Bangladesh Correspondent

December 12 2009

In Memory of Dr. Noazesh Ahmed - Monjur Hossain

In 1954, Ahmed received a Fulbright Scholarship from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Where he studied Plant Genetics and Plant Breeding. In 1960, he returned to Dhaka and joined as Scientific advisor at Duncan Brothers for introduction of vegetative propagation of tea plant.  Later, he joined the tea Research Institute as Senior Scientific Officer. Where Dr. Ahmed attained recognition as a genetic scientist. He developed two verities clonal tea plants. Eventually, Ahmed became the Secretary of the then Pakistan Tea Board.

Dr. Ahmed 1^st contribution on tea was What IS Tea? A details study on the tea as a drink and its chemical components published in Tea Journal of Pakistan, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1963. Later his unique work Improving The Tea Plants published in Vol. 1, No. 2, June 1963 of the journal. In this paper Dr. Ahmed given a brief account on the historical background of cultivation of tea in elst while Pakistan. He described the classification of tea by different workers and followed by a presentation of author's attempt to distinguish the tea population of elst while East Pakistan into seven eco-and genocategories, viz. Moniouri, Burma, Large - Leaved Assam, China, Hybrid I, II and III. Reference has also been made to important role played by selection, vegetative propagation and line breeding leading to the clonal source of seed in the improvement of tea.

In 1980, he joined Asian Development Bank as agricultural advisor. During  his tenure in Asian Development Bank from 1980 to 1990, he frequently had to visit Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand for agriculture development among the countries. During this period, R. Ahmed concentrated on the life of Buddha community. He started to record the activities of Buddha Bikho through his  lens. As an agricultural advisor, he also worked at CIDA.

Dr. Ahmed contributed many books on photography, agricultural science and natural history.

We lost a great friend of tea.............................

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Below  Monjur has given us his paper which was featured in the "Tea Times" recently a quarterly journal published in Kolkota and some fine pictures of Tea Estates in Bangladesh

Tea Trail China-India- Myanmar -Bangladesh
-Monjur Hossain

Millions of people all over the world drink tea and it has become an essential part of their daily lives. As we enjoy a refreshing cup of tea, have we ever thought about its origins, who first discovered delicious beverage and which country is the homeland of tea?
China is the world′s earliest nation drinking, planting and making tea. For a long time it was an undisputed fact that China was the homeland of tea, but in more recent time this has been challenged in a series of arguments and disputes. India has been credited by some authorities as the homeland of tea, but the facts substantiate that tea did originate in China.
It is known that a Japanese Buddhist monk, called Deng, studied in China and brought tea back to Japan in 805 B.C. He was the pioneer for growing tea outside of China.
Explorers in search of wild tea in South China, Upper Burma and North East India could not get any evidence of existence of wild tea. They are of the opinion that whatever tea exists in the so called wild region are only teas left by migratory people from South-East Asia to North-East India during Pre-Historic times. Ancient history of the region supports this view. The local inhabitants of the hilly regions of North-East India were using tea for centuries (Kingdon Ward 1950). The Singpho tribe in the lower Bhahmaputra Valley (South Bank) of the Northeast Assam was the pioneer to the identification and use of tea in early days. Capt. Robert  Bruce, one time employee of East India company, a solder of fortune, in 1923 Bruce was in Rangpur, the Ahom capital of in upper Assam, where he met an Assamese nobleman, Moniram Datta Barua. He learnt of indigenous Assam tea from this nobleman. Maniram put Bruce in touch a friendly Singpho Chief, Beesa Gam and Bruce entered into an agreement with the chief for supply of tea seeds and plants to be collected when he next visited upper Assam. But the death of Robert Bruce in 1824 forestalled his collection of the tea consignment. However, before his death, Robert Bruce had passed on the information on indigenous tea to his younger brother, Charles Alexander Bruce. When, in 1824, the Burmese War broke out, C A Bruce appointed commander of a gunboat, and despatched to upper Assam. C A Bruce arrived at Sibsagar at the end of January 1825, and contacted Maniram Datta Barua, of whom he had heard from his brother (Stanley Baldwin). Through Moniram, C A Bruce collected the tea seeds and plants contracted for by his brother from the Singpho Chief and acquired the identification technique/ technology of tea cultivation. CA Bruce than started the trial tea plantation in Sadiya, Brahmanputra valley of Assam. In 1836, the first sample of tea produced by Bruce from Assam tea plants, which was approved by the Viceroy, Lord Auckland, and pronounced as good quality tea by experts. Tea cultivation thereafter spread to its tributary, the Surma Valley now the part of Bangladesh.

The Lushais of Sajek valley are a sect /clan of the Singpho tribe of Upper Assam (Colonel T. H. Lewin)  and both the tribes  had migrated to their present place of habitat from the Chin Hills of Burma. They had brought tea along with them for their own consumption much before the British planters thought of growing tea in Chittagong or Sylhet. But it is a matter of research whether the Lushais brought the tea cultivation practice direct from Burma or from the Lower Bhahmaputra Valley of Assam. Tea had been grown in Sajek Valley without any scientific and management support at the courtyards of the migrated Lushai tribe probably much before the development of tea plantation in Chittagong or Sylhet.

A tea expert Mr.T.Andan said that the primary origin of the tea is found in Myanmar. The first and fore most origin of the tea is found in the source of Irrowaddy and spreading the surrounding areas, such as Myanmar Assam border areas, Naga Land, Manipur and Lashi ranges in the eastern parts of Myanmar. In the western parts, China, Northern plateaus of Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. In the same way, another tea technician, Mr. M.Solisin said the studying of the south east Asia teas, there is only the ancesters of Myanmar Northern tea origins. He named the species as Camellia arrawadimis. According to the technicians research statements, the practice of drinking plain tea and tea pasta are widely associated in the Myanmar social community since 2000 years, which is the customary adopted in Myanmar families.
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Monjur has given us some interesting pictures of gardens in Bangladesh and we thank him

The first garden in that area

An Old Photo of Duncans Estate Location Allynugger T.E 
The photograph was taken in 1941 at Allen Fobbs farewell in the estate.



This is self explanatory as the record of Managers from ,1854  to today--quite a record

Old Tea machinery which became an exhibit at Lungla T.E.

These rollers still exist as pride in Duncans machinery now very well preserved  with the manufacturer clearly defined 

Allynugger  T.E, Burra Bungalow 2008

Lungla Cemetery 2008
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Lushai Housing

Lushai Plucking

Lushai Tea making

Tea in Sajek valley