Our Textile Legacy

Evidence that inhabitants in the Harappan civilization were deft at spinning and weaving has been uncovered. William Lee created the stocking frame,

The first hand-operated weft knitting machine, The textile evolution took a stride forward during the mediaeval age with William Lee’s creation, the stocking frame. It was the first hand-operated weft knitting machine.

It was in the early nineteenth century that the textile industry started to gain momentum. This era saw the establishment of the first textile mill at fort Gloster, Kolkata in 1818 and in 1854 a cotton textile mill in Bombay.

In 1861, the textile industry expanded its horizons to include Ahmedabad. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the cotton textile industry saw rapid progress.

The real technology-enabled revolution started to unfold in the industrial age. One such machine that was a game changer in the textile industry was the water frame, invented by the doyen of the textile segment, Sir Richard Arkwright.

This invention facilitated faster spinning of cotton yarn. In addition to cotton, Indian silks were exported along the Silk Road in China and later on to western nations, making them another significant export of the ancient Indian textile industry. The British Empire colonised India for various reasons, but one of the main ones was the country’s cheap, high-quality cotton.