer is said to be the brightest chapter
in the story of private enterprise in the country.
Tea replaced coffee as the staple But in the
meantime, two other crops, tea and cinchona
were introduced in a small way, with cinchona
as the main subsidiary crop. Tea did not turn
up among indigenous vegetation, but was imported
into the country from India in December 1839.
This was about fifteen years after George Bird
the island’s planter had opened the first
coffee plantation at Sinnapitiya in Gampola.
The government continued to obtain regular consignments
of planting material from India. A delivery
of 200 plants received in 1841 was tried out
in Nuwara Eliya. These “originals”
now deeply rooted in our soil, are still reported
to be very much alive on Neasby, now a division
of Mahagastote plantations. Further delivery
of Chinese varieties was planted on Rothschild
estate in Pussellawa at about the same time.
Another shipment of plants from Assam followed
in 1842, and they were planted on Penylan estate
in Dolosbage.
Cultivation of tea was carried out on an experimental
basis for a further three decades. It remained
so until James Taylor on Loolecondera was able
to prove that tea could be grown as an alternative
plantation crop to coffee, which was by then
on its way out. It was to people such as Taylor,
who with foresight and grit, were able to start
over again, to re-build their fortunes, risking
all they had in their efforts to do so. Hidden
in statistics is a story of pluck and courage,
which could have had few equals elsewhere.
The rugged life of the Ceylon planter had often
drawn admiring comments. The legend is that
they were not only hardy individuals, also mighty
carouses in their leisure. It is said that,
in some cases when time and weather had totally
destroyed the crude huts in which the planter
lived, the only indication of their original
site were the mounds of empty bottles left behind.
The rapid expansion of the tea industry was
to a great extent assisted by the county’s
topography. The island was blessed with two
monsoons, the North East and the South West,
and the life giving rainfall from these weather
systems fall practically without fail on the
range of hills in Central and Southern Ceylon.
It is recorded that the bulk of tea planting
in the late 1890’s had been centred in
Dimbula, Dickoya, Maskeliya, Kelani Valley,
Dolosbage, Pussellawa, and Matale districts.
In 1892, there were eleven estates of over 1,000
acres in extent. They were Diyagama East, Meddecombra,
Spring Valley, Dambatenne, Glen Alpine, North
Matale, Pallekelle, Westhall, Great Western,
Rothschild, and Lebanon. Of these, Diyagama
belonged to the New Dimbula Company, and it
was most exclusive with 2,343 acres under revenue.
It is probable that Diyagama was the first company
owned estate in Ceylon, a fact enshrined in
the Tamil name “Company Thotam.”
It is no doubt that the efforts of the British
planting community of a century ago were made
basically in their interests, but it cannot
also be denied that they showed grit, in turning
away from a crop that had given them their livelihood
for near half century, to focus their confidence
and their resources on a plant that had yet
to prove itself. Had they not taken these steps,
King Coffee would have carried on, despite the
blight that eventually ended its reign, and
the world would never have known the story of
“Ceylon Tea.”
Tea Enters Europe
Western world, on the other
hand, took a much longer time to brew and test
the tea for its medicinal properties. It was
not until the !6th Century that teas come to
be spoken about, although books had been written
on the beneficial effects of tea earlier, based
on the favourable comments received from European
visitors to the East.
The earliest mention of tea in the literature
of Europe dates back to 1559. During the period
1485 to 1557, Venice, due to its geographical
position, became the centre of great commercial
activity. It became the market place for the
conduct of trade between the East and the West.
Traders and travellers arriving in Venice were
encouraged to tell stories about the habits
and the products of the orient that was still
concealed.
The first European to taste tea had been the
Jesuit priests who went to China and Japan in
the sixteenth century to preach Christianity.
It was only through the favourable accounts
received from the Catholic Missionaries that
Europe took notice of this new drink. The first
account about tea to reach Europe was from Father
Gasper de Cruz in 1560.Italy had the good news
from Father Louis Almeida in 1565 and Russia
had similar reports in 1567.
They all described the tea plant as a wonder
in China and it was reputed as being wholesome.
It helped the Chinese and the Japanese to live
long years without languor. It protected the
drinker from pituitary troubles,
The trade route to the East by way of the Cape
of Good Hope was discovered in 1497. The Portuguese
who enjoyed a monopoly in trading in the Indies
gave way to the Dutch at the end of the sixteenth
century. Java became the trading centre for
the Dutch East India Company to collect and
load homeward cargoes of Oriental cargoes. A
shipment of tea undertaken in 1607 from Macao
to Java is considered to have been the first
lot of this commodity to have been traded by
Westerners stationed in the East. The first
consignment of this precious cargo to reach
the Western World landed in Holland in the year
1610 and this is where the modest start was
made to popularise tea in that part of the world.
