Chapter-1

Introduction

1.1 Statement of the Problem:

Today in Social Sciences ‘ethnicity’ and ‘identity’ have emerged as important

analytical categories. Though ethnicity persisted throughout history but in the
contemporary world characterized by migration, globalization and population
transformation; ethnicity and identity crisis have become increasingly important areas of
study. The various dimension of ethnicity have been continuously engaging the attention
of scholars in different disciplines like Anthropology, Political Sciences, Sociology and
Cultural Studies.

Whatever be the factor instigating from behind, the problem of identity crisis is a reality
throughout the world. Almost all the communities of each countries of the world have
experienced some kinds of turbulence relating to identity issue. However, most of such
troubles seem to have originated from ethnic identity consciousness not only in case of
India but in case of various other countries as well. The wave of ethnicity and identity
consciousness took such a persistent nature that its challenges were felt equally by both
developed and developing states. For example, Srilanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq,
Turkey, Philippines, Australia, Canada and Germany are some of the countries which
have faced and are still facing the problem of ethnicity and ethnic identity conflict. This
pattern of conflicts has been described as ‘internal’ or ‘civil’ war largely because it
involves a clash of identities based on ethnicity (Cited in Hagg & Kagwanja 2007: 12).
Ethnicity is the felling or sentiments of a social group which is in pursuit to preserve its
distinct identity. The sense of distinct identity generally based on the distinctiveness of
one’s own culture and tradition. There are three main approaches which define ethnicity
in three different ways. According to Primordialists ethnicity is a natural and given
phenomenon. According to them, every individual carries with him some “attachments
derived from his/her place of birth, kinship relationship, religion, language and social
practices which are natural to him, spiritual in nature and that provide a basis for an easy
affinity with other people from the same background” (Brass 1999, 69). Similarly,
Constructivist approach considers ethnic identity of individuals as a dynamic, fluid or
1
constructed. Individuals, according to this approach, go on changing their ethnic identity
on various situations or circumstances. Very often, they identify themselves with that
identity which gives them more advantages socially, politically or economically. From
instrumental viewpoint, ethnicity is used as a tool by the elites class of a social group to
gain political and economic advantage (Brass 1999, 15). Thus, there are different
meanings attached to ethnicity. Rational Choice theory, on the other hand, considers
ethnic identity movement as a product of human choice and decision. It argues that the
likelihood of collective action does not rest on factors like the degree of inequality or
changing level of relative deprivation. Rather, it believes that any ethnic group will be
engaged in collective action only when they estimate that by doing so they will receive a
net individual benefit (Hutchinson & Smith 2009: 28).

There may be various reasons of conflicts and movements based upon ethnic identity
which is growing throughout the world. But country likes India which is in nature multi-
ethnic and multicultural societies has felt the forces of ethnicity more. The Partition of
British India in 1947, which created the two independent countries India and Pakistan,
was followed by one of the cruellest and bloodiest migrations and ethnic cleanings in
history. The religious fury and violence took the life of some 2 million Hindus, Muslims
and Sikhs and rendered homeless during partition. But the story did not end here. The
conflict in Punjab, for instance, had a dominant linguistic thrust during the mid 1960’s.
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s they have also faced such other linguistic conflict.
Besides, the country also witnessed the emergence of various tribal movements in
different parts of it since the 19th century “of which a few have developed into bitter,
violent, and secessionist movements directed against non tribals, against state
governments and against the Government of India itself” (Brass 2010, 151). Some of
them were fought for socio-economic deprivations while some others were mobilized to
fight political marginalization and exclusion. For instance in Santhal parganas and
Chhotanagpur region of Bihar, Jharkhand movement was launched. The movement for
separate Gorkhaland is also going on in Darjeeling district of West Bengal since 1907. In
Punjab, a secessionist movement was launched to create a separate Sikh country (known
as Khalistan). Reference may be made to the Telengana movement in Andhra Pradesh in
which the demand for a separate state is going on since 1950s. In fact, all the above
mentioned movements were based on identity issues. Jharkhand movement in Bihar was

2
launched to preserve the distinct tribal identity of Santhals. Khalistan movement in
Punjab was directed to carve out an independent Sikh country, while the Gorkhaland
movement was motivated by Gorkha identity issue. Likewise, the Telengana movement
was also the outcome of the identity crisis of the Telegu speaking people of Andhra
Pradesh.

For decades, North-East India’s situation is a matter of great concern to the states as well
as to the centre. The Northeast India which is composite of various Tribal and non-Tribal
ethnic groups which represent both communities have been struggling long either for
special constitutional safeguard or for the creation of separate political entities on the
basis of their lingo-cultural identities. In course of time, the number of various ethnic
groups asserting such demands has risen up. Even some of the groups are demanding a
separate state. Some extremist groups like NLCT of Arunachal Pradesh, ULFA, NDFB,
KPLT of Assam, NSCN of Nagaland etc. are also active in the region demanding a
separate state based on the distinct cultural identity of their communities. The cultural
diversity and the demographic pattern of North-East India are far more crucial. Thus the
diversity in the socio-cultural life of Northeast India has always provided a congenial
atmosphere for the growth of ethnicity and identity politics in the region. The struggle
for identity in the North East India first began in Nagaland which was a hill district of the
then Assam. The people of this hill district started the agitation for their distinct identity
during 1940s. On the eve of India’s independence, Naga leaders appealed to the British
Government for their independence with the rationale that no Indian power had ever
conquered them (Rajagopalan 2008, 13). Naga unrest is not only the first turbulence to
the region of Northeast. Other states of North East India like Assam, Tripura, Manipur
and Arunachal Pradesh are also facing such type of ethnic conflict. In Tripura, the tribals
started a violent movement during 1980s and 1990s against the migrants from
Bangladesh. Manipur is also under continuous clashes with Nagas and Kukis, Kukis and
Paites and Maiteis and Muslims since 1990s. Arunachal Pradesh is often described as the
parking place for different insurgent groups of Northeast (Hussain 2005, 76). From this it
can be said that each and every state of North East India has been going through some
kind of ethnic conflict. “With its controversial human rights record and sluggish
economic growth rates”, Sanjib Baruah remarked, “North-East India is a counterpoint to
India’s image as mature democracy, a dynamic economy, and an emerging major power”

3
(Baruah 2011, vii). As a matter of fact, there are inter-linkages between insecurity,
underdevelopment and insurgency in Northeast India (Das 2012, xxvi).

