CHAPTER IX. 
Manufacture.—Part II. 
Mirzapur has always been and is still the home of shellac manu¬ 
facture. Indeed, practically the whole 
Manufacturing centres. , . . . , , 
manufacturing industry used to be concen¬ 
trated at Mirzapur, which before the days of railways was a conveni¬ 
ent centre for the collection of stick-lac by road from the principal 
producing areas, and for the despatch of shellac by river to Calcutta. 
With the development of railways, however, the importance of 
Mirzapur has declined. It is awkwardly situated from the point of 
view of rail transport, for it lies outside the direct route leading from 
the main stick-lac markets to Calcutta. In future, it is likely to 
become gradually a manufacturing centre of minor importance, work¬ 
ing up lac from the United Provinces, the Punjab and Hyderabad 
(Sind). The following figures illustrate the decline in the importance 
pf Mirzapur as a manufacturing centre 
Year. 
India’s total production. 
Imports of 
stick lac into 
Mirzapur. 
Calcutta export 
in cases of 
2 maunds. 
Equivalent in 
stick-lac 
maunds. 
Percentage of 
total stick-lac 
production 
which was 
manufactured 
in Mirzapur. 
Mds. 
Mds 
Mds. 
Per cent. 
1901—1905 
1,032,000 
699,500 
2,798,000 
37 
1906—1910 
1,714,000 
1,197,000 
4,788,000 
35 
1914—1918 
996,000 
1,103,500 
4,414,000 
25 
After Mirzapur and Calcutta the principal centres now are, in 
order of importance,— 
Balarampur 
Jhalda 
Pakaur 
Imamganj 
Umaria 
Ranchi 
Bundu 
j" Manbhum District. 
Sonthal Parganas. 
. Gaya District. 
Rewah State. 
j- Ranchi District. 
[69] 
