Hearing from the elder's and learning from the publications about the glorious past of the handloom weaving industry in Bengal and their captivating products, interest about the industry had developed in my mind in my early youth. Subsequently, as the new-look industry in West Bengal made its debut in the market with its fascinating products since the early eighties, it occurred to me that what I have heard and learnt so long might be true. This reinforced my interest in the industry and in the lives of people behind the industry.
The reinforcement of interest drove me to different places of production, spread throughout the State and to the different expositions held from time to time as well as to the rural markets for a first hand idea about what is produced, how they are produced and marketed and also about the life and living of the people who make things possible. The idea 1 gathered about the industry from my visits to the places of importance in weaving in West Bengal, ultimately crystallised into a proposal for a critical academic enquiry into the different aspects of the industry. In was at this stage. I approached Dr. Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, Reader, Department of Commerce, University of Kalyani for his guidance and supervision.
The Present study is an in-depth academic enquiry into the different aspects of the handloom weaving industry in West Bengal, reorganised after the partition of the province of Bengal with East Bengal going to Pakistan, now Bangladesh and West Bengal remaining with India.
I remain deeply indebted to Dr. Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya for his painstaking guidance and supervision of the work. I also express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the thousands of weavers in the rural West Bengal who helped me by providing with necessary information and hospitality whenever I visited them in course of my investigation. Thanks and gratitude are also due to the officers and employees of the relevant Central and State Government Officers for providing me with necessary data, information and suggestions and wishing success of my endeavour.
The connecting link between agriculture and industry was hand weaving. Primitive men began their first industrial activity with weaving fibres of trees and hairs of animals for clothing themselves. In course of time, they learnt how to cultivate cotton for the purpose of weaving cloth. "The arts of spinning and weaving, which rank next in importance to agriculture, having been found among almost all the nations of the old and new continents, even among those little removed from barbarism, are reasonably supposed to have been invented at a very early period of the world's history."
It is generally believed that the cultivation of cotton and its manufactures had originated in India and it is precisely for this reason that the excellence and skill acquired by the Indian weavers enabled them to maintain supremacy in this branch of Industry till the industrial revolution of England and the subsequent import of mill-made cloth to India. Developed as an artisan based cottage industry throughout the country, the industry catered to the local requirements and was predominantly subsistence oriented. Before the advent of native courts, the bulk of the manufactures used to be distributed through the traditional system of reciprocal exchange for other agricultural and non-agricultural items. Periodic local markets, called haats used to provide the only outlets for distribution of the products to distant places.
Production centers were housed within the dwelling units or in outhouses prepared for the purpose and the implements required were produced with locally available materials or procured by the artisans with the little saving they had, supplemented by the neighbours' assistance. Weaving was often a subsidiary or seasonal occupation and the weavers used to move from loom to plough and vice-versa according to seasonal requirements.
In course of time, side by side with the subsistence oriented production, there also developed gradually market-oriented production to meet the needs of aristocracy, particularly those of Hindu and Muslim rulers. Opening of the sea-borne trade route with the neighbouring countries of Asia and Europe added a new dimension to the weaving industry of India The industry reached the high watermark of excellence during the Mughal rule due to the unstinted patronage of the products by the rulers and their supervision over production and quality.
While the patronage of the rulers and their supervision over quality of production through the organization of state workshops and appointment of officers paved the way for the development of the industry both in terms of volume of production and their quality, it made the weavers ultimately dependent upon the State for their survival. The increased volume of demand, however, brought in its wake changes in the system of financing, organization of production and marketing of produce.
Requirements of additional capital was met through the supply of advances by a class of traders called mahajans or superiors. They used to provide advances to the weavers through their agents on condition of supply of cloth at a predetermined price. Thus, the weavers began to lose their century-old independence and became workers under the Mahajans or traders. Again, for facilitating large scale production, workshops were established first by the Mughal rulers and then by the traders and master weavers themselves.
The handloom weaving industry in Bengal received great impetus during the Mughal rule. The ornamental designs and embroidery. patronised by the aristocracy, enabled the industry to reach new heights of excellence during the period. State workshops were opened at that time near Dacca, present capital of Bangladesh, for manufacturing muslins and other exotic varieties of clothes. During the period demand for Indian handwoven products in Europe increased enormously. The growing volume of trade with Europe attracted the interest of European traders. Towards the end of the Mughal rule, the interest of the Europeans in trade with Indian handloom products increased to the extent of competition among themselves for a greater share of export trade. The traders, in order to be ahead to each other in the volume of trade and profit, used to indulge in practices like making advance payments for production at pre-determined price, known as dadan. Such advance payments came to be know as 'investments' among the traders and the East India Company. With the growing endeavour of the East India Company to procure more for export, at prices that leave comfortable margin of profit, the system of advance payment became the most effective stranglehold for securing the services of the unorganised poor artisans.
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