Spinning Yarns: Bengal Textile Industry in the Backdrop of John Taylor’s Report on ‘Dacca Cloth Production’ (1801)

264 Pages·2020·7.904 MB·English

by  Sushil Chaudhury

SPINNING YARNS

Since time immemorial Indian textiles, especially textiles from Bengal,
were in great demand and exported to different parts of the world.
Textiles from Bengal were appreciated by the Romans as early as first
century ad. Numerous foreign travellers including Chinese, Portuguese,
Arab and Persian, have mentioned the delicacy and beauty of Bengal
textiles. From the mid-seventeenth century, there was a massive spurt
in demand of cloth manufactured in Bengal, but after the British
conquest of Bengal in 1757 this industry started to decline. This
monograph traces the journey of Bengal textiles till its decline. Among
the topics covered include accounts of the admiration for Bengal
textiles from far and wide, the different types of textiles that were
manufactured in Bengal, the major exporters, the major centres of
production, the production system, the Dhaka muslin and the silk
industry in Bengal, the procuring system that was adopted by the
European / Asian merchants, the condition of the artisans who were
the chief pillars of the textile industry and lastly the reasons behind
the decline of the Bengal textile industry.
This monograph is the first comprehensive volume on Bengal
textile industry. It is the outcome of the author’s four and a half
decades of work on various aspects of Indian Ocean trade, the activities
of the European companies and their impact on Indian / Bengal’s
economy.
Sushil Chaudhury, who passed away in December 2018, was a
former University Chair Professor of Islamic History and Culture,
Calcutta University, and a National Research Fellow, Indian Council
of Historical Research, New Delhi (January 2014-December 2015).
He did his Ph.D. from the University of London as a Commonwealth
Scholar. Since 2002 he was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society,
UK.

SPINNING YARNS

Bengal Textile Industry in the
Backdrop of John Taylor’s Report
on ‘Dacca Cloth Production’ (1801)
SUSHIL CHAUDHURY
MANOHAR

2020
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Sushil Chaudhury and Manohar Publishers & Distributors
The right of Sushil Chaudhury to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Pakistan or Bhutan)
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-51113-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-05244-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro 11/13
by Manohar, New Delhi 110002
Contents

List of Illustrations 7

List of Tables 8

1. Prologue 11

2. Historical Perspective 19

3. Bengal’s Advantages over other Regions of India 24

4. Production Organization 36

5. The Dhaka Muslin Industry 51

6. Silk Textiles 70

7. Procurement of Textiles for Export 76

8. Role of the European Companies in

Bengal’s Export Trade 89

9. Asian Merchants and Textile Export 112

10. How ‘Poor’ were the ‘Poor’ Indian Weavers? 124

11. Technology in Bengal Textile Industry 156

12. The Decline of the Textile Trade and Industry 161
6 CONTENTS
13. Conclusion 176
Appendices
Appendix 1: An Account of the District of Dacca, 1801
by John Taylor, Commercial Resident of
Dhaka Edited with Detailed Annotations by
Sushil Chaudhury 189
Appendix 2: Letter of a Spinner (Woman) of Santipur,
Bengal, published in the Samachar-Darpan
of the 5th January 1828 228
Appendix 3: Names/Terms used in Persian Chronicles
in Respect of Textile Production 230
Original Sources 239
Index 251
Illustrations

(between pp. 128-9)
Plate 1: Spinning fine yarn
Plate 2: Warping
Plate 3: Reeling yarn from a reed
Plate 4: Applying the reed to the warp
Plate 5: Weaving
Plate 6: Forming the heddles
Plate 7: Steaming cloths during the process of bleaching
Plate 8: Arranging displaced threads in cloth
Tables

3.1. Prices of Two Types of Muslins Khasa and Mulmul 30

3.2. Cost of Textiles Procured by the Dutch Company

1752/3 and 1754/5 33

3.3. Expensive Textiles Exported by Companies 1752/3 34

6.1. Quinquennial Total & Average of Silk Textile Exports

Asian and European Companies 1750/1 to 1754/5 74

6.2. Production Cost of Taffetas in Kasimbazar, 1756 74

8.1. Quadrennial Total & Average of Dutch &

English Textile Exports 1710/11-1717/18 93

8.2. Share (Percentage) of Textile Value in the Total Export

Value Dutch & the English Select Years (1700-55) 94

8.3. Orders for Textiles from Europe and England

(Number of Pieces Ordered in Select Years) 96

8.4. Share of Garras and Khasas in the Total

Textiles Ordered (Select Years 1720-50) 97

8.5. Quinquennial Total and Average of

Annual Textile Exports (Dutch and English, 1730-55) 99

8.6. Volume and Value of English Textile Exports

(Quinquennial Period, 1740/1-1744/5 & 1748/9-

1752/3) 101

8.7. Share Percentage of Different Categories

of Textiles Exported by the Companies 1730-55

(First Five Years of Each Decade) 102
LIST OF TABLES 9
8.8. Volume and Value of the Dutch and

English Textile Exports 1753/4 and 1754/5 103

8.9. Dutch-Asiatic Trade (Textiles) [Quinquennial

Total & Average (in Pieces) 1705/6-1709/10 &

1713/14-1717/18] 104

8.10. Dutch Intra-Asiatic Trade in Bengal Textiles

[Quinquennial Total, Average and Share Percentage

in the Total No. of Pieces 1730-55 (First Five Years of

Each Decade)] 106

8.11. Percentage Share of Different Textile Categories

Exported by the Dutch to Batavia, Japan and Persia

(First Five Years of Each Decade, 1730-55) 108

9.1. Geographical Distribution of Piece-goods in

the English Company’s Orders 1681-3 117

9.2. Geographical Distribution, Unit Price and

Share of Different Areas in the Total Value

of Dutch Textile Export from Bengal to

Holland, 1753-4 and 1754-5 118

9.3. Quinquennial Total and Average of

Silk Textiles Exports: Asian Merchants and

European Companies 1750/1 to 1754/5 119

10.1. Manufacturing Costs of Khasas and Baftas in

Burron, 1788 & 1789 134

10.2. Cost of Garra Production and Weaver’s

Earnings, Birbhum, 1787 135

10.3. Production Cost of Taffetas in Kasimbazar, 1756 136

12.1. Export of Textiles from Dhaka by

Asian/Indian Merchants: 1747 and 1797 165