Tea Time Tales: The History of ‘Chai’ in India

Tea, or ‘Chai’ as it is fondly called in India, isn’t just a beverage, but is the soul of most Indian households! Most Indian adults begin their day with a cup of meticulously brewed  piping hot chai, and follow it up with few more cups from ubiquitous tea vendors. Some organisations even go the extra mile by providing hot chai to their employees twice a day. The love for chai is so evident, that even precarious trekking routes along the Himalayas have multiple tea shops, further highlighting the nation’s love for chai!

Tea’s prominence in India has grown considerably since its humble origins, and the tea industry is in fact India’s second largest employer, only second to the railways. In fact, specialised tea tasters undergo a rigorous training process and make a living by tasting tea and grading it.

How Was Tea Discovered?
Before we delve into how tea became popular in India, let’s open the pages of some ancient history books to understand the origin of tea.

Legends say that tea was discovered by Shannong, a Chinese emperor, who inadvertently tasted and enjoyed a cup of freshly brewed tea over 4500 years ago, when some dried tea leaves accidentally fell into a cup of boiled water. 

Initially tea was not consumed extensively as it was believed that it was only meant to used for medicinal purposes. However, two millennia later, people began to realise that tea could be consumed regularly, resulting in a surge in its usage across China. Over time, it became customary to offer tea to guests as a mark of respect, and slowly tea moved from the confines of pharmacy counters, to kitchen shelves. The growing popularity of tea was noticed by the British, who then began to import it and popularise it in their colonies.

So, How Did Tea Gain Prominence in India?
By1840, the British had begun to include tea in their daily diet. The English tea ritual of consuming tea and scones every afternoon was growing among the elite of Britain. Although the British were consuming vast amounts of tea, they only cultivated some of it and most of it was procured from China. Wanting to break the monopoly held by China, the Britishers began to cultivate tea in the mountainous plantations surrounding the city of Darjeeling, West Bengal.

This proved to be a success and India even overtook China as the largest exporter of tea at the end of the nineteenth century. As the production of tea surged incrementally, the price began to drop and it became more accessible to the common man. People began to adopt tea drinking, albeit slowly.

At this juncture in time, the Indian Tea Association, which was formed in 1881 to bring together tea producers, wanted to capitalise on the growing popularity of this humble beverage. Knowing well that the Indian Railways was the backbone of transportation in India and was frequently used by most people, the Indian Tea Association introduced tea on passenger trains in 1901. This move tantalised the taste buds of railway employees (the largest employer in India) and pasengers, and left them thirsting for more. The tea manufacturers then acted swiftly and introduced tea in the markets, ultimately resulting in the tea industry becoming the second largest employer in India (the Indian Railways is the largest employer)

The next time you are travelling by train and hear the familiar ‘Chai, Chai, Chai’, take a moment to reflect on the long and interesting track tea traversed.