With regard to Assam where the study was undertaken, it may be said that the genesis of
ethnic conflicts and ethnic identity movements in the state lies in its colonial past and the
British policy of ‘divide and rule’ (Kumar 2007, 111-112). Assam has a good example of
politics being influenced largely by issues concerning ethnic identity. The unusually
large rate of migration into the state during the British rule and thereafter, and the varied
array of ethnic groups, each striving to preserve its identity and its interests through the
political process, has resulted in a situation of ethnic conflict. In Assam the problem of
identity has become a burning problem with political development and raising aspiration
of the communities after independence. Again over the few decades it is seen that the
process of the formation of Assamese nationality most of the communities has lost their
identity by losing some cultural elements for which the problem of identity has became
more crucial. For example Bodo, Karbi, Mishing, Motok, Ahom, Sonwal Kachari are
some of the ethnic groups which have faced and still facing the problem of ethnicity and
identity conflict. The pattern of politics as it developed in the Upper Assam in the
twentieth century came to be centred on issues of immigration and of linguistic identity.
The attitudes adopted by various ethnic groups towards these issues, manifested in
different types of political action including electoral behaviour, illustrate their
perceptions regarding their social standing and their political interests in an ethnically
divided milieu. Thus, each community in Assam has its own history which precipitated
its identity crisis and led it to the path of movement.

So far the identity problem is concerned the Tea Community of Assam, who constitutes a
substantial amount of the Upper Assam’s population today. The impacts of the inherent
peculiarities of the plantation system force the plantation labour to constitute a social
category having limited interaction with the outside world of the tea plantation. This
division was sharpened by the fact that the migrant workers were deliberately insulated
from the local population by the plantation management during the colonial period. The
lack of communication facilities in the tea garden1 areas also meant that the workers lost

1
TheTerms Tea Garden, tea plantation and tea estate are used to mean the same meaning.

4
almost all contact with their native places which were far away from the Assam, so that
their descendants became permanent residents of the region.

It is a fact that the Tea Plantation industry exerted some unique influences on the society
of these recruited labourers. Before migration to this place these people belongs to
different ethnic groups, cultural background, status, families and demands. But after
migration to here and living more than hundred and fifty years in Assam and engaged in
Tea Industry they have come to convergent point creating a common culture and
evolving a common lingua franca. The Tea Industry has brought a new common type of
economy, administration, housing pattern and social environment For all official
purposes a labour is considered as a member of the entire workforce of the plantation but
not as that of a particular tribe or caste or community Cited in Phukan and Deka
2001,112). And even by the other social group of Assam these people are always treated
a single group of people; never regard by their different caste and tribe. So Living more
than one hundred fifty years in Assam and engaged in Tea Industry they have come to a
convergent point creating a common culture and evolving a common lingua franca. With
the limitation of interaction with the other social group and more restricted in the tea
garden setting; there has emerged a feeling of ‘we’ among people of the community and
they regard the other social group of Assam as ‘they’. As Fredrik Barth insisted that’
Ethnicity is based on one’s perception of “us” and “them” and not on objective reality
that actually exits “out there” in the real world’ so based on this definition the Tea
Community of Assam can be regard as an ethnic group.

In the post-colonial period, social interaction between the garden workers and the outside
world increased steadily, owing largely to the breakdown of the old oppressive 'Planter
Raj' and the advent of the democratic process, followed by a gradual improvement in the
quality of life of the workers, which hitherto had provided only for a hand-to-mouth
existence. Legislation passed both at the Central and State levels brought in some
measure of social security to the workers, and in time a small section of educated people
also appeared from amongst the newer generation of the workers' community, who could
provide them political leadership in the democratic set-up:

5
 After independence, gradually there emerged educated elite among the tea
community who became articulate and organized to remove their backwardness.
In this connection the movements carried out by the various ethnic groups of the
state obviously induced the tea community elite to assert their constitutional
rights including political ones for the cause of safeguarding their homogeneous
distinct identity. Furthermore, such inducement has eventually led a section of
them to the extent of launching a movement demanding autonomy as well as
separate state as a measure of protecting their interests. Thus the Tea
Community (later called the Tea Tribes) made a considerable degree of
influence on the contemporary politics of the state (Cited in Phukan and Deka
2001, 131-143).

The present study “Ethnicity and Identity Construction: A Study of the Tea Garden
Labourer of Assam” is about understanding the meaning of ethnicity and identity
construction and how does ethnicity constitute an important factor of identity
construction. The study is confined to the Sivasagar and Dibrugarh district of Assam.

1.2 Objectives:

Drawing an interdisciplinary approach, this research work tries to understand the identity
construction of the Tea Community of Upper Assam. Ever since the tea garden labourers
were brought by the British to Assam they have been facing a manifold identity crisis in
Assam. One of the important questions that raise today is regarding the emergence of a
common identity among the people of the tea garden labourers and how they construct
Tea Community identity. Therefore the investigation mainly tries to highlight on the
process of ethnicity and how they construct their identity. Composite of more than
hundred caste and sub caste having various rites and rituals, festivals, religion etc. the
people of the created a sense of unity among the various groups and trying to construct a
single identity.

In general the main objectives behind this research are categorized as follows:

1. To investigate the issue of identity of the Tea Community.

2. To look at the process of ethnicity and identity construction.

6
 3. To analyse how cultural diversity and various cultural expressions helps to form
the Tea Community identity.

1.3 Methodology:

The study is mainly based on the Constructionist theory of ethnicity but also
incorporated different arguments of ethnicity given by Paul Brass, Nathan Glazer and
Daniel Moynihan, Abner Cohen, Weber, Fredrick Barth, Phillip Q. Yang etc.
Anthropologist and Sociologist like Abner Cohen, Nathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan
all are of the view point that ethnicity is not natural, but an artificial construction of the
modern elites for their own vested interest. The core of the constructionist school is those
ethnic groups are not eternal or natural, as primordialist naturalize them. They can be
created and as they can be created they can be destroyed too. As Fredrik Barth
mentioned that ethnic groups are not static but dynamics and fluid and ethnicity is a
reaction to changing condition. That is ethnic identity are not given, they are socially
constructed through cultural, historical or political process. Constructivism may be
categorized into two sub types, viz., cultural constructionism and political
constructionist. Cultural constructionist advocates that where a group constructs its
identity through shared symbols and practices these have traditionally been called
culture. While in political constructivism the elites within nation state, fashion a
dominant set of ideologies, artistic styles, and linguistic usage which become normative
under such situations (Cited in Sengupta 2014, 27). This research work the study of the
ethnicity and identity construction of the Tea Community of Assam is mainly based on
the cultural constructionist of ethnicity.

