India's coffee drinking culture was lost in the British tea invasion!

Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk market gets busy soon after sunset. The sound of bicycle or rickshaw keeps ringing in the ears. Although bustling, the aroma of food is enough to attract people to the bazaar, which was opened during the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Delhi's special masala tea is one of them.

Tea shops are so crowded that many people have to wait. Many people come from far and wide to taste this tea.

Indians are very fond of tea. But the popularity of this drink in the subcontinent is not more than two centuries. Indians got used to drinking tea since the British rule in India. But surprisingly, before the arrival of the British, Indians preferred coffee.

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Arriving hand in hand with traders and Sufis

Sometime in the 15th century, coffee was marketed in Yemen from the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia). It then spread to Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia. And coffee was introduced in Europe in the 16th century.

 At one stage coffee's fame spread to the east and it became the favorite drink of India's Mughal emperors and their top officials. Emperor Jahangir had a penchant for wine. And the Hindu or Muslim elites of his court were addicted to coffee.

Edward Terry, the chaplain of the English embassy in Jahangir's court, said that the members of the court were intoxicated with coffee. They believed coffee 'invigorates the spirit, aids digestion and purifies the blood.'

Arab and Turkish traders brought coffee seeds to the subcontinent. They had very good trade relations with the Mughal Empire.

Not just coffee, traders brought silk, tobacco, cotton, various spices and gemstones to the Indian subcontinent from the Middle East, Central Asia, Iran and Turkey.

During the reign of Jahangir's son Shah Jahan (1628-1658) these products spread to Bengal. Society's love for coffee is also increasing. It was considered a healthy drink. Coffee also became an integral part of the social life of Delhi's elite.

Joan Albrecht de Mendelsso, a European traveler at that time, said that coffee was believed to reduce heat and keep the body cool.

Coffee was also used during religious rituals. Sufis in India, like those in the Middle East and Central Asia, also drank coffee before night-long dhikr.

It is known that a Sufi saint named Baba Budhan brought seven coffee beans on his way back from Mecca in 1670. He planted them in a place called Chikmagalur.

Although the truth of this incident cannot be confirmed, the hill in Karnataka is named after him. This place is famous for coffee production.

According to the Coffee Board of India, Sufi saints who traveled to Mokha in Yemen also returned with some coffee seeds.

 

Cafe culture

From the 16th century onwards, cafe culture was introduced in Western Islamic empires such as Damascus, Aleppo, Cairo and Istanbul in India. Kawakhanas and modern coffee houses can be found in Old Delhi.

Food historian Neha Vermani mentions the Mughal-era coffee house 'Arab Sarai' in her Spilling the Beans: The Islamic History of Coffee.

Arab Sarai was established in 1560 by Hamida Banu, the widow of Mughal Emperor Humayun. It still exists in Humayun's Tomb as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Historian Stephen Black, in his book Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India 1639-1739, notes that coffee houses were places where poets, storytellers, orators and spiritualists gathered. 

In coffee houses, poetry was covered, stories were told or debates were held, board games were played for hours. Stephen also highlighted how these activities influenced the culture of the city.

Shahjanabad's coffee houses, like those in Isfahan and Istanbul, fueled the emergence of a rich food culture. This food culture is still prevalent throughout Delhi.

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Coffee fanatic Nawab Alivardi Khan

Nawab Alivardi Khan was on the throne of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. Coffee and food were the most soothing things in his life. Historian of that time Syed Ghulam Hussain Khan in his book Sheir Motakherin gives a fascinating account of Alivardi Khan's daily activities.

He wrote: 'He (the Nawab) always rose two hours before sunrise; After the Fajr prayer he would pray the divine command and then drink coffee with his favorite friends.

'Then he would pass the whole hour in various talks, listening to recitations, reading poetry or listening to some pleasant story.'

Breakfast was served by the Nawab with Iranian food prepared by his personal cook.

Ghulam Hussain Khan's description shows the Nawab as a man of excellent taste. who valued the luxuries of court life as much as effective governance.

Alivardi Khan imported the best quality coffee from the Ottoman Empire in Turkey and brought it to Murshidabad, the capital of Bengal.

He used to select the best for the court. Cooks were also brought in from Iran, Turkey and Central Asia to cook regional cuisine. He employed storytellers, painters, coffee makers and doctors in the court.

The men appointed by Alivardi Khan also brought with them special machines for making coffee.

However, coffee was not popular in India for long. Nawab Sirajuddaula Alivardi Khan could not maintain his reign or luster. After the Battle of Palashi, people gradually reduced their coffee consumption.

 

The path of tea cultivation

British interest in tea cultivation increased in the 17th century. Their main customer was China. As Lizzie Collingham writes in her book Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquers, Britain was once looking for an alternative place to produce tea. India was an ideal place for tea production due to its soil and climate. In February 1834, the East India Company formed a committee to establish India's own tea plantations.

In India they get consumers as well as workers. As tea cultivation grew, Indian tastes also changed.

The British banned Indians from visiting coffee houses to further consolidate the decline of cafe culture.

However, in the 20th century, enthusiasm for coffee continued to grow. It was first reflected in Kolkata. In 1876, the first Indian-run coffee house opened in Calcutta. It was called Indian Coffee House.

Gradually, in the 1890s, many more branches of Indian coffee houses spread. These were common people's coffee houses. Where any Indian could drink coffee without discrimination.

Apart from this, Bangalore-based Coffee Day Global is also very popular in India. After opening their first coffee house in 1996, they now have more than 500 outlets. Six years later, Starbucks entered the urban Indian market and changed the drinking culture of the subcontinent again.