Photo caption : Muslin cloth
Muslin
Muslin a brand name of pre-colonial Bengal textile, especially of Dhaka origins. Muslin was manufactured in the city of Dhaka and in some surrounding stations, by local skill with locally produced cotton and attained world-wide fame as the Dhaka Muslin.
Muslin clothes were traded by ancient Greeks from the East Indian port town Masulipatam, known as Maisolos and Masalia in ancient times and the name 'Muslin' originated from the name Maisolos. Another view was that the fabric was named after the city where Europeans first encountered it, Mosul, in what is now Iraq, but the fabric actually originated from Dhaka in what is now Bangladesh. In the 9th century, an Arab merchant named Sulaiman makes note of the material's origin in Bengal (known as Ruhml in Arabic).
In 1298 C.E. Marco Polo describes the cloth Muslin in his book The Travels. He said that it is made in Mosul, (Iraq) and sold by merchants who were called "Musolini."
The word muslin is also used colloquially. In the United Kingdom, many sheer cotton fabrics are called muslin, while in the United States, muslin sometimes refers to a firm cloth for everyday use, which in the UK is known as calico.
In British slang, muslin used to refer to women or femininity, while in nautical slang, muslin can refer to a vessel's sails.
The textile industry of Bengal is very old. Bengal cotton fabrics were exported to the Roman and the Chinese empires and they are mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, and by the ancient Chinese travelers. But Dhaka Muslin became famous and attracted foreign and transmarine buyers after the establishment of the Mughal capital at Dhaka. The Muslin industry of Dhaka received patronage from the Mughal emperors and the Mughal nobility. A huge quantity of the finest sort of Muslin was procured for the use of the Mughal emperors, provincial governors and high officers and nobles. In the great 1851 Exhibition of London, Dhaka Muslin occupied a prominent place, attracted a large number of visitors and the British Press spoke very highly of the marvelous Muslin fabrics of Dhaka.
Dhaka Muslin was in great demand in the national and international markets. The traders were active at Dhaka. Local businessmen procured the cotton goods from the Adangs or manufacturing stations and sent them to Dhaka, where foreign buyers were ready with cash in hand. The foreign traders came from far-off countries like Arabia, Iran, Armenia, in the west, and China, Malaya, Java in the east. Some traders were busy in inter-provincial trade, while others sent the Muslin to countries outside India. The government officials procured various types of Muslin, which they sent to Delhi for the use of emperors and ministers. When the capital was transferred to Murshidabad, the Muslins meant for the subahdar, diwan and other aristocratic people (like the banker Jagat Sheth) were sent there. In the 17th century, the European companies came and established their settlements in Bengal.
The finest sort of Muslin was made of phuti cotton, which was grown in certain localities on the banks of the Brahmaputra and her branches. The other kinds of cotton called bairait and desee were inferior and were produced in different parts of Dhaka and neighbouring areas; they were used for manufacturing slightly inferior and course clothes. The persons connected with the manufacture of cloth, from the cleaner to the maker of thread and the person who did the actual weaving, belonged to a family of weavers, or if the family was small two to three families joined together to manufacture the cloth.
The Muslin industry of Dhaka declined after the battle of palashi, 1757; by the end of the 18th century, the export of Dhaka Muslin came down to almost half of that of 1747, and by the middle of the 19th century was valued at less than ten lakh Rupees. The decline of Dhaka Muslin was due to loss of patronage from the Mughal emperors, nawabs and other high officials. The Mughals not only lost their power and prestige but also their buying and spending capacity. With the establishment of the east india company's monopoly over the trade of Bengal after the battle of Palashi, the trade of other European companies and traders belonging to other nationals practically came to a stop. But the most important cause of decline and the ultimate extinction of the Muslin industry was the industrial revolution in England, which introduced modern inventions in manufacture. The costly Dhaka cotton goods, particularly the Muslin, lost in competition with the cheap industrial products of England.
The finest sort of Muslin was called Malmal, sometimes mentioned as Malmal Shahi or Malmal Khas by foreign travellers. It was costly, and the weavers spent a long time, sometimes six months, to make a piece of this sort. It was used by emperors, nawabs etc. Muslins procured for emperors were called Malbus Khas and those procured for nawabs were called Sarkar-i-Ala. The Mughal government appointed an officer, Darogah or Darogah-i-Malbus Khas to supervise the manufacture of Muslins meant for the emperor or a nawab. The Malmal was also procured for the diwan and other high officers and for jagat sheth, the great banker. Muslins other than Malmal were exported by the traders, or some portion was used locally.
In Advantages of wearing Muslin Dresses! (1802), James Gillray caricatured a hazard of untreated muslin: its flammability.
