NDA (I) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 144 of 149

Correct — C, Singphos. The Singpho (Singfo) tribe of upper Assam/Arunachal is credited with the earliest known Indian association with tea — they brewed the wild tea plant, and it was from the Singpho chief Bisa Gaum that Robert Bruce learned of indigenous Assam tea in 1823.

• (a)Khasis — A Meghalaya hill tribe known for their matrilineal society and living root bridges, not for the earliest tea cultivation.
• (b)Garos — Another Meghalaya tribe (matrilineal), not associated with the first known Indian tea use.
• (d)Jayantias — The Jaintia (Jayantia) of Meghalaya are not linked to the earliest tea cultivation in the north-east.

Assam tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) grew wild in upper Assam, where the Singpho people already drank it. Robert Bruce's contact with the Singphos in 1823 led to the 'discovery' of Assam tea and the founding of the British-run Assam tea industry in the 1830s.

Separate the Meghalaya tribes (Khasi, Garo, Jaintia) from the upper-Assam Singpho; the tea connection is specifically Singpho.

• The Singpho tribe had the earliest known Indian association with tea.
• Assam's wild tea is Camellia sinensis var. assamica.
• Robert Bruce learned of it from the Singphos in 1823.
• The commercial Assam tea industry began in the 1830s.

• Confusing the Singphos (Assam, tea) with the Meghalaya tribes (Khasi/Garo/Jaintia).
• Assuming tea was introduced only by the British — wild tea was already used by the Singphos.

Asked as which north-east tribe was earliest associated with tea, or the origin of Assam tea.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Assam's indigenous tea plant is which variety of Camellia sinensis?

  • (a)var. sinensis
  • (b)var. assamica
  • (c)var. cambodiensis
  • (d)var. japonica

  Answer(b) var. assamica.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Khasi and Garo tribes are chiefly associated with which state?

  • (a)Assam
  • (b)Meghalaya
  • (c)Nagaland
  • (d)Manipur

  Answer(b) Meghalaya.