Cotton Textile Industry in Bengal: History, Products, and Economic Impact is described here .
Cotton Textile Industry in Bengal
INTRODUCTION: -The basic meaning of textile is woven or knitted fabric made from yarn Textile is also associated with clothing production. The textile industry is the industry which involves the sections like research, design, development, manufacturing and distribution of textiles, fabrics and finished clothes. Indian textile industry has been considered as one of the finest textile industry of the world from the ancient times. It is undoubted that the birth-place of the cotton industry of the world is India. The Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Puranas are full of references to the cotton goods From Herodotus to Kautilaya to Marco Polo; all have a mentioned about the Indian cotton goods in their writing.
During the Mughal period, the Bengal cotton industry reached its zenith both inside and outside of India. Cotton and silk were the main textile crops during the Mughal period. That is why. The textile industry was the dominant industry of that time. At that time, Bengal was mainly a silk producing center. Daccan inuslin was so popular at that time in various parts of India as well as Arabian and European countries. Qashimbazer, Pipli, Balasore, Chittagang were epicentrester rich textile industry. During the first phase of the Mughal rule, Bengal had enjoyed a monopory the trade in the international market without any competitors.
GROWTH AND EXPANSIAN IN COLONIAL BENGAL:- After nearly two Hundred years of British rule over India, the cotton industry development of the province remained pitiful. But at the beginning of eighteenth century, Bengal cotton industry had overflowir demand tram all over India as well as tram abroad. Cotton was cultivated in many districts in Gengat, with great variations both in quality and in yield. Because of its qualitative variations Bengal’s omon textile industry obtained raw materials locally for a wide range of clothes some varieties of Bengal coiton according to Joseph Bebb, a resident of Dacca, were superior even to the cotton of Suras. The best cotton was produced in Dacca under the local nomenclature phottee “the delicate faberies of Dacca” according to the Board of Trade “were at all times manufactured entirely from the cotter of that district, which is the finest of all the cotton produced in India and is probably the finest in the world.” The quality was obtained in the eastern neighbourhood of Dacca and around on the seat of the most celebrated muslins, the quality deteriorated in the south east and further west and north west. This cotton was used in weaving fine muslins like mulmuls, tanjibs, altabalies.
MUSLIN:- The fine quality of muslin produced at Dacca was knows as Mulmul-i-Kinas. Because of its delicacy and fineness, it was suitable for royal use. Because of its transparency it seemed vory gorgeous. The Dacca muslin were well known for their delicacy for centuries. The fiheness of the Dacca muslin is shown from its length and the stumber of threads in the warp in comparison to its weight. The weight of a 15 yeard was only 900 grains. It is said that a wet muslia cloth laid on grass was almost invisible. It was just like evening dew known as shabnam another was called ab-i-rawan or running water which became invisible in water. The fine thread can be spun in a moist atmosphere. There fore the spianing of muslin required the monsoon. Sind and masulipatnam were the centre where muslin was produced. But the main production centre was Dacca. Qashimbazer. Chittagang were also famous for muslin. Muslin was exported to Europe, the Middle East and other global markets
MALDA AND MURSHIDABAD SILK:- Silk was also one of the most notable Industries of Bengal. Silks importance as an article of dress was very old in India. According to Robert Orme, it was difficult to find a village in which every man, women and child was not employed in making a piece of cloth. The temperature (between 600 F850 F) of Malda and Murshidabad helped the growth of silk industry. Malda and Murshidabad earned their livelihood from the production of silk. Before the colonial and early colonial phase, the silk industry of Malda and Murshidabad grew and flourished and there by generated income for the people. Sericulture was largely practised and the people of Malda and Murshidabad were experts in it. Silk was cultivated in large areas of Bengal. Silk weaving was carried on at shibganj, shahpur and Old Malda. The weavers of Malda and Murshidabad dabad were specialised in the production of different varieties of silk fabrics.
In Malda and Murshidabad a great number of people were engaged with the silk industry. According to the Census Report of 1872, the total population of Murshidabad was 1353626 and the toial number of manufacturing classes was 31913. Before the advent of the East India Company in Indin and the early phase of the Company rule, silk fabric occupied a major place in the economy of Mulda and Murshidabad. The total annual export of silk from Murshidabad to Europe was estimated at 228000 Tbs. Malda and Murshidabad silk were exported Russia, England, France.”
JAMDANI: The word ‘jamdani’ is believed to be of persion origin derived from Jam which Meaning ‘flower’ and Dani meaning vase. Jamdani was also a famous textile in the eighteenth centuri India. Jamdani was very fine textured muslins in which floral, animals or birds ornaments were woven on the loom. The warp is as a rule unbleached grey yarn, the motifs being woven in bleached white yarn. The most important canters of jamdani weaving in the Gangetic plain was Dacca. Jamdani sarees was classified based on the type of motifs or the region where they are produced. Popular motifs were panna hajar, kalka, jalar, duria and charkona.
