How do the names of different textiles tell us about their histories?
Answers
The names of different textiles tell us about their histories. (i) The English term chintz comes from the Hindi word Chhint Chhint is a cloth with small and colourful flowery designs. Rich people of England including the Queen herself wore clothes of Indian fabric. (ii) Similarly, the word bandanna now refers to any brightly coloured and printed scraf for the head or neck. Originally the term bandanna'dervied from the word bandhna and referred to a variety of brightly coloured cloth produced through a method of tyind and dying. (iii) There were same other kinds of clothes such as Patna, Charpoore, Calcutta, Kasimbazar and Orissa. These five varieties of clothes were noted by their place of origin. The widespread use of such words shows how popular Indian textiles had became in different parts of the world. The wool and silk producers in England protested against the import of Indian textiles in the early eighteenth century because they were worried by the popularity of Indian textiles. In 1720, the British Government enacted a legislation banning the use of printed cotton textiles chintz in England. Interestingly, this Act was known as the Calico Act. At this time textile industries had just begun to develop in England. Unable to compete with Indian Textiles, English producers wanted a secure market within the country by preventing the entry of Indian textiles.
The development of cotton industries in Britain affected textile producers in India in several ways, i.e., (i) Indian textiles now had to compete with British textiles in the European and American markets. (ii) Exporting textiles to England also became increasingly difficult since very high duties were imposed on Indian textiles imported into Britain.