The discovery of this local tea plant in 1815 was enormously beneficial to the English commerce in British-colonized India. At the time, the British were physically hooked to tea and relied on tea shipments from China to meet their rising demand. The introduction of the Indian tea into Europe was a major breakthrough for both commodities; it provided farmers in England and merchants in China with much-needed stability in an otherwise unstable market. Indian tea is grown mainly in Assam state, which lies in northeast India near the border with Burma. It gets its name from the Indus River, which flows through the region. Assam was previously part of Bangladesh but was invaded by India in 1969. Today, Assam is known for its crude oil reserves as well as its precious stones (especially diamonds). Tea grew naturally in India long before anyone knew what made up tea. In fact, some evidence suggests that tea was cultivated as early as 3000 B.C. But it wasn't until much later that people started to drink it regularly. The Chinese are said to have invented tea drinking - they brewed the leaves of the camellia sinensis plant together with water and sugar. The Indians also enjoyed tea but they used spices instead of sugar. In 1773, Richard Johnson, the governor of Bengal (now West Bengal), introduced the first commercial tea plantation in India.