And Then To England
The entry of tea into England
took a longer time. It is recorded that the
East India Company in 1664 had purchased 2 pounds
2 ounces of tea and similar quantity in 1666
to be presented to King Charles 11. It had been
the tea via Holland that had caught the fancy
of the British originally, and with the arrival
of Catherine of Braganza in 1661 considered
the tea drinking Queen of Charles 11 it became
a vogue within the inner circles of the English
Courts. In 1669 the British East India Company
purchased its first lot of tea to be shipped
direct to England -- a precious cargo of 143
pounds purchased in Bantam, Java.
Tea had to compete strongly with Coffee and
Alcohol. The temperance movement, Coupled with
reduced transport costs caused by the new and
fast light tea clippers enabled the tea drinking
habit to spread to the large urban proletariat
of Briton.
It was in 1657 that Thomas Garraway (popularly
known as Garway), taken the bold step to sell
tea in Exchange Alley, in central London, by
advocating its medical properties. He declared
it the “Sovereign remedy for Gravel, Scurvy,
loss of memory, loosened or gripping of the
guts, and colic proceeding from wind."
He even claimed that it guaranteed a good appetite
to the corpulent, and if you have had a surfeit
of it, is just the thing to give you a gentle
vomit. It was the coffee houses that that sold
tea, and strangely, it was Garway who pioneered
the sale of tea for the first time in London.
The difficult start made in this manner, has
made the United Kingdom the greatest and most
lasting market for tea in the world. The climb
to the top of the beverage popularity list was
not a smooth one. So begun the importation of
tea to England, and soon tea ships were seen
travelling from East to West. With the building
up of the oriental trade tea was poised to become
as important an item of merchandise as spices
and silks. In 1660 the British Government like
all others that acknowledged good things placed
a tax on tea.
Certainly, the rising consumption of tea, runs
parallel to the rising prosperity of a society
in any country. Unlike previously, when the
liquid intake of the human being was supplied
by intoxicants of varying strengths resulting
in the general efficiency being impaired. In
this regard Briton was no exception to the rule.
The Seventh Duke of Bedford deserves all the
credit for having promoted the tea drinking
habit in England. It is well established today.
The burden of refreshing the inhabitants of
the Western world in particular, is chiefly
borne by tea. It was no doubt the aristocracy
that made tea drinking a noble pastime, but
its mass popularity stemmed from it being classified
as a health giving drink
From about 1840 onwards, The English commercial
class had to deal with an increasing Sino-centric
China. They were unwilling to expand the supply
of tea except in return for bullion. Influenced
by mercantilist theory, British merchants sought
to conserve their gold, they first fed the Indian
grown opium into the Chinese market, and when
this failed, they had no option but to cultivate
the tea plant elsewhere in Britain’s Asian
colonies.
Colonial Tea Enterprise
The British could boast
of having enjoyed centuries of familiarity with
the tealeaf, but they were for long, in considerable
ignorance over the plant from which the tea
was made. They were used to Chinese greens and
Chinese blacks, but they did not realise that
there was only one species of the tea plant
-- Camellia Sinensis. It took still a longer
time for them to perceive that a very distinctive
variety of the species was growing wild in the
Indian territories.
It was the adverse balance of trade with China,
which revolved round tea that prompted them
to start on their own tea industry. Although
a star was made as early as 1764 to obtain planting
material from China, their ambition to grow
their own tea was obstructed by lethargy. It
was the termination of the East India Company’s
monopoly of the Chinese trade that the Indian
Government with all assistance from Britain
took up the challenge and initiated competition
in the planting of tea.
With the termination of the monopoly held by
the East India Company in 1833, the task of
providing tea to the British public devolved
on the local merchants. The only tea available
to them was the more expensive Chinese. With
restricted imports coupled with high taxes,
it became prohibitive to a large proportion
of the population to indulge in the tea drinking
habit.
The government at that stage, was compelled
to encourage free competition in order to bring
tea prices within reach of the masses. The outcome
was overwhelming, and, within ten years of the
termination of the contract, consumption rose
to a total of 53,000,000 pounds, and by 1929,
this figure had reached 560,000,000 pounds,
which is a more than a 1000% increase.
