Have a cup of tea!
It is just too late to say that no matter how busy or pressure of work, everything touches… and as soon as a sip of tea comes down from the throat, one gets a sigh of relief. This habit of tea is years old in India.
Without a cup of tea, there is no taste in the news in the morning newspaper, I do not like meeting friends. Now even in politics tea is being discussed!
But, have you ever wondered where did the tea come from?
if not!
So let’s know the secrets of sips of tea-
What tells the story related to the discovery!
Scientists were not needed to discover tea, but there is a mention of such an event in history, which tells that the discovery of tea was sudden.
It is said that about 5000 years ago, Emperor Shen Nuggan ruled in China. He used to drink hot water every day on an empty stomach to keep himself healthy. He used to drink this water sitting in his garden after a morning walk.
One day he came back after walking as usual and sat on the chair. The cook brought him a glass of hot water. The emperor was busy in discussion with his other companions when some leaves of a nearby bush came and fell in the hot water, due to which the color of the water changed and it started smelling.
The emperor wanted to drink that water, but the courtiers said that it could also be poisonous leaves, but he did not listen to anyone and drank that water.
He felt refreshed after drinking water. The emperor called all the cooks of the palace and got them to search for those leaves. Also ordered that now every day they should be given boiled water of these leaves.
Since then not only the emperor, but other courtiers also started drinking that drink.
Buddhist monks also adopted because
Gradually it became the favorite drink of the common people of China. China used to welcome foreigners coming to your country with this drink.
However, the residents there were strictly advised not to share this recipe with anyone else. This was the reason that for years the discovery of tea was not even known in the rest of the world.
Since it was completely natural, Buddhist monks in China also started consuming it. By drinking tea, they would feel the heat in the body and get freshness. Due to a lack of sleep for a long time, he could meditate. When he came to know about the benefits of tea, he started keeping its leaves with him.
While on the one hand the general public and courtiers of China were hiding the secret of tea from the world, on the other hand, wherever Buddhist monks went, they made tea and drank it and made the people around them drink it. In this way, information about tea had reached Japan, Bhutan, Nepal, and then India.
…this is how tea reached India
There is another history related to tea in India. Influenced by the teachings of Buddhism, Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, started meditating. This was the period when he did not establish the religion, but he himself was on the path of attainment of knowledge.
Mahavira came to know about tea leaves while learning the virtues of meditation from Buddhist monks. He discovered those bushes in Assam, India, from where tea leaves could be found.
It was a secluded forest, so he also got enough space to meditate. In this way, Mahavir meditated in the forest for about 7 years. It is said that during this time he used to chew tea leaves to keep himself alive.
Due to the effect of these leaves, he could not sleep and he was able to meditate even without food. It is said that it was through Buddhist monks that the talk of the properties of tea reached the common people of Assam and they also included it in everyday life.
By the way, tea was also used as a medicine. It is said that wounds were filled with their leaves and drinking its decoction was used to bring energy.
In this way, tea reached India via China!
How was the journey to India!
Tea had of course come to India, but its propagation stopped after coming here. Whereas, the smell of tea reached England via Japan.
England became dependent on Japan for tea and Japan smuggled and supplied tea leaves from China. In this whole sequence, England was paying a big price for tea.
With the beginning of the East India Company in India, the British also started studying the food of the common people here. In the meantime, he came to know that the people of Assam drink a black-colored drink, which gives them freshness.
When the British officers examined the drink, they found it to be wild tea leaves. For the British, the tea of Assam was no less than a treasure.
The first news of tea in India was received by Governor Lord William Bentinck in 1834. He told the British government officials about this black drink and then reached Assam with a team.
Where, with the help of common citizens, he had to search for the tea plant. After a year of hard work, he planted the first tea garden inside Assam in 1835.
When it reached China that tea was being produced in India, they made a trade agreement with the British. Under this agreement, he also sent some seeds of Chinese tea to India.
The British sent tea seeds to the testing center in Calcutta for training. After a few months of hard work, it was seen that the land of India is like nectar for Chinese tea leaves and its taste has become better than before.
When it reached China that tea was being produced in India, they made a trade agreement with the British. Under this agreement, he also sent some seeds of Chinese tea to India.
The British sent tea seeds to the testing center in Calcutta for training. After a few months of hard work, it was seen that the land of India is like nectar for Chinese tea leaves and its taste has become better than before.
In this way, the British expanded the tea gardens.
Tea cultivation started in Darjeeling via Assam and then in South India. In real terms, the British brought Indian tea to the international market. Gradually the tea of India started being appreciated all over the world.
This proved to be the best trade deal for the British.
Then came the discovery of tea bags, and…
After the British left India in 1947, the government continued the tea business and in 1953 the first tea board was formed. It became easy to transport Indian tea to foreign countries through the Tea Board. With this, new employment opportunities opened up for the workers. Today, India is the largest tea producer in the world, 70 percent of which is consumed in India alone.
The British were very clean in terms of food. He needed tea but did not like that anyone would touch the tea leaves.
Because of this, he started saving tea leaves in the metal box. There were holes in this box. As soon as it was put in a cup of hot water. Due to this the taste of the leaves was dissolved in the water.
But, the problem was when this box had to be removed.
Eventually, the chefs put their minds to it and started wrapping the tea leaves in the paper. Glue was applied on its end so that the leaves would not come out. A thread was put in it to take it out of the cup.
The only problem here was that in contact with hot water, the gum started melting further. This would spoil the taste of the tea.
In 1901, two women, Roberta C. Léon and Mary Marklein made small cloth bags made of cotton, filled with powder made from tea leaves and sewn. In this way, he manufactured tea bags for the first time and got them patented in the name of the tea leaf holder. This method was the easiest, but it did not get promoted due to insufficient advertising.
And the demand for bags started increasing
Tea leaf trader Thomas Solvin became very famous in 1908.
They used to send samples of tea leaves in iron boxes earlier. But since tea was less and more popular at that time, he started sending tea leaves to customers by placing them in bags made of silk cloth.
It could be used directly by putting it in hot water. Similarly, the demand for tea bags started increasing. Teabags were sold at very expensive prices and it took the form of a separate business.
In 1930, William Hormansson created paper tea bags for the first time, which cost much less and were also lightweight. He patented the tea bag and sold it to the Salada Tea Company.
Teabags came into play in 1944. Due to this, the price of tea has also come down considerably.
Today the whole world is crazy about Indian tea. There are more than 50 varieties of tea and dozens of recipes in India alone. The special thing is that the powder made from Indian tea has started being used in medicines as well. Herbal capsules are being prepared from tea, which is helpful in healing the body’s immunity system.
So the next time whenever you take a sip of tea, you will definitely remember its interesting history.