Please Share your Email if you Wish to Receive the Golden Tips & Tales Newsletter from History of Ceylon Tea Website
New Delhi: A town in the Himalayan foothills, Darjeeling in West Bengal is popular mainly for two things: Its world-famous tea and tourism. Apart from being a favourite travel destination of Bengali tourists and a much-loved location to Bollywood, Darjeeling derives its fame from its high-quality tea, whose taste and fragrance are lauded not just in India but beyond.
Here, it must be noted that since 2004, the term Darjeeling tea refers to the tea produced on certain estates in Kalimpong as well, which is a picturesque hill town located some 50 km away.
The British East India Company established tea plants in Darjeeling in the mid-1800s to create an alternative supply of tea and reduce dependency on China. Several tea plantations were formed, and the workers mainly comprised Gorkhas and Lepchas from Nepal and Sikkim, whose mode of income was very limited otherwise.
After India gained Independence, the estates were to several business houses. The erstwhile Soviet Union became the main consumer of Darjeeling tea, and with time, its fame grew thanks to its unique quality and flavour. Soon, it became popular in the West Europe. It is labelled as the ‘Champagne of teas’ and is most similar to Nepali tea.
Robert Fortune was a Scottish botanist and traveller who played a crucial role in the growth of the Darjeeling tea industry. In 1842, after the First Opium War, he was sent to China by the Royal Horticultural Society to collect plants there. He was sent to China again in 1848, and it was this voyage that holds more importance in the pages of history.
Fortune, during his 1848 China tour, learnt extensively about tea cultivation, its preparation process and trade in the country, and informed the world about them. He introduced Chinese tea plants along with skilled tea makers from the country to India in the same year on behalf of the British East Indian Company.
Interestingly, he travelled in the remotest areas of China by disguising himself as a Chinese merchant as he went to places forbidden by the country’s government. Also, by buying tea plants, he did something which was forbidden by the Chinese government.
Fortune reportedly introduced around 20,000 tea plants and seedlings to Darjeeling and also brought a group of trained Chinese tea workers who would facilitate the production. Few of those Chinese tea plants survived in established gardens, while most of them perished. But Fortune, by introducing the Chinese technique of tea production to the rest of the world, opened a floodgate. It played a crucial role in the prosperity of the Indian tea industry, using Chinese varieties. Especially, Darjeeling tea thrived based on the knowledge Fortune brought from China, and to this day, the famous tea brand uses Chinese strains.
Comments
(In keeping with the objectives of this website, all COMMENTS must be made in the spirit of contributing to the history of this estate, planter or person i.e. names, dates & anecdotes. Critical evaluations or adverse comments of any sort are not acceptable and will be deleted without notice – read full Comments Policy here)