Economic Expansion
Of The Low Country Ceylonese
The earliest entrepreneurs
to penetrate the hill country were the low country
traders, the renters, and the artisans. The
more enterprising types established their trading
empires in the Kandyan district, and other parts
of the hill country. There were the others who
dominated the commercial activities in the Moraweka
Korale and other southern planting districts,
where new business opportunities were flourishing.
During the frontier days, there were a few others
who established trading connections in Trincomalee
and Batticaloa. There was also a small group
of enterprising traders, mostly from the Southern
Province who went further. They set sail across
the seas, in search of new opportunities, in
the fast developing commercial ports such as
Dar-Es-Salaam, Motubara, Aden, Bombay, Penang,
Singapore, and Hong Kong. They took their risks,
in these distant trading posts, as hawkers,
bum boatmen, lace and curio traders, jewellers
and traders. Some of them offered stiff competition
to well-established Moor in jewellery and gem
trade. The two most famous families from the
Southern district to achieve a great measure
of success in foreign lands were B.P.de Silva
and Company and H.H.M.de Silva and Company.
The former is still a household name in Malaysia.
It is said that it was the low country Sinhalese
who virtually captured all the opportunities
that the fast developing economy of the country
had to offer .It was very likely that one could
locate a low country at the helm of any flourishing
commercial venture. This was mainly due to the
influence of foreign powers that ruled the Maritime
Provinces prior to British rule.
Before the advent of European powers, Ceylon
occupied a strategic position in the Inter-Asian
trade in commodity exchange. The island had
in abundance such commodities as arecanuts,
cinnamon, elephants, gems, timber, coconut oil,
coir tobacco, and many other items of commercial
importance. At that stage the sea was considered
the best medium for bulk transport. The availability
of a network of harbours at strategic points
all along the sea cost, facilitated the free
movement of goods. In the North there were well-fortified
harbours in Mannar Kalpitiya, and Jaffna. On
the Eastern side, Kottiyar, and Batticaloa provided
a safe anchorage. The west cost had always been
a hive of activity, and was well garrisoned
against the monsoons. There were sufficient
safe harbours, on the western side of the island.
Puttalam, Chilaw, Kammala, Negombo, Mutwal,
Colombo, Panadura, Kalutara, Maggona, Beruwala,
Aluthgama, Gintota, Galle, Weligama, and Matara,
to provided all the facilities for local produce
to be exchanged for imported items found necessary
for the local inhabitants.
The imported goods thus obtained at these various
ports had to be distributed within the island,
and the export commodities collected from the
interior had to be transported to the ports.
These functions remained the monopoly of the
low country Sinhalese. The Kandyan areas served
as a ready market for cloth, fish, salt, opium,
arrack, coconuts, and coconut oil. These articles
were in turn exchanged for paddy, and other
varieties of grain, arecanuts, cardamoms, and
tobacco. During the latter stages, spices became
an item of exchange. Arrack became an important
item of merchandise. Large quantities were exported
to India, and still larger quantities were required
as a trading commodity in the hills. The growth
in demand for arrack meant, that the low country
coconut property holders were able to generate
larger profits from the distillation of arrack.
This opportunity however did not come the way
of the up-country Sinhalese, as they did not
own coconut properties. It was for this reason,
that the coastal belt from Puttalam to Galle,
and beyond, continuous to remain a coconut grove,
where much of the arrack and toddy distilling
takes place.
Another lucrative business that remained exclusively
in the hands of the low country Sinhalese was
the catching, drying and sale of fish to the
interior. Dried fish, pickled fish, or salted
fish, remained the standard diet of the plantation
workers from South India, labour gangs on construction
sites, and for solders on security operations
in strategic areas in the country. Dried fish
was a commodity frequently sought after by the
people in the central hills, and their needs
were served by the Sinhalese and Moor traders.
The low country Sinhalese by virtue of their
regular union with the outside world, being
the occupants of the Maritime Provinces, were
the first recipients to obtain a stake in the
fast developing economy of the country. Building
of fortresses at strategic points received high
priority during this period and there was a
boom in the construction trade. This provided
the low country Sinhalese a further opportunity
to enhance their wealth. They became contractors,
and suppliers of building material, and these
newly acquired occupations assisted them to
make inroads to unknown areas.
Coffee In The 1830s.
The 19th century, played
a very vital role in rising and at the same
time shattering many favoured hopes among many
imperial capitalists, and Ceylon was no exception.
During the early part of the century, coffee
proved a money spinner, and with the expectations
running high, the government did not hesitate
to allocate extensive areas for clearing and
planting. Between 1830 and 1900 over 1-5 million
acres of crown land had been sold for agricultural
development, primary to British interests.
