Picture Details
Plantation of the Terai Tea Association, Darjeeling
Partner:
British LibraryImage reference:
Photo 27Origin:
Darjeeling, IndiaArtist / Date:
Samuel Bourne, 1860sDescription:
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Photograph by British photographer Samuel Bourne (1834 -1912) of the Tea Gardens at Darjeeling in Bengal. Bourne arrived in India in 1863 and produced over two thousand pictures during his seven year stay in the country. Bourne's photographs are a pictureque record of the Himalayas, Kashmir and the hill stations like Darjeeling. Darjeeling was initially conceived as a sanitarium for the use of the British Army in India but soon became famous for its tea. The tea growing belt of Terai, Darjeeling, is a narrow strip of land lying below the Himalayan foothills extending up to Bihar border. The north Terai, situated at the base of Himalayan range, has foothills with steep gradient in contrast to the southern and western Terai which are plain. The Terai tea gardens were established in 1862 and this photograph must be one of the earliest visual records of the gardens. An European overseer can be seen directing native tea pickers.
