In British India, the term tea workers meant the labourers that were engaged in tea plantation. During that time, British companies owned most of the gardens in the Sylhet region. They recruited workers from various parts of the subcontinent and transported them to Sylhet. Until 1920, the tea workers were literally treated as slaves. They were whipped and kicked with boots. Some workers fled from the gardens to avoid torture. They were captured, brought back to the garden, and severely punished. Many tea workers died in the hands of their white employers. But those owners were not brought to justice, simply because they were the ones that made the rules.