In the first rush to grow coffee, the lands
belonging to the Kandyan villages were untouched.
Later in the century, when the coffee industry
reached boon conditions most of the forest and
chena land held communally by the villages were
swallowed up in plantations. .This practice
continued up to the first decade of the 20th
century,
Colonial laws affecting land have been highly
criticised for virtually confiscating land from
illiterate and helpless people. The Crown Lands
Encroachment Ordinance of 1840 and the Waste
Lands Ordinance of 1897 has been censured as
legalising rampant exploitation. In this climate
of might being right, the pace of oppression
continued. The plantations however proved an
instrument of modernisation.
Whatever the ethics involved, The British land
developers invested their capital in the country,
only with the intention of making a profit.
It now appears that land had been acquired at
and unfair prices. Plantations had been developed
without consideration of the ecological disturbance
that followed the denuding of primeval forests.
The loss of mountainous top-soil, and the silting-up
of rivers and low laying paddy lands have been
attributed today to the indiscriminate felling
of jungle that followed the coffee era. It must
however be remembered that the plantations proved
the means through which the feudal economy of
the country was transformed into a modernising
economy, and brought into the global orbit of
exchange
From about 1830 it was coffee that remained
the corner stone and life blood of the country.
For the next 50 years coffee remained the “king
“of the countries economy, and during
this period over 300,000 acres had been cleared
and planted. Coffee exports from about 250 plantations
reached the peak figure of one hundred million
hundred weight in 1870.
Transport Grows To Meet
The Needs Of An Expanding Economy
During the early years
of the coffee industry, transport and communication
was, in the main, one of subsistence nature.
Generous allocation of land, which opened the
plantation sector had to be provided with transport
and communication facilities for its successful
growth. The records of those times, show that
while plantations expanded and production increased,
it took a bullock cart thirty to forty days
to make a return journey to Colombo. Letters
were often obsolete before they reached their
addresses. One posted in Galle, for instance
took almost a year to reach London. The emergence
of our integrated national economy may, therefore,
be attributed to the impact of road development,
under colonial rule. The construction of a network
of roads and railways was motivated basically
by a desire to reach potential agricultural
resources.
The coffee industry reached the peak of its
prosperity in 1870. Plantation began to work
more economically thereafter, and prices improved
from 27 shillings per cwt to 41 shillings in
1850. The quantity exported also increased from
378,473cwts in 1850 to 506,540 cwts in 1855
and during the peak performance exports reached
the million marks. Correspondingly, revenue
from the sale of coffee also increased from
Pounds Sterling 609,263 to Pounds Sterling 1,025,282
in 1855. It virtually doubled to Pounds Sterling
2,753,282 in 1870.
Between 1832, when the Colombo-Kandy road was
completed, and 1886when the Colombo harbour
breakwater was finalised, the government had
undertaken a massive programme of road, rail
and urban development in the plantations' areas.
Further opening of the humid interior under
coffee, spurred the construction of many feeder
roads. The need for speedy transport of produce
and inputs led initially to the carving out
of cart roads through thick vegetation. These
were followed by metalled roads, and ultimately
by the construction of the railway.
It was a change in the military strategy initiated
by Sir Edward Barnes, who was the Governor of
Ceylon from 1820 to 1830 that set the stage
for an early start in the construction of roads
in the country. The construction of fortresses
as a means of maintaining the British hold on
Ceylon, did not meet with his approval. Instead,
he constructed a link road to Kandy along which
troops could move faster. Further, most military
posts were situated in malaria infested areas.
This was considered a deadly disease and many
soldiers died as a result.
The first railway of strategic importance, that
from Colombo to Kandy, was opened shortly before
the coffee era gave way to tea. Many interesting
stories are woven around the event.
According to Sydney Bailey, construction work
began in 1858, the estimated cost being just
over Pounds Sterling 800,000. It was soon clear
that this figure was a little more than an extremely
bad guess. The Chief Engineer in charge of construction
thought that it would cost over Pounds Sterling
2,200,000. This caused a stir and the project
was abandoned. It was re-started in 1863, with
strict control on outlay and expenditure. The
final cost was Pounds Sterling 1,750,000.
The construction of the Colombo/Kandy road is
also steeped in legend. .There was an ancient
prophecy amongst the Kandyans that whoever pierced
the rock on the final ascent to the pass and
made a road from the planes, would receive the
Kandyan Kingdom as the reward. The Portuguese
failed, and so were the Dutch. The prophecy
was finally fulfilled by the British who pierced
the rock and build the road to Kandy. The road
through the Kadugannawa pass remains a monument
to the untiring efforts of the British.