TANGAIL SAREE: During the rule of East India Company, handloom industry expanded and in independent India the number of handlooms had increased due to the migratory weavers from the East Pakistan. A new weaver settlement was developed at Fulia. Fulia became renowned all over the India as well as in the world for its tangail saree’. “ The tangail saree seemed to be incomparable to the santipuri saree regarding to age. Probably hundred of nineteenth century this saree was evolved in tangail of undivided Bengal. In the Year of 1880-85, weavers had begun to weave sarees. In 1923-24, the design in the saree had been started and in 1931-32 jacard machine was introduced for this purpose.” During the partition in 1947 and the freedom war of Bengaladesh in 1971 the tangail weavers came to West Bengal as refugee and most of them were settled at fulia of Nadia district.
NAKSHI KANTHA:- The word ‘nakshi kantha’ was derived from the Bengalf word ‘naksha which refers to ‘artistic patterne’. The colourful patterns and designs that are embroidered on these articles resulted in the name ‘nakshi kantha’. Hindu women during the nineteenth century used human and animal forms to tell stories of Gods and Goddesses and their vahanas. Bengali women were free to draw upon their rich indigenous surroundings as well as their contemporary stories. Mid nineteenth century, colour schemes and designs of nakshi kantha began to change to make them suitable for use on modern garmente. Jessore, Faridpur, Mymensungh, Bolpur were well known for the nakshi kantha.
COTTON MILLS: In the colonial period some of cotton mills were established in Bengal. The first Indian cotton cloth mill was established in 1818 at Fort Gloaster near Calcuta. But this mill did not turn out to be a commercial success. The second cotton mill at Bengal was started in 1830 and it is now known as the Bowreah Cotton Mills Company Ltd. This mill came into existence as a spinning unit and it is still working prosperously as a composite mill. By 1854 this mill began as a spinning unit and had 30000 spindles. The swadeshi movement gave a strong stimulus to this industry. It was in this phase that the Bengal capital flowed in cotton mill industry. At that time, some cotton mills were established in Bengal like Banga Laxmi Cotton Mill which was established in 1906 and the Mohini Mill was established in 1908. In 1931 there were 21 cotton mills in Bengal which increased to 46 in 1936. In 1926-27 Bengal cotton mills spun 31.54 million pounds of yarn and 7.5 million pounds of woven goods which increased to 45.70 million pounds of yarn and 43.8 million pounds of woven goods by 1938-39.12
DEINDUSTRIALIZATION AND DECLINE:- Deindustrialization means the reduction or destruction of a nation’s industrial capacity. Process of destruction of Indian industries is by competition from the products British manufacturer during the nineteenth century. Industries that were worst effected by the deindustrialization was the cotton textile industry. It was the largest provider of employment after agriculture. India’s cotton goods were the best in the world before 1800. Particularly in Bengal in addition to cotton textile industry, silk manufactures of Bengal were also affected greatly.
Machine made textile goods of Britain did great damage to this Indian industries since 1750. Consequently upon industrial revolution in cotton textile industry there had been massive growth of British imports in India and the domination of British cloth in the Indian market wrecked havoe; it created large scale unemployment as well as unbelievable drop in wages among the spinners and weavers. India experienced deindustrialization in the mid eighteenth century. The process of deindustrialization of India began with the gradual disapparance of cotton manufactures from the list of India’s exports and the remarkable growth of cotton manufacturers in the list of her imports mainly from Britain.
Bengal cotton industry’s decline started in the second half of the eighteenth century.” Farnie write, “They (cotton weavers in Bengal) ceased to decline in number, apparently after the crisis of the 1820s, and may well have swelled their ranks, though probably not in proportion to the growth of population.” After the industrilization of Britain; India was destined to a position of a supplier of agricultural goods and raw materials to Britain. In terms of quality, though machine made goods could not compete in quality with not products of the urban weaver, however the commercial policy of the English East India Company in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries delivered the mortal blow to the Bengal cotton industry. I intentionally did not discuss the deindustrialization debate (morris -de-morris v/s nationalist economic historians) due to paucity of time and scope of my paper.
CONCLUSION:- Cotton industry is one of the oldest industry in Bengal and it was famous all Over India as well as Europe and Arabian countrys before the advent of the British East India Company in India. After 1757 Bengal textile industry started to decline. In the mid eighteenth century Bengal textile industry lost its glory because of British commercial policies extorting raw materials in colonial markets. This effected the textile industries in Bengal and it could weaver recover fully, froin that fatal blow.