<span>"In the 1840s the Duchess of Bedford introduces the ritual of afternoon tea, because by this time dinner had become so late, seven-thirty to eight o'clock . . ."</span>
The figure of speech I'd like to think is hyperbole
I feel like there should be one more option, but if there is not, I would go with the second option:They believed Indians to be primitive people with superstitious beliefs and practices.
