SILK 



Trade 



Taken by 

 Bombay. 



Bengal and 

 Bombay. 



Bengal and 

 Panjab. 



Ee- 

 exports. 



Manu- 

 factures. 



Corahs. 



Gown-pieces. 



Decline. 



INDIAN SILKS 



The Bombay demand was, however, the incentive for the Gujarati silk 

 merchants and weavers permeating the whole of India and forming the 

 colonies that exist to-day all over the chief silk-producing localities of 

 the Empire. It is needless, therefore, to add that out of the imports, 

 Bombay takes by far the major portion, only about one-seventh going 

 to Burma, while the other provinces take practically no share in these 

 imports. 



Thus while Bengal is the great producing province, Bombay is the 

 chief distributing centre. By rail and river the Chinese silks brought to 

 Western India are carried not only through the Presidency of Bombay, 

 but very largely to the Panjab and even to the United Provinces. Hence 

 it may be said that while Bengal is the chief producing province, the 

 Panjab is the chief consuming province of India. 



Re-exports. It only remains to briefly indicate the re-export trade, 

 practically the whole of which goes from Bombay, and is, in consequence, 

 Chinese silk. The quantities of foreign silk re-exported during the period 

 of 1900-7 were as follows : 1900-1, 97,519 lb., valued at Es. 1,89,475 ; 

 1901-2, 59,941 lb., valued at Es. 1,46,265 ; 1902-3, 85,249 lb., valued at 

 Es. 1,62,279 ; 1903-4, 68,131 lb., valued at Es. 1,40,828 ; 1904-5, 54,522 

 lb., valued at Es. 1,48,729 ; 1905-6, 69,330 lb., valued at Es. 1,35,045 ; 

 and in 1906-7, 105,288 lb., valued at Es. 3,78,860. These re-exports go 

 mainly to the United Kingdom and Arabia. 



MANUFACTURED SILK. 



Eepeated reference has been made to N. G. Mukerji (Monog. 

 Silk Fabrics of Beng., 45-82) ; his chapter on fabrics will be found 

 to give every possible detail regarding the rise and present position of 

 the Indian industry, the class of goods manufactured, and the extent 

 of the trade. He mentions, for example, the Murshidabad silk manu- 

 facturers turning out many different classes of goods, such as gown- 

 pieces, corahs, silk-muslins, handkerchiefs, mathas, imitation Assam silk, 

 etc. The last mentioned was specially introduced by Mukerji himself 

 as a relief measure, but the success attained has " given rise to a hope that 

 under a fostering care the silk-weaving industry of Bengal may be 

 developed in other directions also." Speaking of the corahs, Mukerji 

 observes that " these are the cheapest silk fabrics which form the staples 

 of export to Europe, where they are used mainly for lining purposes. 

 Corahs are generally woven 7 yards by 1 yard, and sold at a rupee (= Is. 4o!.) 

 per square yard. They are made out of unbleached and untwisted 

 thread, and bleached in the piece after they are woven. Corahs are also 

 woven 10 yards by 42 inches, .like ordinary gown-pieces, and worn as 

 saris by widows. Like gown-pieces, corahs are valued by the number 

 of warp threads (called shdnd), 2,400 warp threads per yard making 

 the best gown-pieces and corahs, while 1,200 or 1,000 warp threads per 

 yard make the poorest gown-pieces and corahs. The price of coralis 

 varies from 6 annas to Es. 1-8 per square yard." In the Review of Trade 

 of British India (1904-5, 38), the statement occurs : " The exports have 

 steadily diminished during the last five years, the decrease compared with 

 1903-4 being 12 per cent., and what was once a trade of some importance 

 is rapidly approaching insignificance." This has reference mainly to the 

 decline in the exports of corah silks, in which there seems some prospect 

 of a revival. But at present the exports from India are " chiefly 



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