Native Assam tea
Té nativo de Assam
- Date
- 1823 · confidence medium
- Place
- Sadiya, Tinsukia, Assam, India
- Credited to
- Singpho people (Bessa Gam), Maniram Dewan and Robert Bruce
- People
- 👤 Maniram Dewan1806–1858
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Identification of a wild, large-leaved tea variety (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) already consumed by the Singpho, which made it possible to establish plantations outside China. The first Assam tea was auctioned in London in 1839.
Official botanical recognition came in 1834; the role of Maniram Dewan and the Singpho was long downplayed.
What it led to
- tea industry in India and Sri Lanka
- end of the Chinese tea monopoly
- forced labour migration to the plantations