Assam’s original tea story: Singpho legacy predates discovery claims by Scottish trader Robert Bruce

Long before British plantations, Assam’s Singpho tribe brewed Phalap, a fermented bamboo-smoked tea. Explore how it shaped the region’s tea legacy, rooted in indigenous knowledge and Patkai hill traditions.

New Delhi: Assam’s name is inseparable from tea, yet the popular narrative often begins in 1823 with Scottish trader Robert Bruce. Historical accounts record that he encountered wild tea plants during his visit to Upper Assam. What is less frequently acknowledged is that local Singpho communities were already cultivating knowledge of tea long before colonial documentation. In the Patkai hill region, spanning present-day Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the Singpho tribe brewed, fermented and smoked tea leaves inside........

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