Methodology refers to the way in which information is found or the way something is
done. It also includes the methods, techniques used to collect and analyze information.

Social scientists, for their intensive study prefer to choose small communities like the
single village or part of a tribe, which is known as microcosmic approach. To serve as
the nucleus for the present study, intensive field investigation has been carried out in the
Tea community inhabited in the district of Sibasagar and Dibrugarh districts. Four tea
gardens named as Sonari Tea Estate, Tingkhang Tea Estate, Manjushree Tea Estate and
Khowang Tea Estate are selected mainly for data collection. Besides these four tea
gardens I have done my field work in some other tea gardens of the district to arrive at a
7
more objective conclusion. I have done my fieldwork in the normal days as well as
during festive seasons when the degree of identity consciousness is quite high. The
period of my fieldwork was from January 2011 to till May 2015. A brief introduction of
the districts is given below.

Sivasagar District:

Sivasagar is one of the historical places of Assam. The District is surrounded by

Brahmaputra on the north, The Naga Hills on the south, Dihing River on the east and
Jhanji River on the west. Sivasagar has a definite identity due to its different races,
castes, languages and cultures. It is mostly plains but there are hillocks on south-eastern
and Southern areas near Nagaland Border. The population of Sivasagar District as per
2011 census is 1151050. The economy of Sivasagar District is mainly dependent on Oil
and Tea industries. And the occupation of majority of the population is cultivation. The
major ethnic group of Sivasagar is Ahom. The other ethnic groups are Koch, Kachari,
Moran, Motock, Barahi, Chutia, Rabha, Hajong, Lalung, Mech etc. The Tea Tribes are
also very important for Sivasagar District as they are related to the biggest industry of
Sivasagar, Tea Industry. According to Labour Commissioner Office, Sivasagar District,
there are 87 numbers of tea gardens in Assam.

Dibrugarh District:

Dibrugarh is one of the highest tea producing Districts in Assam even in the world.
Dibrugarh district occupies an area of 3,381 square kilometres. It is bounded by Dhemaji
District on the north, Tinsukia district on the east, Tirap District of Arunachal Pradesh on
the south-east and Sivasagar District on the north and south-west.

Tea and oil are the major revenue source for the district. Dibrugarh has the world's
largest area covered by tea gardens. The entire district is surrounded by tea plantations
and has tea factories. It has total numbers of 180 tea gardens. Many tea gardens are more
than 100 years old. The occupation of majority population is cultivation.

According to the 2011 Census Dibrugarh district has a population of 1,327,748 and
literacy rate of 76.22%. The main communities in the district are Tea Tribes, Ahoms,
Sutiya, Sonowal Kacharis, Mattok, Moran, Bengali etc. There are also some Tai
speaking Buddhist communities like Tai Phake, Khamti and Khamyang.
8
So far the research topic is concerned the study is mainly based on primary data although
secondary data are also used. As Normen Denzin (2000) has noted that qualitative
research it focuses on multiple interconnected interpretive methods since no single
method can capture the subtle variation in continuous human experiences. Therefore the
techniques for primary data collection are included interview, questionnaire, discussion
and interaction with local people and also by observation method. The interview and
observation are major tools used for the data collection. People of different age and sex
are interviewed to gather accurate information in different socio-cultural background.
The techniques have mainly been used in informal way so that information about what
the tea garden labourers of this region actually feel about identity can be found out. As
the literacy rate and the economic status of the community who are still inhabitant of tea
gardens are low therefore looking at the situations, the informants are selected randomly.
Along with these interviewed some political leaders and members of student’s
organization and other non-governmental and cultural organizations are also taken
separately. Various leaders of All Tea Tribe Students’ Association, Assam Chah
Jangusthi Sahitya Sabha and some other political leaders of Tea Community are
interviewed during the fieldwork to know their opinion regarding Tea community
identity as these members are regarded in some point as the representative of the
community. I have observed and attended various cultural functions, festivals, rituals
which are carried during my fieldwork to distinguish how they used their cultural forms
in their identity construction. According to the information or data collected from the
field the researcher has tried to classify and in order to fulfil the purpose the work the
available data will be classified in different chapters.

As per the need of secondary data published books and articles from news paper and
journals, e-resources, census report are consulted in this connection.

1.4 Literature Review:

Survey of literature on a particular research topic is very essential towards the

understanding of the work done and methods use in them. A good number of literature
have been reviewed which are as follows-

Planter Raj to Swaraj: Freedom struggle and Electoral Politics in Assam (Amalendu
Guha, 2014) is one of the influential work of Guha on the history of colonial rule and
9
freedom struggle in Assam and the North East. Along with an understanding of the
Colonial socio-economic structure of Assam the author provided a detailed account of
the evolution of the provincial legislature of Assam in the context of general political
developments in the north east region. This book has given a new dimension to the
historical studies of Assam. Guha writes about the socio-economic condition of a crucial
period in the history of Assam. Some of the important issues that included in this book
by Guha are plantation economy of the region, the imperialism of opium cultivation, the
problems of steady influx of immigrants and the backlash of a local linguistic
chauvinism, peasant’s and workers struggle, the Congress, the Trade Unions and later of
the Communist Party.

Empire’s Garden (Jayeeta Sharma) In the mid-nineteenth century the British created a
landscape of tea plantations in the north-eastern Indian region of Assam. The tea industry
filled imperial coffers and gave the colonial state a chance to transform a jungle-laden
frontier into a cultivated system of plantations. Claiming that local peasants were
indolent, the British soon began importing indentured labour from central India. In the
twentieth century these migrants were joined by others who came voluntarily to seek
their livelihoods.

In Empire’s Garden, the author explains how the settlement of more than one million
migrants in Assam irrevocably changed the region’s social landscape. She argues that the
racialized construction of the tea labourer catalyzed a process by which Assam’s gentry
sought to insert their homeland into an imagined Indo-Aryan community and a modern
Indian political space. Various linguistic and racial claims allowed these elites to defend
their own modernity while pushing the burden of primitiveness onto “non-Aryan”
indigenous tribals and migrant labourers. As vernacular print arenas emerged in Assam,
so did competing claims to history, nationalism, and progress that continue to reverberate
in the present.

