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Question -

How do the names of different textiles tell us about their history?



Answer -

  1. European traders first saw fine cotton cloth from India in Mosul in present-day Iraq. They referred to all finely woven textiles as “muslin”.
  2. Portuguese first came to India in search of spices and landed in Calicut on the Kerala coast in south-west India. They took back cotton textiles to Europe, along with the spices. They named it “Calico”. Subsequently Calico became the general name for all cotton textiles.
  3. Many other words point to the popularity of Indian textiles in Western markets.
  4. The pieces included printed cotton cloths called Chintz, (?5fe), Cossaes (or Khassa) and
  5. Bandanna is a brightly coloured and printed scarf for the neck or head. This term was derived from the word “Bandanna” (Hindi for tying).
  6. Other clothes were known by their place of origin: Kasimbazar, Patna, Calcutta, Orissa and Charpoore.
  7. The widespread use of such words shows how popular Indian textiles had become in different parts of the world.

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