Cotton Handloom Manufactures of Bengal, 1870-1921

AFTER agriculture the cotton handloom industry was the most important source of employment in Bengal in the eighteenth century. Handloom weavers were scattered in the rural areas as well as the urban centres in almost all the districts of Bengal. Under the impetus of increased demand from European companies, in general, and the East India Company, in particular, weaving of specialised clothes became more organised in the urban centres. One may recall the importance of Dhaka, for instance, whose weavers supplied the English and the European markets with fine muslins