Bangladesh as the largest exporter of clothing in the Middle Ages

Posted on : 03 Aug 2014 (Sun)

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Mughal Bengal emerged as the foremost muslin, the finest silk/cotton fabrics ever produced in the world mainly for royalty, exporter in the world, with Mughal Dhaka as capital of the worldwide muslin trade. During the Roman period Khadi muslin was introduced in Europe and a vast amounts of fabrics were traded to Europe for many centuries. It became highly popular in 18th-century France and eventually spread across much of the Western world. During British colonial rule in the Eighteenth century, the Bengali muslin industry was ruthlessly suppressed by various colonial policies, which favored imports of industrially manufactured textiles from Britain. Brutality to muslin weavers was intense, William Bolts noting in 1772 that "instances have been known of their cutting off their thumbs to prevent their being forced to wind silk." As a result, the quality of muslin suffered greatly and its finesse was nearly lost for two centuries. There have been various attempts at reviving the muslin industry in modern Bangladesh.

Bengali muslin was traded throughout the Muslim world, from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. In many Islamic regions, such as in Central Asia, the cloth was named Daka, after the city of Dhaka. During British rule in India, the fingers of the weavers were cut off, so that they could not weave it anymore. In present day, many different types of muslins are produced in many different places, including Dhaka but of the quality lost during British Rule.