Durable Disorder: Understanding the Politics of North-East India (Sanjib Baruah,

2005) explores the political meaning and significance of prolonged low intensity
conflicts in North-East India. The author argues that if peace and development are to be
brought to the region. India’s policy will have to be reoriented and linked to a new
foreign policy towards South East Asia. In the midst of stubborn economic and political

10
problems of North-East India trapped in the geopolitics of the colonial and post-colonial
order, a translation solution to the problem of of the region may be thought of.

India Against Itself and the Politics of Nationality ( Sanjib Baruah, 2011) highlights the
ongoing problem of insurgency and sub-nationalism in Assam. It explores the political
and economic history of Assam since the time it became the part of British India. The
region witnessed the tension between pan Indianism and Assam sub-nationalism since
the early days of the Indian nationalism. However, the situation of Assam in recent years
is much alarming. It is argued that such insurgency, human rights abuses by government
security forces and insurgents, ethnic violence and a steady decline of the economy are
largely the outcome of the strong centralising tendency of the Indian federation.

Ethnicity in North East India edited by Sarthak Sengupta is a collection of eleven

original essays offered by renowned teachers and experienced researcher to acquaint
wide readers about the dynamic nature of ethnicity in North East India to understand the
mechanism according to which the character of its momentary commonality becomes
clearly visible.

Ethnicity and Nationalism: Theory and Comparison (Paul R Brass, 1999) describes
ethnicity and nationalism as socio-political construct. These are not given or natural
phenomena. Rather, these are the creation of elites. The elites exploit the emotions and
sentiments of the ethnic groups in order to gain their political, economic and social
benefits. Competition among the elites for socio-economic and political mileage
precipitates ethnic identity consciousness and ethnic conflicts. The cultural norms,
values, customs, and practices of the ethnic groups are the instruments for the elites to
compete for political power and economic advantages.

Ethnicity in Assam (Editor K.M. Deka and K.N. Phukan) is a collection of papers
presented at the National Seminar on ‘Ethnicity in Assam Today’. This book mainly
discusses the various concept of ethnicity in regard of Assam.

Ethnicity in India by Ajit Kr Dana discusses about ethnicity in terms of plural society.
He discusses that instead of comprehending the same primarily as the system of
categorization based on a set of fixed criteria where inter-relationship of the national
mainstream with the so called ethnic minorities is considered important, in view of pluri-

11
cultural realities, ethnicity has been perceived here as the strategy of interest alliance : a
state of dynamic equilibrium. The nature of exposition of ethnicity under the
circumstances depends to a major extent on the kind of stimulus received by an
individual or a group at a given time of point.

Ethnonationalism in India: A Reader ( Edited by Sanjib Baruah, 2010 ) Discussing

various ethnonational movements in India, including the North East, Punjab, and the
Kashmir movements, the volume covers their initiation, subsequent trajectory, and the
role of the State. The first part provides the context discussing democracy, diversity, and
devolution and the containment of social and political power. The second and third parts
focus on Kashmir as a legacy of Partition, and the Northeast respectively. Both parts
discuss the nature of contest among various forms of legitimate and not-legitimate power
in these conflicts. Dealing with the nature of federal design, the fourth part discusses
conflict-negotiation between a democratic nation and prospective breakaway units, with
an emphasis on how such situations are controlled. The fifth part explores the theory of
fragmented nationalisms and relates it to the specifics of the situation in India. The
concluding part charts the rise and fall of self-determination movements across the
country.

The Tea Labourers of North East India ( Editor Sarthak Sengupta,2009) The impressive
collection of twenty two research articles accommodated in this volume offer discrete
descriptions on the history and migration of the workers in tea plantations in North East
India and their settlements there. The articles included in this volume exhaustively cover
the demographic characteristics; food habits of the populations; nutritional status; health
and hygiene and morbidity scenario; economy, polity, social organisation; impact of
Christian missionaries; status of women; socio-economic and political problems; trade
union movement; their identity consciousness, etc. The volume will be of great use for
wide ranging specialists-administrators, policy makers, planners and decision making
bodies at different levels, development agencies, researchers in the field of social
sciences and others concerned with migrant population groups.

Chah Janagusthir Sinta Chetona (2001) edited by Rajen Gogoi is a book of collection
of various articles of tea community. The tea community of Assam is one of the major
groups which reveals at present day population formation of Assam. There is remarkable

12
importance of the Tea community in the growth of Assamese culture as well as in the
politics of Assam. In this book the author included various proverbs, rites and rituals,
folksongs, festivals, dance forms that exist among the Tea Community. Here importance
is given on feelings, emotions and thinking of the garden workers in selection of articles.
And here it is also tried to select the articles which are written by the authors of Tea
Community itself.

Questions of Cultural Identity (Edited by Stuart Hall and Paul Du Gay) Why and how
do contemporary questions of culture so readily become highly charged questions of
identity? The question of cultural identity lies at the heart of current debates in Cultural
studies and Social theory. Issue is whether those identities which defined the social and
cultural world of modern societies for so long - distinctive identities of gender, sexuality,
race, class and nationality - are in decline, giving rise to new forms of identification and
fragmenting the modern individual as a unified subject.
Questions of Cultural Identity offer a wide-ranging exploration of this issue. Stuart Hall
firstly outlines the reasons why the question of identity is so compelling and yet so
problematic.

Ethnicity (Edited by John Hutchinson and D. Smith) although the term "ethnicity" is
recent, the sense of kinship, group solidarity, and common culture to which it refers is as
old as the historical record. Ethnic communities have been present in every period and on
every continent, and have played an important role in all societies. The sense of a
common ethnicity remains a major focus of identification for individuals even today.
Ethnic community and identity are also often associated with conflict, particularly with
political struggles in various parts of the world. Yet there is no essential connection
between ethnicity and conflict, and in many instances, relations may in fact be peaceful
and cooperative.

This Oxford Reader offers explanations for the often contentious nature of ethnicity, its
worldwide effects, and the possible means for overcoming conflicts. It includes extracts
by all the major contributors to debates on ethnicity, including Weber, Brass, Hechter,
and Horowitz, and focuses on ethnic groups in the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa, and
North America, as well as other areas.

