Professor (Dr.) Arup K. Chatterjee’s feature in The Hindu — “How chai arrived in India 170 years ago” (published 18 August 2018) — has been cited in the Wikipedia article on “Masala Chai.”
The original piece, published in The Hindu, traces the introduction and early popularization of tea in India and explores the social and economic forces that shaped the beverage’s transformation into the nation’s defining warm drink. Read the article here: “How chai arrived in India 170 years ago” — The Hindu.
About the Article
In this comprehensive essay, Dr. Chatterjee draws on archival material, commercial histories, and cultural narratives to map how tea — once primarily a medicinal or luxury import — became a staple of everyday life in India. The piece examines the role of colonial cultivation in Assam, the marketing and distribution campaigns that popularized brewed tea among factory and railway workers, and the inventive ways local vendors and households adapted tea into the milk-and-spice–based beverage now widely known as chai.
The article is notable for bringing together economic history and social observation: it does not simply recount dates and factories, but situates tea’s rise within changing work patterns, urbanisation, and the rhythms of British and Indian everyday life. This blend of accessible scholarship and public-facing storytelling has made the piece a useful reference for educators, journalists, and readers curious about the story behind one of India’s most intimate daily rituals.
Why This Matters — Archival Scholarship Meets Public History
Wikipedia is a primary reference for millions of readers worldwide seeking quick, contextual information about food, culture, and history. The inclusion of Dr. Chatterjee’s The Hindu piece in the Wikipedia article helps to ensure that the article’s history section is informed by researched, journalistic scholarship that links archival evidence with cultural interpretation.
This citation is an important instance of how academic and journalistic work can enrich widely accessed public knowledge platforms. It demonstrates that scholarly perspectives on colonial commerce, plantation economies, and everyday culinary practices can travel beyond academic journals and influence the stories that millions read online about India’s culinary heritage.
We view this as an encouraging sign of the permeability between specialist research and common-source repositories: a well-researched feature in a national newspaper has the power to inform, clarify, and nuance a popular encyclopedia entry, helping readers — from students to travellers — understand how historical processes shaped the drinks and habits they encounter today.
Further Reading and Contact
If you would like to read Dr. Chatterjee’s full article, it is available on The Hindu website: How chai arrived in India 170 years ago. For context on the Wikipedia entry, see the here: Masala chai — Wikipedia.
We welcome any notifications from readers, editors, or scholars who use or cite Dr. Chatterjee’s work. To inform us of further mentions — in news outlets, websites, or public resources — please contact us via the website’s contact page. Thank you for reading and for supporting the work that connects academic inquiry with everyday cultural knowledge.
Arup K. Chatterjee 