Cotton The history of cotton is not clear and nobody knows exactly how old the crop is. Scientists who found pieces of cotton balls and cloth in Mexico date it to as at least 7,000 years old. In Pakistan, the crop had been grown since 3,000 years BC. At about the same time, it was already being used for clothing in the Nile Valley. Accordingly, it was brought to Europe about 800 AD. Columbus found cotton growing in the Bahama islands in 1492. The crop was known around the world by 1500 The Herodotus, wrote in 400 BC that in India there were trees growing wild, which produce a kind of wool better than sheep’s wool in beauty and quality, which the Indians use for making their clothes.” During this period, the famous Ajanta Cave carvings show innovative cotton growers in India had invented an early roller machine to get the seeds out of the cotton. By the Guptan period, circa 200 AD, the Indians were selling cotton as a luxury good to their neighbors in the east and west—the Chinese and the Parthians. Further west, the Roman considered cotton as luxurious and as expensive as silk, which they bought from Arabic or Parthian traders. Like Herodotus, the Roman author and philosopher Pliny wrote that in India there were, trees that bear wool and balls of down from which an expensive linen material for clothes is made In modern, independent India, the cotton industry could, once again, compete on the world market. There is a still great diversity in the traditions and methods used to produce Indian cotton. Weavers often work in close family structures where ancient skills are passed from generation to generation and there is a great pride in the work, the fiber and the rich history surrounding even the most simple cotton fabric..
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 09:20:29 +0000
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