13
In an article entitled A Question of Identity Adivasi Militancy In Assam Hiren Gohain,
mainly highlighted on the issue of identity and Schedule Tribe status of the Adivasis of
Assam.

Immigration and Identity Transformation in Assam published in Economic and

Political weekly Udayan Mishra said that for centuries migrants have been
accommodated in Assamese society. Here Mishra briefly discusses the shaping of
Assamese society and culture over centuries and goes on to discuss pre and post
independence changes in politics, attitudes and the demography of the state. He examines
the language issue, the tribals verses Assamese middle class tensions.

1.5 History of Tea Plantation and Tea Community in Assam:

It was the British Colonisers who first introduced the tea plantation in India as well as in
Assam Valley during the early part of the 19th century. As soon as the demand for tea
started to increase in the worldwide and also the lost of its monopoly in the tea trade with
China; the British Colonisers became interested in the possibility of tea cultivation in
Assam. In 1778 Governor General of Bengal Warren Hastings instructed Sir Joseph
Bank, naturalist and Botanist, about the possibility of cultivation of tea crops in India.
Accepting the request of East India Company Sir Joseph submitted a report on the
possibility of tea crops in North East India that there is a probability of bright future of
the tea cultivation in the North-East region of India. But at that period Assam was under
the rule of Ahom Swargadeo’s (king’s), so approximately till 1819 the possibility of tea
cultivation remained unproductive.

Dr. Nathaniel Wallis Sahib, the Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanical Garden,
requested Ahom King Purandar Singha for permission to start tea cultivation in
Dikhowmukh to Gabharu Parbat area. At that time, according to the law if somebody
clears vast jungle he does not have to pay any tax for that land. But, Later Wassil Sahib
got despaired and went back when Purandar Singha told that the cultivator had to pay
half of his crops as tax of such land (Cited in Bora 2006, 6).

Nothing seems to have happened often that until1819 When David Scott, Agent
to the Governor General in Assam, began to take an interest in the suggestion
made by Banks and wrote for a consignment of plants and seeds which had

14
 earlier been sent to the Botanical Gardens in Calcutta. The Consignment was
despatched but the plants apparently died.2

A few days later of this in 1823 Robert Bruce got information about tea plant in Assam
and concentrated on how to collect tea seeds and plants. C. A. Bruce his brother also
assisted him in collection of tea seeds. Later C.A. Bruce claimed himself to be the first
European who discovered tea in Assam. In 1823 when Robert Bruce came to Assam for
trade survey he met Singpho Head Birsa Gam. From Gam he knew that there are tea
plants in the forests of Assam. It is said that in 1823 Birsa Gam gifted two tea plants to
Robert Bruce. Robert Bruce took these two plants with him but did not plant (Cited in
Bora, 2006, 7)). Robert Bruce did an agreement with Birsa Gam that Gam had to provide
some Tea seeds and plants in his next visit to Assam.

In 1826 when C.A. Bruce came to Sadiya as a Navy captain to suppress the Singpho
oppressions started in 1825, his brother Robert Bruce instructed him to collect tea seeds
and plants from Birsa Gam. After suppression of the rebellion in the returning way C A
Bruce collected the seeds and plants from Gam. He handed over those seeds to David
Scott and David Scott sent those to Calcutta Botanical Garden for examining. After
examining it was reported that the seeds collected from Assam were not from same
species of China but from the same family (Gait 2013, 351).

Though the tea plant was found in Assam in 1825 but the East India Company did not
pay much attention or interest on it as at that time as East India Company was busy in
monopoly business with China. Later, East India Company started to feel the importance
of starting the tea industry after the Charter Act of 1833, when the English East India
Company’s highly profitable trade on Tea ended with China (Awasthi, 1975). The trade
agreement of 20 years between China and Britain was reluctant to continue the trade
agreement. Because of this the East India Company had to find an alternative source for
the supply of tea. Therefore on 1st February, 1834 the Governor General of India, Lord
Wiiliam Bentinct formed a ‘Tea Committee’ to research about the probability of tea
cultivation in Assam. The tea committee formed with 7 members of East India Company,
3 of them was merchants from Calcutta, Dr. N. Wallich, and two Indians. The Secretary

2
Tea Digest, Calcutta, Tea Traders Association.

15
of the committee was G.J. Gordon. As soon as the Committee formed it started rapid
survey of possibility of tea cultivation in various part of Assam.

Superintendant of tea forest areas of Assam C.A. Bruce formally opened tea plant
gardens in the bank of Brahmaputra near Sadiya and in confluence of Kundil River in
1835. But the plants apparently died. Later on in 1837 the 1st Tea garden in Assam was
established successfully in Chabua, Dibrugarh. Chabua is the first tea garden of Assam.
In 1838, twelve boxes of tea sent from Assam reached London via Calcutta and got sold
in the auction market with the tea from China. After this sale the excellence of Assam tea
was ascertained and started to increase the demand of Assam tea. With the elevation of
demand of Assam tea the number of tea gardens in Assam also started to be increased. A
list of increasing tea gardens in Assam is given below.

Table-1.1
A report of increasing tea gardens in Assam
No of Tea Land used for Tea Tea Production ( In
Year Gardens Cultivation (in Acre) Lb)

1850 1 1,876 2,16,000

1853 10 2,425 3,66,700

1859 48 7,599 12,05,689

1869 260 25,174 47,14,769

1871 295 31,303 62,51,143

Source: Bora, 2006, 12.

Charles A Bruce though claimed to be the first European person to discover tea in
Assam but this claim was first rejected by Lft. Charletan in 1841. He claimed that he first
sent the seeds of the tea plant from Assam to ‘Agricultural and Horticultural Society’
(Gait 2013, 354).

16
 The discovery that the tea plant grows wild in the upper part of the Brahmaputra
Valley was made by Mr. Robert Bruce, who has already been mentioned as an
agent, first of Purandar Singha, and afterwards of his rival Chandra Kanta. He
visited Gargaon for trading purposes in 1823 and there learnt of its existence
from a Singpho who promised to obtain some specimen for him (Gait 2013,
354).

Again in 1835 Dr. Wallish in his report honoured both the Bruce brothers as tea
discoverer in Assam. He wrote,

It was Mr Bruce and his late brother Major Robert Bruce at Jorhat who
originally brought the Assam Tea to Public notice many years ago when no one
had th slightest idea of its existence (Gait 2013, 354).

