#history
Tea Estates in South India.
Tea is the most popular beverage in the country.
However Indians were extremely reluctant to drink tea even 120 years ago.
In the 19th century, the British East India Company was looking for more areas of business to increase their profitability.
Tea was an area which could stimulate trade and raise profit. They found that the hilly areas of South India were suitable to establish tea plantations.
In early 1833, the Tea plant was first introduced in the Nilgiris.
In 1835, plants raised from seeds brought from China were planted in the experimental garden at Keti, Nilgiris.
In 1854, Mr. Mann from Coonoor procured the finest plants/seeds from China, and started the first tea estate in Nilgiris named “Coonoor Tea Estate” .
From 1872, a major portion of the hilly areas in South East Wayanad in British Malabar were converted to tea plantations.
The Cooperative Wholesale Society (CWS) of England established tea gardens in India and invested for the plantations in Nilgiris, Wayanad, and other hill stations of South India.
Chinese prisoners of war were brought to India from China in 1859, and kept in the Nilgiris in two camps – One at Naduvattam and one in the Thiashola reserve forest, to be engaged as workers in the estates.
The plantations in Nilgiris and Wayanad were later manned with the migrants especially the Tamils from the plains, Muslims of Malabar, and Coolies from Mysore.
However the consumption of tea in Britain and USA began to stagnant from the beginning of the 20th century. The British then decided to expand the market for tea in India. However Indians were extremely reluctant to drink the new concoction. Even Mahatma Gandhi was a detractor. He wrote that a mixture of milk and sugar was better.
In 1903 the British government established a Tea Cess Committee to propagate the consumption of tea. It was renamed Indian Tea Market Expansion Board in 1937.
A massive advertisement campaign was undertaken. Tea shops were established in all the railway stations. Factories, textile mills and similar commercial establishments were encouraged to introduce tea breaks and provide tea to the employees at concessional rates.
The rest is history.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
p.s: The Kolukkumalai Estate near Munnar is the world’s highest tea plantation at 7900 ft above MSL. Kolukkumalai is a major tourist destination now.
