Finding all the legal literature I had recently immersed myself in stodgy I turned my attention to some fiction, and who better than P.G. Wodehouse renowned for his trademark humour to tide over the monotony and the blues. My book of choice was The Inimitable Jeeves in which the narrator is a man of surplus means addicted to oolong tea in the mornings bereft of which he is unable to get on with his day. In a later chapter the narrator opined that the only place befitting for his beastly, uncultured and ill mannered nephews were the colonies. This got me wondering whether tea, a beverage English  and the Indians cherish alike had roots mired in colonialism. More importantly the sociological implications of this commodity.

It is absolutely incredible how much bearing such a humble beverage can have. Tea was in fact, a colonial commodity imported from China and advertised as having properties that aid in  ‘making the body active and lusty’, and ‘preserving perfect health until extreme old age’. Tea became so popular that consumption of Ale and liquor in England went down which was a matter of grave concern to the government since liquor contributed to a large part of the government’s revenue in form of taxes.Naturally, the government attempted to restrict the popularity of tea by imposing restrictions and necessitating license to sell the beverage. At one this went up to 119% This, however,proved counter intuitive, leading to inadvertent increase in smuggling of tea. Portugese and Dutch ships used to inundate the British markets. In 1784 William Pitt the Younger (intelligent students of history will know him as the progenitor of the Pitts India Act) introduced the Commutation Act, which dropped the tax on tea from 119% to 12.5%, but tea still remained a fairly expensive commodity priced at £6-£10 per ounce it was a fad amongst the upper classes to bond over a cup which led to emergence of tea houses. Tea was  served in the evening as a  bridge between lunch and dinner but the working class which was steadily growing thanks to the advent of the industrial revolution started having tea accompanied with the main meal of the day. Tea by this time had become fairly affordable and was in reach of the working class the reasons for which we will analyse in a moment’s time.

Chinese Tea with Caribbean sugar

A contributing factor in the popularization of tea amongst the masses was availability of sugar from Caribbean colonies at an affordable price which compensated the bitter taste of the brew. 

Popularization of tea also led to growth of the pottery industry. In China tea was consumed in glasses without any handles but the British found the container to be too hot (one could say it was not their cup of tea!) and hence preferred cups with handles ameliorating the pottery industry in Britain.

How tea contributed to the growth of Opium Cultivation.

Back in India, the social implications of tea could hardly be exaggerated. The British owing to their wars with the Dutch found themselves short on silver, the precious metal that the Chinese used to accept in exchange of tea. The British retaliated by growing opium in India — largely in the fertile grounds of  Bengal, Patna, Benares and the Malwa plateau that they smuggled to China in exchange of tea much against the wishes of the Chinese emperor but the British still remained keen on transplanting Chinese tea saplings and cultivating tea in their colonies. Which they eventually succeeded in doing, managing to smuggle 13,000 plant samples and 10,000 seeds in glass bottles through Hong Kong and Calcutta allowing Tea to be cultivated in East India. 

India pips China in export

In 1853, Magazines and advertisements  extolled that India and not China was the “natural home of the tea plant”. By 1888, Indian tea exports into Britain were over 86 million pounds, exceeding China’s 80 million pounds. Erika Ra The cheaper Indian tea being more affordable  increases the popularity of the beverage amonst the working classes

Dissemination of Chai in the Indian masses

After the cessation of the first World War stoves and kettles became more accessible and hence tea started to be sold at historical railway stations of Bengal Punjab and Frontier provinces Large hoardings and posters for tea recipes were put up in Indian languages, on several railway platforms, quite a few of which are still to be found in the domestic and suburban railway network of Bengal, at stations like Ballygunge, Dum Dum, Naihati, Bangaon, Shantipur and Ranaghat,  ostensibly in order to increase the market for tea, and the move did pay dividends, Indians went on to consume 70% of the tea that they produced!

Role of Indian Railways

The railways played an important role inundation of tea in the subcontinent. The iconic Darjeeling Himalayan Railways transported copious amounts of consignments from Assam to the ports of Bombay for shipping to Europe. But also cup of tea became an indispensable part of a journey in the Indian railways. This was no coincidence, Mahatma Gandhi’s in “Third Class in Indian Railways” documented the abject squalor in third class compartment of the railways. Overcrowded with cramped travellers in uncomfortable positions for journeys spanning upto weeks sometimes, even the idea of hygiene was a distant utopia. For “refreshments”a murky colloidal solution of milk was served that killed all apetite. In such dire conditions the growing popularity of a  refreshing cup of tea that was cheap for the proletariat to afford and leaps and bounds better than the “refreshments” served in the train seems not only extremely plausible but also natural. Thus tea became an inextricable part of the life of an average Indian. It was not only the proletariat that savoured the drink, the Indian and European elites had a taste for the drink as well and might have served as what are known as “reference groups” in sociology which would explain as to why Indians are fond of drinking tea in cups (like the Europeans as mentioned earlier) instead of glasses without handles like our next door neighbors,  the Chinese. 

So the next time you’re brewing or sipping and savoring the rich flavors of the leaves, remember to appreciate the the rich history of the beverage along with it’s rich flavors.

Notes and References

 Justin Rowlatt, The dark history behind India and the UK’s favourite drink [online] BBC News can be accessed at <https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-india-36781368&gt;

Arup K. Chatterjee, How Chai arrived in India [online] The Hindu can be accessed at<https://www-thehindu-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.thehindu.com/society/how-chai-arrived-in-india-170-years-ago/article24724665.ece/amp/?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#aoh=15925402264882&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehindu.com%2Fsociety%2Fhow-chai-arrived-in-india-170-years-ago%2Farticle24724665.ece&gt;

The History of Tea in Britain, Britain Express [online] can be accessed at <https://www.britainexpress.com/H istory/tea-in-britain.htm>

Gandhi, M., 2020. Third Class In Indian Railways. Lahore: Gandhi Publication League, p.10.