Tea growing in India in the 19th century was made possible by
- A.Joseph Banks
- B.James Cook
- C.Robert Fortune
- D.Robert Owen
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Robert Fortune. The Scottish botanist secretly took tea plants, seeds and skilled tea workers out of China for the East India Company, which made large-scale tea growing in India possible.
Between 1848 and 1851 Fortune travelled in disguise through China's tea districts and sent thousands of plants and seeds to the Himalayan foothills, along with Chinese tea makers who knew how to process the leaf. Most of them went to Darjeeling and the hills of Kumaon. At the same time the Company was developing the native Assam tea plant, found in the 1820s, and together these efforts ended China's monopoly on tea.
Option A is wrong because Joseph Banks, the naturalist who sailed with Cook, only suggested tea growing in India in 1788 and did not bring it about. Option B is wrong because James Cook was a navigator who explored the Pacific. Option D is wrong because Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and an early socialist, unconnected with tea.
Exam tip: Robert Fortune = tea from China to India (1848-51); Assam tea = native Indian variety.
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