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When did the British introduce tea cultivation to Sri Lanka?

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Neatly planted rows of green tea bushes stretch across rolling fields with Mount Fuji, capped with snow, rising in the background in Japan. — tea Rows of tea (*Camellia sinensis*) growing in Japan, with Mount Fuji in the background.

The British introduced tea cultivation to Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) in 1867.1

While the industry gained significant momentum in the 1880s following the collapse of the local coffee industry due to disease, the initial introduction of tea as a plantation crop occurred earlier in 1867. Initially, the British utilized seeds imported from China, though they later transitioned to using seeds from the Assam plant.21