
Mughal Horseman’s Tea from Bangladesh is the newest offering from Rakkasan Tea Company. A black tea, it is “organic, rare and hand-plucked,” very smooth with no tannic bitterness. This tea has quickly become one of my favorite teas from Rakkasan’s offering. The location of origin of this tea is
from a garden in the Tetulia region bound by the Himalayas to the north and the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers to the south.
Rakkasan Tea Company
The tea estate was founded 20 years ago to provide an economic boost to the region through jobs and the sales of tea. The People’s Republic of Bangladesh was established in 1971 following colonial rule by Britain 1700-1947 and Pakistani rule 1947-1971. A series of conflicts and coups prolonged violence until parliamentary rule was established in 1991. The CIA reported as of April 2020 that the economy had grown since 2005 even though there were “periods of political instability, poor infrastructure, corruption, insufficient power supplies, and lagging economic reforms” (cia.gov/Bangladesh World Fact Book).

The Mughal Empire was established in the 15th century and was initially a cavalry-based army originating in Central Asia. The Mughal cavalry also used elephants, but these were normally for the generals, as the primary use of elephants was to transport goods and heavy guns. The name Mughal Horseman tea is a reference to the role of the Mughal Empire in using warhorses. The Mughal army used mounted archers, a technique that equipped them well to prevail over infantry. The use of the matchlock musket by ground troops propelled warfare into greater success by providing additional cover for the horsemen ( see for example, Khan, I. A. 1998. The matchlock musket in the Mughal Empire: An instrument of centralization. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 59, 341-359). In 1689, inventory of one detachment catalogued 28,800 horsemen along with 5633 musketeers. By 1674, musketeers were increasingly mounted horseback when the use of flintlocks began, a lighter and easier-to-fire weapon from astride a horse. As the revolt against the Mughals during the second half of the seventeenth century increased, the Mughal Empire began to decline.
Mughal Horsemen drank tea.
Great picture. Them’s some REALLY big elephants!
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What an interesting back story.
Your love of tea brings you to fascinating places and times.
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Rakkasan always includes a brief description of the origins of the tea, and since their mission is economic development in areas impacted by war and conflicts, the snippet of information usually sends me off on a hunt for more.
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I love those kinds of hunts.
Son and I are real coffee people and he’d have me travel the length of the country to a coffee place with X factor. It’s great to have such a shared interest.
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That is always good to have the shared interest. My son loves both coffee and tea, so we often share. I like to make ‘pour-over’ coffee when I drink it, using my freshly ground beans. There is just something about the Rakkasan teas though!
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I’m going to have to sample them!
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Interesting! Thanks for the reminder that another way to learn history is through food and drink. Also, I’ll have to ask my daughter about this tea company as she is a tea drinker. And I think my mom rode an elephant once as a child. I’ll have to ask her about that, too. Enjoy your day – and your tea!
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I love the work Rakkasan does, but also, they source amazing teas. I rode an elephant once, too, at the San Antonio zoo. Somewhere there is a picture of us (my sister and brother and I all rode together). The Mughal Empire actually had armour for their elephants.
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My mom said she rode an elephant when she was a little girl at the St Louis zoo. Interesting that they had armor for elephants.
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I am sure many of us of a certain age had that experience. 🙂
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She is 97. 🙂
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We gave up coffee long ago and became tea drinkers. Interesting to hear the Mugha Horseman drank tea.
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I enjoy the ritual of making tea also. 🙂
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