The dark history behind India and the UK’s favourite drink

…In the 1830s, the first tea estates were established in the Indian state of Assam, using tea plants brought from China.

Just like sugar, growing tea is very labour intensive and the obvious thing would have been to staff them with slaves.

But in 1833, slavery was banned in the British Empire.

Those clever men at the East India Company needed to find an alternative – and they did.

Instead of slaves, tea estates used indentured labourers, free men and women who signed contracts binding them to work for a certain period.

But the truth is conditions for these workers weren’t much better than for slaves.

What is more shocking still is the fact that many of the practices and traditions established way back when the estates were first planted continue even on estates that supply some of the world’s favourite brands, as I discovered last year in an investigation for BBC News…

Read the full article here.