Chinese Science, British Skill and the Making of the Tea Industry in Assam: A Historical Scrutiny over Its Relevance in the Context of the Act East Policy

Abstract

One of the major findings of the research on the development and growth of the tea plantations in colonial Assam has been the consistency in implications of the British planters’ scientific knowledge in converting the wild periphery of the distant part of the newly annexed territory into the edenic manifestation of a garden .But we delve deeper into the historical background of the production of tea as one of the major mercantile goods in terms of its capacity to occupy a very respectable position in the world of commerce for the interests of the British colonial empire then we could see that it was the Chinese methods of scientific production of tea that was deployed in generating the knowledge about the further growth of tea cultivation in Assam. It was not the British science that was assumed to be the catalyst of making Assam a safe haven for increasing rate of export of tea instead of the Chinese import of tea but it was the art of scientific knowledge of producing tea which was utilized through the mercantile skill of the British tea entrepreneurs The paper would try to analyze how the British colonial state took help in the initial stage of production of tea from the Chinese experts in order to consolidate the hold over the methods of cultivation of tea in a more appropriate way .In today’s perspective , the chai diplomacy has a great leverage in increasing strong diplomatic relation of the Indian republic with the South East Asian countries through coming out of the colonial hangovers.