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Indian cotton textile production

Type Object Region South Asia Time c. -3000

Long-developed South Asian cotton growing, spinning, and weaving techniques and supply chains, famed for fine fabrics shipped by sea to the Middle Ea…

Timeline

  1. c. -3000–-500Indus Valley · Indus ValleyCotton fiber was already in use in the Indus Valley and contemporary South Asia; archaeological finds show early spinning and simple weaving, laying the groundwork for the subcontinent becoming one of the earliest regions to independently domesticate and use cotton on a large scale.
  2. 100–1200West coast of India · Malabar CoastRoman, Arab, and Southeast Asian sources record Indian cotton cloth exported by sea; mastery of multi-spindle spinning wheels and treadle looms formed a regionally divided handicraft network, with dyes (such as indigo) and printing techniques developing in step.
  3. 1500–1700Bengal and Gujarat · GujaratUnder Mughal court patronage, Bengal muslin and Gujarat and Coromandel printed cloth gained fame across Eurasia; weavers' guilds, putting-out merchants, and port trading posts made Indian cotton cloth a global luxury and bulk consumer good.
  4. 1700–1900Indian subcontinent · IndiaColonial trading systems like the East India Company changed the structure of India's textile market; British machine-woven cloth flooding back caused local handicrafts to decline while raw cotton exports surged, sparking 'deindustrialization' debates and spurring the reorganization of modern Asian textiles.

Sources