Captain Jenkins also gave the honour of discovering the first tea in Assam to C. A. Bruce.

‘The merit of the discovery rests solely with Mr. Bruce, who in 1836
manufactured some specimens which were sent home, but were unfit for use.’

As a result of this honour given by Jenkins C.A. Bruce was selected as Superintendent of
the Government Tea Forest (Gait 2013, 355).

But before discovering tea by the Colonisers in Assam, it was prevalent among some
tribes of Assam as a beverage. The Singpho who lived in the North Eastern part of
Assam called it as ‘Fanap’, ‘Finap’ or ‘Falap’. The Singpho used to collect the tea
leaves from the wild tea in the jungles and boil them in a bamboo ‘Chunga’ (Cylinder)
and liquor of the boiled leaves was drunk as a tea by them. The Assamese villagers also
boiled these tea leaves in an earthen pot and drunk the liquor as a medicine against cold
and cough.

1.5.1 Labour Recruitment:

Seeing the bright prospects of tea cultivation on the soil of Assam the number of tea
gardens started to be increased very fast. The tea industry is a labour oriented industry.
And as a gradual expansion of tea plantation in Assam, the tea industry needs a large
number of workers to run the industry smoothly. In the initial stage the British
administration thought of that they managed it by recruiting local people but it did not
happen like that. The local people of Assam did not come forward to work as a labourer
17
 in the tea gardens. As a result they faced a scarcity of workers. There were various
reasons for which the local people did not want to work in the tea plantation. Some of
these are-

i) At that time the population density was very sparse in Assam. Large areas of
lands were uninhabited and unused. Therefore, local people were not interested to
work in the tea gardens leaving their own cultivations on those large areas of lands.

ii) On the other hand, being under ruling of indigenous King the local aboriginal
people became dignity conscious and free minded. So, they did not show interest to
work in the tea gardens leaving their free lifestyle under the Company (Outsider).

iii) Due to excessive consumption of opium the local people were becoming lazy.
So they did not want work hard in the tea gardens.

Among the Assamese people who worked in the tea gardens, the Tea Planters preferred
only the people of Kachari community. The people of Kachari Tribe were hard working
and to some-extent free from venom opium. Therefore they were trying to recruit the
Kachari people by various tactics like giving a variety of gifts, offering drink, organizing
feasts, asking the Village Head to request them to work in the garden etc. But these
tactics were not fruitful. In the first Assam Tea Company recruited people as labourer
from Kachari, Rabha, Matak, Kuki tribes. They engaged Singpho people also but later
they released very soon.

Getting no positive result from the local Assamese labourers they had to bring in (import)
labourer from outside of Assam. In the first phase Chinese Skilled labourers were
imported and recruited as labourers. The East India Company also imported labourers
from Nepal to work in the tea gardens of Assam. The Chinese skilled labourers
demanded high rate of wages and they were difficult to manage. As a result the planters
compelled to think from elsewhere to import labourers. The Chinese in 1848 left the tea
gardens and went back to their places. Now, they turned towards the Kukis, Nagas,
Bengali and Tripuri, but this also did not work.

Having unsuccessful from all the tactics to obtain labourers from the local people and the
neighboring areas of Assam the Planters’ thought of immigrating labourer from outside
18
Assam. To solve out the labour scarcity problem the Planters thinking to immigrate
labour from outside Assam. The Planters planned to recruit labourers from the place
which were most famine and poverty stricken. C.A. Bruce wrote first expressing about
the incapability of the local people to work as labourer-

‘A more hard working community is needed for tea garden, so that they allow
their wives and children to work in the gardens with them’ (Antrobus 1957,
466).

In 1841 an attempt was made to import the first batch of the immigrant labour from
Chotanagpur area but all of them perished and deserted in route and none of them
reached the tea gardens. J.R. Kindo in Assam Tribune ‘Adivasi in Assam’ mention that

‘History tells us that the first batch of labourers was brought in 1841, but all of
them succumbed to disease. Therefore the Adivasis were imported in large
numbers. Hence the slave trade was carried on in the name of ‘coolie trade’-the
derogatory name.’

In the year 1859-1860 the Tea Company first imported 2049 labourers from outside
Assam. In the next year they imported 3081 labourers. These labourers were brought
from Chotanagpur (of present Chhattisgarh) and Medinipur (West Bengal). The Tea
Company imported 84,915 labourers from 1863 to till 1866. Notable, among those 30
thousand labourer died prematurely then only (Guha 2014, 18). 22,800 labourers out of
the total 34,833 labourers who were engaged in the tea industry in the year 1867-68 were
imported labourers. There were only 11,633 were local labourer (Cited in Bora 2006,
23). In the initial 5 years the Planters imported 54,352 labourers. In 1923 there were
5,27,000 labourer who were worked in the tea gardens. According to the census report of
1921 the number of labourers that brought from outside Assam was 1 ⅓ Million (Gait
2013, 362).

19
 Table No. 1.2
Annual Immigration of Labour including Children into Assam Plantaion
Year No. Year No.
1902-03 26,684 1919-20 102,089
1903-04 22,162 1920-21 25,472
1904-05 24,209 1924-25 33,727
1905-06 31,830 1925-26 33,009
1906-07 25,617 1926-27 45,698
1907-08 84,824 1927-28 42,845
1908-09 60,773 1928-29 68,900
1909-10 39,332 1929-30 59,796
1910-11 43,657 1930-31 53,519
1911-12 58,646 1931-32 50,997
1912-13 59,873 1932-33 39,901
1913-14 58,646 1933-34 47,960
1914-15 63,638 1934-35 19,968
1915-16 110,376 1935-36 23,876
1916-17 48,130 1936-37 27,842
1917-18 19,470 1937-38 32,335
1918-19 222,171
Source: Amalendu Guha, 2014, 290.

Those imported labourers who were brought to work in the tea gardens of Assam were
from different regions of India and of different linguistic family. They were mainly
imported from Chotangpur, Bengal, the then Madras, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh etc. As
these labourers were brought from different locations of India, they do not belong to the
same ethnic group. These labourer was composite of more than hundred caste and sub-
caste like- Munda, Orang, Saura, Kondh, Pahadiya, Ghatuwal, Bhumij, Khariya,
Bhil,Boraik, Bauri etc. ( See Appendix).

