MUSLIN
Seldom heard in present era even, “A fabric goes well to fit within a match
box” or “A saree passing through a small ring” takes us back to the history and reconnects with
the glorious fame of ‘The Muslin’ or ‘Mulmul’. Indeed an indigenous and globally acclaimed
hand woven exotic cotton textiles of Greater Bengal undoubtedly featured in the legacy of
traditional handloom fabric of West Bengal too. This absolute pure super fine cotton fabric was
adorned enormously by the royal families of other continents equally.
Frame loom in substitution of Pit loom is used for Muslin cloth weaving. Hand
spun (Khadi yarn) special cotton yarns ranging 120- 500 counts are used for its production with
plain weave construction. An optimum humid weather condition is preferred for weaving of
Muslin fabric. In present days Muslin weaving is practiced very isolate manner in Burdwan and
Murshidabad district.
DEFINITION:
Muslin, a plain-woven cotton fabric made in various weights. The better
qualities of muslin are fine and smooth in texture and are woven from evenly spun
warps and wefts. They are given a soft finish, bleached or piece-dyed, and are
sometimes patterned in the loom or printed. The coarser varieties are often of irregular
yarns and textures, bleached, unbleached, or piece-dyed and are generally finishei by
the application of sizing.
The world's finest textile, muslin, was created in Bengal for the emperors of India. Six
yards of this material could pass through a ring. And, when inlaid with delicate Jamdani
motifs, the effect is mesmerizing. Early Indian muslins were originally hand-woven
from uncommonly delicate hand-spun yarn made in Dhaka, the capital of undivided
Bengal and parts of West Bengal, now in India. They were imported into Europe from
India in the 17th-century.
HISTORY:
The word 'Muslin' came from Mosul, a town in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) on the river
Tigris just opposite the old remains of Nile River. Very fine cotton cloth was made at
Mosul in the twelfth century A.D and afterward. The Arab merchants took it to Europe
as merchandise. The enchanted European called it 'Muslin'. Muslin fabrics are one of the
outstanding features of Bengal's past civilization and trade.
Cossimbazar is a small town about 4 km from Berhampore (in Murshidabad). The part of the
Bhagirathi which bifurcated from Padma and joined the Jalangi was called Cossimbazar river
and the triangular land surrounded by the Padma, Bhagirathi and Jalangi was called Cossimbazar
Island. It was a big trading island for Muslin and silk and had trading centres (kuthis) of
different European people. It may be remembered that muslin - in the sense of superbly fine and
beautiful cotton cloth --existed long before the town 'Mosul' in Mesopotamia on the river Tigris
produced its muslin. India is a homeland of cotton. Sanskrit word for cotton is Karpasi. The
earliest mention of it is the Aswalayan tantra Sutra (about 800 B.C) where it has been
distinguished from silk and hemp.
THE REVIVAL OF MUSLIN SPINNING:
The art of muslin spinning was revived in India with the aid of The Khadi & Village
Industries Commission (KVIC).KVIC established two muslin production centers, one at
Panduru, Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh and the other at Baswa, Birbhum district,
West Bengal.
But, here, we may mention that muslin in medieval Bengal, in 17th or 18th centuries was
spun with the help of traditional Charkhas of taklis. But, at present muslin is being spun
with the help of complicated Ambar Charkhas. The new type of Charkhas takes its name
after the name of its inventor Shri Ekambarnath.
To distinguish the present muslin from old muslin, it has been named 'Khadi Muslin'.
The patronage from the first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, led Sri.
Kalicharan Sharma, a lifelong devotee of Khadi to experimentation on the revival of the
lost fame of muslin at Boswa in the District of Birbhum, West Bengal with the assistance
of a few spinners. But soon he found the dry climate of Birbhum quite uncongenial for
muslin spinning. He then had to shift his working centre at the adjacent district
Murshidabad. So, Sharmaji selected Chak Islampur for this work. Chak Islampur on the
river Vairab a branch of the turbulent Padma is a very old village famous for its spinning
and weaving from the day of East India Company. It had already achieved fame for
weaving silk of high quality after independence.
