TEXTILE AND FABRIC

Textile and Fabric

Textile and Fabric

Introduction

Textiles are an important source of information for cultural studies because of their versatility. Textiles have always draped the body, whether a person / deity / animal, floor and furniture. Unlike stone, clay, textiles, metal, etc. traditionally made of biodegradable materials. Cotton (natural cellulose fiber), silk, wool (natural fiber protein) were the three main materials for textiles, apart from bast fibers and leaves. Initially very simple technologies were used for the manufacture of textiles. The most basic skill of spinning fiber into yarn, and then change it to the tissue in a process called weaving. Implements used for weaving and spinning were and in many parts of India still continue to be bio-degradable materials such as wood. There is a very brief reference tissue-making skills in archaeological excavations. Along with the tools of their manufacture, fabric materials have long been degraded in a tropical climate. Scientists, like Sir John Marshall, while talking about the culture of the Indus Valley had to deal with the existence of the textile industry, which they opined, was limited during this period in India and was not available in the Western world until 2000 years later (Marshall 1984). Terracotta figurines, minute waste tissue found adhering by a silver vase (Marshall, 1973), tools and equipment used for manufacturing of textile products from these materials, mainly of biodegradable materials. Very fragile nature of textiles therefore limits the recovery of textile production technologies based on archaeological material alone. When we look through the archaeological excavations in the Indian continent, we find that the majority of archaeological sites in all parts of the continent gave spindles made of terracotta, and they provide direct evidence of spinning and weaving technology in these periods. Harappans invented a needle with an eye to the pointed end (as used in sewing machines). This type of needle was again in Europe during the Roman Empire. In addition, no evidence of terracotta vessels used for dyeing, washing, etc., may also provide useful links for the study of early textile technology.

During the protohistoric and ancient periods, a wide variety of circumstantial evidence can be found in sculpture, painting and literature to bring it to use, trade and other textile products. But such scant evidence is simply not enough to restore the Indian textile technology, which was particularly responsible for the amazing selection of fast food dye, weaving skills, etc. This requires a careful study of existing literature to understand the complex technology of textile production in the Indian continent. Therefore, we must examine the production of materials, equipment, and real-making processes of textiles and designs used. It also includes a comparative study of the textile related technology are scattered across the length and breadth of the country. Published data clearly show that there were marked regional differences in style, form and technology of textile production (Moti Chandra1996). Moti Chandra, in his earlier research on the costumes and textiles divided the country into four regions, even when discussing Textiles ...