20
These labourers were not come to this land willingly; they were taken either by
forcefully or by giving false promises. There were various reasons that forced the
labourers to immigrate to Assam. Some of the main reasons were-

To begin with famine affected areas in the 19th century, there were severe famine
occurred in North-West Provinces (1860-61), North Bengal, Orissa, the then Madras
(1865-66), Bengal and Orissa (1873-74) in which more than one million people lost their
lives. The people of these places were the worst victim of circumstances and this
compelled them to fall into the trap of agents of the government. Thus the labourers were
famine and poverty stricken areas were recruited without any much problem. Added to it,
excessive exploitation of poor peasants and landless labourers by the Zamindars were the
main reason of people’s migration to this place in search of better livelihood. As the
peasants were hailing from the poor economic background, most of the time for reasons
they involved themselves into the debts to Zamindars and Mahajon (Money- lenders).
Later due to their poverty and illiteracy they were easily exploited as much as possible.
To get free from these, the labourers agreed for migration and thus they became as easy
prey for the emigration to Assam.

It also appears from the folk songs composed by the tea garden labourers for their forced
migration to the tea plantation of Assam. It is reflected in these folk songs that it was
their extreme poverty, debt, social disorder and inhuman torturing by the Zamindars
which compelled them to emigrate. Some of these folk songs reflecting the grief and
sorrows are as follows-

i) Chal mini Assam jabo

Dese boro dukhere
Assam dese re mini
Chah bagan khulibo
Sobai mili gamsa bisai bhat khabo

English Translation3:
Let’s go to Assam, Mini
Its full of grief in our land

3
The translation of the folksongs are translated by the researcher.

21
 Mini, in Assam
We will open a tea garden
We’ll have meal together

ii) Nana morlek nodir majhe

Nani morlek ghate
Bapeke dilo police thanai
Bhagai jabor dose

English Translation:
Grandfather died in the midst of the river
Grandmother died in the bank of the river
Father is thrown to the police station
In grief I want to run away.

iii) Sardar bole kaam kaam

Babu bole dhore aan
Sahab bole libo pithir sam
Re nisthur sam
Faki diye anili Assam

English Translation:
Leader said to work ceaselessly
Officers asked to catch him or her
And officer said that our backs would be skinned
O’ betrayed group
You have brought us to Assam by false promises.

iv) Gas hilale paisa jhare

Woha kuno dukho naika ba
Woha poisa ba

22
English Translation:
Money falls when we shaken tree
There is no any sorrow
There is only money

1.5.2 Modes of Labour Recruitment:

In order to get labourers from various regions of India, the Tea Company took some
recruitment systems. These systems are as follows-

i) Contractual Process: A Contractor was a licensed person whose only object was to
collect as many coolies as possible, without reference to their fitness for work in the tea
gardens of Assam or any consideration beyond their willingness to emigrate. He was also
assisted by sub-contractor who was an un-licensed person for the same job. Since there
was no restriction upon the contractor, the system became known as the ‘free contractor
system’.

The contractor used to recruit men, women and children from the North-West parts of
India. It is found in various sources that under this system the coolies were neither
medically examined nor registered and most of time they adopt all kinds of fraudulent
methods while recruiting them. They signs contract with the poor and innocent peasants
by narrating fantastic stories of abundance of land, high wages and bright prospects in
tea plantation in Assam,

ii) Sardari System: The recruitment through Garden Sardars was commonly known as
Sardari system and this method was used to recruit labourers directly. Under this system,
a labourer, either a male or female who was working in tea garden was choose by the
garden management and sent to his original place to bring his own relatives and friends
to the tea garden of Assam as tea labourer. The Garden Sardar had to produce his
certificate or license when he appeared with a recruit before a Magistrate for registration.
This system of recruiting labourer by the Garden Sardars proved to be more satisfactory
than that of Contractual. Regarding the salary, the Sardar were paid a fixed bonus per
head on all Coolies brought, which was much less expensive than the first method that is
Contractual system. Thus the Sardars collected and brought labourers from
Chotagnagpur, Rachi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh etc.

23
It is seen that the story of collecting labours to work in the tea gardens of Assam from
different places of India is actually a story of oppression, pressurization and torment.
After collecting the labours, on the journey to Assam thousands of the labourers died
prematurely of various diseases. Those who reached the tea gardens were kept in
unhealthy lines of the gardens away from the lights of the outer world. They were not
even allowed to remain absent in their work even for a day when they were unwell. They
did not any chance to any freedom at all. They did not have any social interactions with
the other social group of Assam and not even with their fellow members of other tea
gardens. They had got a very low wages for which the whole family had to work in the
tea gardens for their livelihood.

1.6 Socio-cultural life the Tea community:

Every social group has its own unique socio-cultural life. Socio-cultural life of a group
consist s of culture, language and dialect and traditional customs which in fact gives rise
to fellow feeling and sentiments and has differentiate from other social group. The Tea
Community has a rich and composite culture. They have various festivals and
ceremonies in relation to birth, marriage and death.

1.6.1 Composition and concentration of the Tea Community:

Amongst the various ethnic group of Assam, the Tea Community is one of the important
ethnic groups of Assam, a total population of about 60 lakhs or about 20 percent of the
total population of Assam to 2011 census. The Tea community is composite of various
tribes and caste and some of these major tribe castes are as follows-

Munda Orang Sautal Saura Khariya

Bhumij Kurmi Gowala Porja Bhiya

Gond Ghatuwar Kul Asur Teli

Rabidas Boraik Karmakar Kahar Tanti

Lohar Mirdha Tasa Mahali Lodha etc.

The concentration of the Tea Community found in most of the districts of Assam but
their density varies according to the number of tea plantation in different region of

24
Assam. They are more numerous in Upper and central Assam than of lower Assam. The
community dominates the district of Sivasagr, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Golaghat and
Sonitpur. In Lakhimpur, Darang, Barak Valley and Bodoland Territorial Area of Assam
also have significant population of the Tea Community.

1.6.2 Occupation:

As the people of the Tea Community were brought by the British Tea Planters to work as
‘labourer’ in the tea gardens of Assam, most of the Tea Community people still working
as ‘labourer’ in the various tea gardens of Assam. Besides working in tea gardens a
section of these people is also engaged in agriculture. Recently education has given the
chance to engage in Governmental and Non-governmental sector too.