Marie Antoinette, in 1783, in her famous "muslin" portraitWhen sewing clothing, a dressmaker may test the fit of a garment, using an inexpensive muslin fabric before cutting the intended expensive fabric, thereby avoiding potential costly mistakes. The muslin garment is often called a "muslin", and the process is called "making a muslin". With the availability of inexpensive synthetic fabrics, which closely resemble the hand (drape and feel) of expensive natural fabrics, a test or fitting garment made of synthetics may still be referred to as a muslin, because the word has become the generic term for a test or fitting garment.
Muslin can also be used as a filter in a funnel when decanting fine wine or port to prevent sediment from entering the decanter; and in cooking, is the material for the traditional cloth used when making a Christmas pudding. It is also used in the cheese making process to drain the curd.
Muslin is also often used as a backing or lining for quilts, and thus can often be found in wide widths in the quilting sections of fabric stores.
Muslin is often the cloth of choice for theater sets. It is helpful in masking the background of sets and helping to establish the mood or feel of different scenes. It can be painted to look like countless different settings, and if treated properly it can become semi-translucent.
It also holds dyes very well. It is often used to create night time scenes, because when it is dyed, it often gets a waved look with the color varying slightly such that it resembles a night sky. Muslin shrinks after it is painted, but it is widely used because it makes for a great paint surface.
Muslin is the most common backdrop material used by photographers for formal portrait backgrounds. It is usually painted, most often with an abstract mottled pattern.
In the early days of silent film making, up until the late 1920s, movie studios did not have the elaborate lights needed to illuminate indoor sets, so most interior scenes were sets built outdoors with large pieces of muslin hanging overhead to diffuse the lighting.
Muslin gauze has also found a use in cerebrovascular neurosurgery. It is wrapped circumferentially around aneurysms or intracranial vessels at risk for bleeding.[5] The thought is that the gauze reinforces the artery and helps prevent rupture. It is often used for aneurysms that, due to their size or shape, cannot be microsurgically clipped or coiled.
Formerly Europe used to get the Muslin through Iranian and Armenian merchants, but with the coming of the European companies and the establishment of their settlements in Bengal the export of Dhaka Muslin increased enormously. The volume of the export trade of the European companies increased year to year, so much so that they had to establish settlements and factories at Dhaka proper to feed the increased volume of trade. The imports of European companies had no local markets, so the companies imported hard cash, bullion, to meet the growing demand of Bengal, and particularly of Dhaka. Available estimates show that in 1747 the export of Dhaka cotton goods, including those procured for the emperor, nawab etc was valued at rupees twenty-eight lakh and a half.
Muslin clothes were traded by ancient Greeks from the East Indian port town Masulipatam, known as Maisolos and Masalia in ancient times and the name 'Muslin' originated from the name Maisolos. Another view was that the fabric was named after the city where Europeans first encountered it, Mosul, in what is now Iraq, but the fabric actually originated from Dhaka in what is now Bangladesh. In the 9th century, an Arab merchant named Sulaiman makes note of the material's origin in Bengal (known as Ruhml in Arabic).
In 1298 C.E. Marco Polo describes the cloth Muslin in his book The Travels. He said that it is made in Mosul, (Iraq) and sold by merchants who were called "Musolini."
The word muslin is also used colloquially. In the United Kingdom, many sheer cotton fabrics are called muslin, while in the United States, muslin sometimes refers to a firm cloth for everyday use, which in the UK is known as calico.
In British slang, muslin used to refer to women or femininity, while in nautical slang, muslin can refer to a vessel's sails.
The textile industry of Bengal is very old. Bengal cotton fabrics were exported to the Roman and the Chinese empires and they are mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, and by the ancient Chinese travelers. But Dhaka Muslin became famous and attracted foreign and transmarine buyers after the establishment of the Mughal capital at Dhaka. The Muslin industry of Dhaka received patronage from the Mughal emperors and the Mughal nobility. A huge quantity of the finest sort of Muslin was procured for the use of the Mughal emperors, provincial governors and high officers and nobles. In the great 1851 Exhibition of London, Dhaka Muslin occupied a prominent place, attracted a large number of visitors and the British Press spoke very highly of the marvelous Muslin fabrics of Dhaka.
Dhaka Muslin was in great demand in the national and international markets. The traders were active at Dhaka. Local businessmen procured the cotton goods from the Adangs or manufacturing stations and sent them to Dhaka, where foreign buyers were ready with cash in hand. The foreign traders came from far-off countries like Arabia, Iran, Armenia, in the west, and China, Malaya, Java in the east. Some traders were busy in inter-provincial trade, while others sent the Muslin to countries outside India. The government officials procured various types of Muslin, which they sent to Delhi for the use of emperors and ministers. When the capital was transferred to Murshidabad, the Muslins meant for the subahdar, diwan and other aristocratic people (like the banker Jagat Sheth) were sent there. In the 17th century, the European companies came and established their settlements in Bengal.
