TEA MARKETING AND TEA TRADE POLITICS IN ENGLAND DURING THE 19TH CENTURY

Till the 16th century tea was herbal drink which was as only known to the People of China, Tibet, Magnolia, Thailand and Japan. But the European merchants introduced it to the global world and brought tremendous changes to its taste and flavour. Though the Asian leaf was quite unknown to England till the 17th century but within 200 years of its introduction, the Britishers not only adopted the so-called herbal drink but it became the national drink of England. Tea became one of the most debatable culinary practices in the Pre modern European society for its nutritional aspects. However, till 19th century, only the Chinese variety of tea was known to the tea drinking world and the Chinse traders and farmers began to sell inferior quality of tea products to the European traders. Thus, the tea adulteration issue not only changed the marketing strategy of the Europeans but also changed the political economy of many Asian colonies including India. So far most of the existing tea literature mostly deals with the botanical aspects and its agricultural growth. So, in this paper an attempt has been made to understand the transition of tea from merely a medicinal drink to the fashionable drink. It also highlights the nutritional factors and psychological propaganda related to tea that influenced the English society throughout the 18th and 19th century. It tries to understand the changing nature of the business of European traders with China. It also tries to highlight how adulteration propaganda against the Chinese tea products helped in the emergence of tea markets in the British colonies.