Shantipur Handloom Industry
[9][10] A number of weavers, tailors and master craftsmens came from Dhaka's Dhamrai in the 12th century at the request of Gaur king Lakshmana Sen and settled in Shantipur.
[12][7] According to the oldest information available, the weaving program of Shantipur began in the year 1409 AD during the reign of Gaur Ganesh Danu Mardhanadeva.
[9] During the first half of the 16th century, many weavers migrated from Dhaka to Shantipur in Nadia district because to the disturbances caused in East Bengal by Mogs and Arakan bandits.
[13] Due to the influx of weavers from East Bengal, Shantipur and the surrounding area gradually developed into a major textile center and its prosperity increased manifold.
[12] In the Mughal era, weaving products produced in Shantipur were exported to the Middle East and Europe.
Besides the finest muslins and mulmuls of Bengal, the women of Shantipur and the surrounding areas also did fine embroidery.
The prosperity and growing demand of Bengal textiles including Shantipur in the European market was due to its low cost of production.
During the Nawabi period, the mulmul – the finest type of muslin – produced in Shantipur was bought by the European merchants and exported to Europe.
[17] The East India Company purchased Shantipur mulmul through local traders in Calcutta.
Sushil Chaudhury – a historian of eighteenth-century Bengal – mentioned in the book From Prosperity to Decline: Eighteenth Century Bengal that 40 yards long and 3 yards wide Shantipur mulmul was purchased by the East India Company from local traders in Calcutta at the rate of 16 rupees.
[18][19] Five hundred employees lived in Kuthirpara, Shantipur, who were employed by the East India Company.
During the reign of Raja Krishna Chandra, a group of Mallik youths from Ranaghat collected fine quality muslin from Shantipur and exported it to European countries.
[21] In the early 19th century, Representatives of the East India Company collected £170,000 of muslin from the Shantipur Handloom Industry.
After the closure of Kuthi, weavers and handloom workers (both men and women) faced severe financial problems.
[25] A sense of pride in work and awareness of rights kept Shantipur's handloom industry alive.
Researcher Debashree Mukherjee points out that the weavers of Shantipur remained attached to the weaving industry despite adverse conditions as the ultimate struggle of the working class for a dignified life.
Shantipur had about 1,200 handlooms during the Swadeshi movement organized to oppose the partition of Bengal or Bang-Bhang (1905).
[7] Later, Debbendra Nath Mukherjee introduced the Jacquard machine and this facilitated a wide cross section of the new design in the market.
According to the data obtained, the first 100 hook capacity Jacquard was first installed by Jatindra Nath Lohori for producing variety of cloth during the third decade of the twentieth century.
According to a survey conducted in 1940 by the Bengal's Directorate of Industries, 10,000 of the total 27,000 peoples in Shantipur were reported to be members of weaving families.
[28] Shantipur is situated under Ranaghat sub-division of Nadia district of West Bengal, a place of ancient culture, religion and tradition and has its own glory.
Shantipur, Phulia and neighboring villages produce a variety of sarees, dhotis and dress materials.
In the past, ten types of sarees were produced in Shantipur based on the design, thread and color used, among which Nilambari[31][33] was the most famous.
This export-oriented weaving was first started with the encouragement of Handicrafts and Handlooms Export Corporation of India Limited and one of their Japanese customers Mr. Jurgen Lahl, a well-known textile designer.
The primary characteristics of Shantipuri sarees were their fine texture and delicately and elaborately designed borders.
[41] The weavers of Phulia – important manufacturing center of the Shantipur Handloom Industry – produce the Tangail saree.
There are about 111 different weaver (tantee) communities in the industrial area, such as Prāmāṇika, Kāṣṭha, Dālāla, Khān etc.
Their main role in production is to create designs for the master weavers and supply them punch cards for Jacquard.
[31][45] The products manufactured in Shantipur Handloom Industry mainly cater to the market demand of West Bengal as well as India.
[38] Shantipur handloom products like Saris and Dhoti are mostly exported to Bangladesh, Japan, Italy, Thailand, United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, and countries of North America and Middle East.