Another landmark on the road to Kandy that deserves
special mention is the bridge built at Peradeniya
in 1831, spanning the Kelani Ganga, the fourth
longest river in the country. .It was constructed
entirely of satinwood without the use of a single
nail or bolt. The entire massive woodwork had
been dovetailed together. The great strength
of the stone buttresses and their foundations
on each side was undoubtedly the key to its
long life. Following the prosperity of the coffee
industry the following principal cart roads
were opened to the public:--
Colombo to Kandy via Kadugannawa
Colombo to Kandy via Kurunegala.
Colombo to Badulla via Ratnapura and Balangoda
(a bridle road only from Minaripitia to Beadle)
Kandy to Trincomalee via Dambulla (cart road
to Rattota)
Kandy to Beadle via Nuwara Eliya.
Colombo being the administrative and commercial
capital of Ceylon, it naturally became the focal
point from where all roads radiated.
With the transformation from coffee to tea,
which came about sooner than expected, the need
to further strengthen the network of roads became
an urgent necessity. All cart roads that took
the bulk of traffic was macadamised. The experience
gained from pioneer road builders in England
such as Metcalfe, Telford, and macadam was put
to great use.
The following information only goes to prove
that the railway had obviously followed the
planter. For those who came in later, there
was always the facility of the railway within
close range. Railway stations became centres
for transport of tea. The most important of
them was Hatton, which served a wide planting
area.
| Acres |
Year |
Railway
to |
| 1,083 |
1873 |
Gampola |
| 1,750 |
1874 |
Nawalapitiya |
| 70,000 |
1884 |
Hatton |
| 273,000 |
1893 |
Haputale |
| 305,000 |
1894 |
Bandarawela |
| 380,000 |
1894 |
Nuwara
Eliya and Ragalla |
| 400,000 |
1924 |
Badulla |
Villiers vividly describes the expansion of
the railway and the costs involved and how the
project was finally financed.
“It is not surprising to find that in
that year (1856) a public meeting was held in
Kandy praying for the construction of a railway
between Colombo and Kandy, which was estimated
to cost Pounds Sterling 2,315,000 more than
double Captain Moorsom’s outside limit
for the work. In 1859 the Legislative Council
resolved by a majority of 10 to 5, that if the
company could not complete the railway for Pounds
Sterling 1,500,000 the contract should be annulled.
In 1862, the Legislative Council sanctioned
the acceptance of a contract with Mr Faviell
to construct the railway at a cost of Pounds
Sterling 873,039. The railway from Colombo to
Ambepussa was opened in October 1856, and the
first train from Colombo arrived in Kandy on
April 26th 1867. The line was opened to the
general traffic in August that year.
Important Dates
To Remember
1873: The railway to Gampola
was opened for goods traffic on January 15th
and for passengers on February 1st 1873
1874: In December 1874, the railway was opened
for traffic as far as Nawalapitiya. Dimbula,
Dickoya, Maskeliya, and Matale were all pressing
on the government their claims for railways.
The Governor suggested that the coffee planters
should give a guarantee of 6% on the cost through
an export on coffee, if a deficiency occurred
after a year’s working.
1876: A Railway commission reported that 25
miles of railway (broad gauge) could be constructed
from Nawalapitiya to Rosita(Kotagala) for Rs
5,500,00 on which the traffic would pay 4 ½%
to 5%. If extended to Nanu-Oya the profit would
be 6%, and if taken further to Haputale, a further
73 miles the return would be 8%.
1878: The Secretary of State for the Colonies
sanctioned the extension as far as Nanu-Oya,
end route to Uva, and tenders were called.
1880: Meanwhile, the Matale extension had been
sanctioned. It was opened to traffic eight months
before the due date, the contractors being David
Reed, with whom H, K. Rutherford was associated.
1884: The railway extension as far as Hatton
was opened for traffic on June 4th 1884, as
far as Talawakelle in November, and as far as
Nanu-Oya in May 1885.
Work on the extension to Haputale from Nanu-Oya
commenced at Haputale end on April 13th 1889.
The line was opened for traffic in June 1893.
Approaches to individual property's ware developed
largely by means of a system of grant-in-aid
roads, whereby estates contributed half the
cost of constructing the roads, as well as half
the annual cost of maintaining them. It is to
the owners of coffee estates therefore, that
we are indebted for our present means of transport
particularly in the hill country.
