The beginnings of tea-cultivation in India. Transfer of knowledge and imperial state in the periphery

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Martin Krieger
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 553318993

This project studies the history of early tea-cultivation in India from the 1820s to the 1860s. During this period, the Europeans did not only appropriate territories in the peripheries of the Indian Subcontinent, but they simultaneously conducted botanical and geological research here. Later, they established experimental tea-farms (Assam, Cachar, Darjeeling, Kumaon, Saharanpur in the North and the Nilgiris in the South) to be followed by extensive tea-plantations. This project investigates the relevance of early tea-cultivation in India for the integration of peripheral areas into the British imperial state. It is assumed, that not only economic but simultaneously cultural factors enhanced these endeavors. The project rests on a methodic framework offered by current studies on nature and natural history in the colonial-imperial context. It notably draws upon the concepts rendered by Arnold and Fischer-Tiné on the creation of knowledge and the integration of indigenous protagonists. In detail, the early exploration of the individual areas will be studied, as well as the transfer of Chinese and the identification of supposedly “wild” Assamese tea plants. Furthermore, the project will study the establishment of experimental farms and subsequent extensive plantations against the backdrop of gender- and socio-historical aspects. Even if a large number of sources survives, this topic has never been studied before in a broad, comparative perspective.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants