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The Founding of
the Hill Station of Darjeeling and the Birth of the Tea Industry in
the District.
Before the British
arrived, the forests of the region, still preserved to a certain extent
today in forest reserves, were home to a handful of Lepcha woodsmen.
In 1828, a young Captain Lloyd, working for the British East India Company,
was making his way to Sikkim through uncharted territory, to negotiate
a land deal. He stumbled across an "old Goorka station called Dorjeling,"
which was the name of a Buddhist monastery that once stood on the site.
"Dorje" the ecclesiastical scepter that represents the thunderbolt
of Sakra, god of rain and thunder and very appropriate to the region;
and "-ling" simply means place. As a military man, Captain
Lloyd immediately saw the strategic implications of this commanding
ridge so close to three borders. To the west is the Singalila Range
that separates Darjeeling from the Kingdom of Nepal. To the north is
Sikkim, with Tibet just behind it. To the east is the Kingdom of Bhutan,
just over the hill.
On his way home
from Sikkim the following February, Lloyd camped in Darjeeling for six
cold days. The large village had been deserted for twelve years, since
the Gurkhas had retreated from decades of fighting in the area. Surrounded
by dense forests of chestnut, maple, oak, and magnolia, the clearing
ran to the end of the ridge, which fell steeply away into deep, sub-temperate,
river valleys, including the Tista. In this scenic location, with the
white Himalayas as a backdrop, he saw the possibility of building a
"hill station," or sanitarium. Such cool, fresh, clean air
would offer a healthy break from the malarious daily struggle on the
hot plains below.
1835 Map of Hindustan printed the year that Darjeeling was signed over
to the British
Detail of the region from the year Darjeeling was established
When the Raja of
Sikkim signed Darjeeling over to the British government in 1835. Five
years later, the now legendary Dr.Campbell was made the first superintendent
of the new District of Darjeeling. In his own back garden at 2130 meters,
Campbell experimented with crops. He planted tea seeds and seedlings
from Calcutta’s Botanical Gardens, distributed by the Governor
General of India who was exploring the possibility of the introduction
of tea culture into India. Some of this was China tea (Camellia sinensis
var. sinensis), imported from the Bohea Hills of China after
several dangerous adventures involving espionage and pirates. And some
was Assam tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica), developed
by C.A. Bruce, who spent years combing the jungles of northeast India
for indigenous wild plants to develop in the nurseries of Calcutta and
Assam. He gradually traced tracts of wild tea as far as the borders
of China. There was hot dispute as to which plant was more economically
viable. In experimental plantations in Upper Assam, where the Assam
Tea Company was formed, Chinese growers were teaching tea cultivation
to native Assamese workers. In Darjeeling, Dr. Campbell’s plants
of both China and Assam varieties displayed healthy leaves, blossoms,
and seeds. It was obvious that growing conditions were ideal for tea,
and Darjeeling rapidly became a major producer for the English market.
The apparent disadvantages of steep slopes and a short growing season
in fact produced teas that quickly acquired a reputation for the highest
quality.
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