1.6.3 Religion:

The majority of the Tea community people are followers of Folk Hinduism. However
through the some people of the community converted to Christianity. They worship
different deities during different seasons or rituals. They are mostly animistic in nature
and worship tribal gods. Many trees are considered sacred and are worshiped. There has
religion temple and sacred ground for community in every tea garden.

1.6.4 Dress and Ornaments:

The traditional dress of the male member of the Tea community is Dhuti, Kurta and a
white turban. The female is white Saree (It is a long piece of cloth) with red border and
red Blouse. Some old women also wear black colour Mekhela above knee and Chador in
the upper part of the body. Now the patterns of the community changed in the course of
time. Men are generally using shirts and pants while women wear Churider and other
modern dress. The traditional dresses are seen on special occasions like festivals, rituals,
marriages and some other social or public gatherings only.

The women of the Tea Community use various ornaments. They mainly used silver
made ornaments. Some of the ornaments used by the women of the Tea Community are-

Chandrahar
Chitapatee
Bala
25
Nakful
KamarGath
Khangkosh
Poiyeri etc.
Generally these ornaments are used in the marriages and on the time of performances of
various folk dances. Male members use earring known as Kanoshi.

1.6.5 Rituals and Customs:

The Tea Community people have different rituals or social customs associated with birth,
marriage and death.

1.6.5.1 Birth Rituals:

There is a custom in the Tea Community that as soon as the baby born, the family creates
a noisy atmosphere by hitting the wall and roof of their home. They believe that by doing
this it deport fears of the new born baby and in future the baby will not be afraid of
thunders and lightening. After six days of born of the baby the mother of the baby offers
Puja to the presiding deity of the baby. They have no any special preparation for this
ritual. On the ninth day they have done a ritual which is called as Norta (Cited in Bora,
2006, 43). On this day the new born babies are brought for the first time outside the
house. The house is purified using cow dung. They invite a barber to home and he cut the
hair and nails of the baby. The new born baby and the mother are offered new clothes.
All the people who come to see the baby gives oil on the baby’s head. On the 21st day
they convene/organize ‘Kirtan’ which is called ‘Ekeisa’.

Another important ritual associated with the birth is ‘Nambishi’ or name giving
ceremony. In this ceremony some old persons take water in a bowl and some green grass
called ‘dubori bon’ and basil leaves are put on it. They also use rice in the ritual. The
name is selected by the relatives or family members.

1.6.5.2 Marriage:

Marriage is an integral part of a society. In the Tea Community marriage is called

‘Shadi’. The Tea Community is a composition of various tribes and castes and so in
marriages we see various customs associated with it.
26
The Tea Community people generally marry of their children in early age. The main
person who takes the active role in the marriages is known as ‘Aguwa’. He is the middle
man who passes the message to the both house (Bride and the bride groom). Aguwa first
gives the message to the boy’s house about the girl. And if everything matches the boy
and his family members goes to girls’ house to see the girl. If the boy and the girl agree
to marry, the family members arrange the ‘Kapud Pindha’ (exchange of cloth) custom.
The Kapud Pindha is done from both sides, first the groom’s side go the bride’s house
with the offering of clothes and ornaments. The ‘gonog toaka’(a certain amount of
money) is given to the girl’s house in this occasion of Kapud Pindha. That amount of
money is given to the girl’s parents as bride price. This is called ganag sikki. The girls’s
family on that day arrange feast for the people and after offering of cloths they invite the
boy’s family for food by offering ‘Ghoti pani’ ‘which is actually a glass of homemade
rice beer to the girl’s family. If the boy’s family take the ‘Ghoti Pani’ it means they have
no any objection for the marriage. After this the girl’s family also go to the boy’s home
and offering cloths take ‘Ghoti Pani’.

On the day of the marriage the boy wear white kurta with yellow colour dhoti and has
white turban on head and the girl is also wear yellow colour Saree and wear various
silver ornaments. Sindurdan is an important ritual of the marriage. Here the Sindur is
given to the girl by the boy. After completion of the marriage the groom take his bride to
his home. The boy’s family arrange a Ghar puja in the kitchen and symbolically hand
over the responsibility of the household to the bride.After the eight day of the marriage
the Athmongla ceremony is held. The girl visits her parent’s home and distributes some
gifts amongst her family members.

1.6.5.3 Death Ritual:

Both cremation and burrial rituals in funeral are available among the Tea Community.
Generally the Hindu people of Tea Community do cremation. But, in case if the dead
person is minor, pregnant or died from snake bite then they will be burried. The Christian
people do burrial with coffin. When a person dies, untill the eldest son or head of the
family permits nobody from the neighbours or relatives touch the body. Before taking
the corpse to the crematory it is washed with musterd oil and termeric paste then covered
with white shroud and carry to the crematory. The pyre is placed in north-south

27
direction. Mango tree branch is used to light up the corpse. Generally the eldest son take
the main role in cremation. After the cremation all the people take bath and return to the
dead person’s house. There they light up insence sticks, dhuna and pulverize tulsi water
on themselves, then return to home.

On 10th day of death the family arranges ‘daha’. On daha they offer pindo to the dead on
the bank of river or pond or in the house also. In case of death of minors pindo is not
offerd. On the day of daha non-vegeterian food is not used. In the evening three-four
persons go to the place of offering pindo and they make a small cottage and burn it
down. Then they come back to the dead person’s home and one of them calls the family
members from outside pretending as the dead person. The family members opens the
door and let him enter then one senior person from the society pray him not to harm his
home and anybody of his family. This is called ‘Sahir Ana’. Some people of the
Community finish all the rituals for the dead person on the daha but some arrange some
rituals every year.

1.7 Overview of the Chapterization:

The thesis has been organised in five chapters.

Chapter one consists of statement of the problem, objectives, methodology, literature

review, history of the tea plantation as well tea community and their socio cultural life.

Chapter two outlines the theoretical perspective on the ethnicity and identity construction
and their relevance to the Tea Community.

Chapter three and four is on the empirical data. Chapter 3 discusses on the various issues
of Tea Community identity. Here it also highlights on the ethnic boundaries and the
multiple identities of the Tea Community and finally discusses about the capitalisation of
the Tea Community Identity.

Chapter four is about the various cultural expressions like festivals, language, folk songs,
material culture which are used in the identity construction of the Tea Community.

Chapter five is the conclusion chapter where the final observation has been discussed.

28