The finest sort of Muslin was made of phuti cotton, which was grown in certain localities on the banks of the Brahmaputra and her branches. The other kinds of cotton called bairait and desee were inferior and were produced in different parts of Dhaka and neighbouring areas; they were used for manufacturing slightly inferior and course clothes. The persons connected with the manufacture of cloth, from the cleaner to the maker of thread and the person who did the actual weaving, belonged to a family of weavers, or if the family was small two to three families joined together to manufacture the cloth.
The Muslin industry of Dhaka declined after the battle of palashi, 1757; by the end of the 18th century, the export of Dhaka Muslin came down to almost half of that of 1747, and by the middle of the 19th century was valued at less than ten lakh Rupees. The decline of Dhaka Muslin was due to loss of patronage from the Mughal emperors, nawabs and other high officials. The Mughals not only lost their power and prestige but also their buying and spending capacity. With the establishment of the east india company's monopoly over the trade of Bengal after the battle of Palashi, the trade of other European companies and traders belonging to other nationals practically came to a stop. But the most important cause of decline and the ultimate extinction of the Muslin industry was the industrial revolution in England, which introduced modern inventions in manufacture. The costly Dhaka cotton goods, particularly the Muslin, lost in competition with the cheap industrial products of England.
The finest sort of Muslin was called Malmal, sometimes mentioned as Malmal Shahi or Malmal Khas by foreign travellers. It was costly, and the weavers spent a long time, sometimes six months, to make a piece of this sort. It was used by emperors, nawabs etc. Muslins procured for emperors were called Malbus Khas and those procured for nawabs were called Sarkar-i-Ala. The Mughal government appointed an officer, Darogah or Darogah-i-Malbus Khas to supervise the manufacture of Muslins meant for the emperor or a nawab. The Malmal was also procured for the diwan and other high officers and for jagat sheth, the great banker. Muslins other than Malmal were exported by the traders, or some portion was used locally.
In Advantages of wearing Muslin Dresses! (1802), James Gillray caricatured a hazard of untreated muslin: its flammability.
Marie Antoinette, in 1783, in her famous "muslin" portraitWhen sewing clothing, a dressmaker may test the fit of a garment, using an inexpensive muslin fabric before cutting the intended expensive fabric, thereby avoiding potential costly mistakes. The muslin garment is often called a "muslin", and the process is called "making a muslin". With the availability of inexpensive synthetic fabrics, which closely resemble the hand (drape and feel) of expensive natural fabrics, a test or fitting garment made of synthetics may still be referred to as a muslin, because the word has become the generic term for a test or fitting garment.
Muslin can also be used as a filter in a funnel when decanting fine wine or port to prevent sediment from entering the decanter; and in cooking, is the material for the traditional cloth used when making a Christmas pudding. It is also used in the cheese making process to drain the curd.
Muslin is also often used as a backing or lining for quilts, and thus can often be found in wide widths in the quilting sections of fabric stores.
Muslin is often the cloth of choice for theater sets. It is helpful in masking the background of sets and helping to establish the mood or feel of different scenes. It can be painted to look like countless different settings, and if treated properly it can become semi-translucent.
It also holds dyes very well. It is often used to create night time scenes, because when it is dyed, it often gets a waved look with the color varying slightly such that it resembles a night sky. Muslin shrinks after it is painted, but it is widely used because it makes for a great paint surface.
Muslin is the most common backdrop material used by photographers for formal portrait backgrounds. It is usually painted, most often with an abstract mottled pattern.
In the early days of silent film making, up until the late 1920s, movie studios did not have the elaborate lights needed to illuminate indoor sets, so most interior scenes were sets built outdoors with large pieces of muslin hanging overhead to diffuse the lighting.
Muslin gauze has also found a use in cerebrovascular neurosurgery. It is wrapped circumferentially around aneurysms or intracranial vessels at risk for bleeding.[5] The thought is that the gauze reinforces the artery and helps prevent rupture. It is often used for aneurysms that, due to their size or shape, cannot be microsurgically clipped or coiled.
Formerly Europe used to get the Muslin through Iranian and Armenian merchants, but with the coming of the European companies and the establishment of their settlements in Bengal the export of Dhaka Muslin increased enormously. The volume of the export trade of the European companies increased year to year, so much so that they had to establish settlements and factories at Dhaka proper to feed the increased volume of trade. The imports of European companies had no local markets, so the companies imported hard cash, bullion, to meet the growing demand of Bengal, and particularly of Dhaka. Available estimates show that in 1747 the export of Dhaka cotton goods, including those procured for the emperor, nawab etc was valued at rupees twenty-eight lakh and a half.
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