Social Life and Festivals of Tea Plantation Workers of Colonial Cachar

This paper examines the emergence and expansion of the tea plantation industry in Cachar during the colonial period, with particular emphasis on the social life and cultural practices of plantation labourers. Following the British annexation of Cachar in 1832, liberal land policies and favourable waste-land grants facilitated rapid growth of tea cultivation from the mid-nineteenth century. The industry’s expansion depended heavily on migrant labour recruited from famine- and poverty-stricken regions of India through organized recruitment systems. While existing historiography on Assam’s tea plantations has largely focused on labour exploitation, migration, and political economy, Cachar has received comparatively limited scholarly attention. By foregrounding the everyday experiences of tea workers, this study highlights their marginal social position, poor living and health conditions, restricted mobility, and limited access to education. At the same time, it demonstrates how labourers sustained vibrant cultural traditions and festivals, leading to the formation of a distinctive tea workers’ culture. The paper thus offers a more nuanced understanding of plantation society by integrating economic history with social and cultural perspectives. Keywords: Cachar, Tea plantations, colonial labour, social life.