Home ›› 27 Nov 2021 ›› Front
As the proverb goes – Old tradition dies hard – so does the aesthetic heritage relating to Muslin that had an inextricable connection between preeminence and pride.
The wonder cloth – Dhakai Muslin – was once a hit particularly with those who could afford it for its being the most expensive costume of the erstwhile era.
The bygone tradition to weave the precious fabric is set to revive after a long 173 years while efforts are underway to commercialise its production.
Sources said the refinement of the would-be Muslin cloth is even finer than what was evident and what has apparently gone into oblivion.
In the then period, the Dhakai Muslin used to be woven with a special category of yarn called 500-metric count – length of fibre.
In modern era, 731-metric count is being used to produce Muslin which will be much finer than its earlier peer.
Bangladesh has entered the era of Dhakai Muslin counting on a type of special cotton grown in Mymensingh.
So far, a total of six sarees have been woven on experimental basis while 60 others in the pipeline by June 2022. At present, the work of weaving 11 sarees is also underway.
The target for commercial production has been set by 2023 while efforts are going on to increase the durability of the fabric before commercial production kicks off.
Besides, documentation paper will be made for international recognition of the wonder cloth. Geographical Indication rights have already been approved.
According to the report of the Industry and Energy Department of the Planning Commission, the project commenced in 2018 at a cost of Tk 12.10 crore.
Sources in the Ministry of Textiles and Jute said the Dhakai Muslin House has been constructed on the unused land once belonged to BJMC at Rupganj in Narayanganj.
The production of cloth has already begun and Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation has permanently handed over the land to Bangladesh Weaving Board.
Additional Secretary (Planning) to the Ministry of Textiles and Jute Mahmud Hossain told The Business Post, “Since we took up the project in 2018, we worked in isolation in several districts.”
“Now a permanent village has been built at Tarabo in Rupganj, Narayanganj, in an aesthetic environment. The work of making cloth has already started. Activities are on to meet the target by June 2022.”
It is known that the cost to make the first saree went around Tk 3,60,000. Researchers expect that the expenditure will come down gradually. So far 22 people have been trained on the Muslin production.
Some 75 received training on how to make yarn. They are able to make 10 grammes of yarn in a week working day in, and day out.
Initially, the trained spinners under the Muslin project could produce only one gramme of yarn in five days.
A Muslin saree requires 140 to 150 grammes of yarn.
The pristine form of the high-brow cloth weighed around 200 grammes. At present, the cloth made with 731-metric count of yarn category will weigh 170-180 grammes or less.
The new yarn cannot be seen with naked eyes. To see it, one has to hold a black cloth behind the yarn.
Commercial production likely by 2023
Relevant sources said interested companies will be invited to go for commercial production by the end of 2022 with a notification.
The government will select one or more institutions after verifications.
The Director of Muslin Project Ayub Ali told The Business Post, “It may be possible to make the extraordinary saree available in the market within the next year. For this, various companies will be allowed to go for commercial production, but they will under the government scanner.”
Search for Phuty carpas cotton (A rare cotton variety)
There is, however no pattern of Muslin cloth, nor is any sign of Phuty carpas cotton easily found. There were only a few books like “Species Plantarum” written by Swedish researcher Carolus Linnaeus and “Dhakai Muslin” by Abdul Karim.
Among them, Carolas Linias wrote about Phuty carpas cotton suitable for weaving Muslin. In his writing, he mentioned that such cotton tree used to be cultivated in East India and Bangladesh.
In the Shitalakshya basin of Narayanganj, such cotton plants grow. So this area was the main target for researchers who speculated that the special variety of cotton plant may survive in the wilderness.
Based on this idea, it was first planned to collect wild cotton varieties available in different parts of Bangladesh, cultivate them in research fields and put them to test.
The information about this exotic cotton tree came from Kapasia of Gazipur and Rangamati in March 2017 through various propaganda sources.
Then a total of 38 samples were collected from Baghaichhari, Sajek and Langdu of Rangamati, Bagerhat, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram, and the experimenters found a match between the cotton plant species in Kapasia and the sketch they had with them.
This variety of potential Phuty carpas cotton plant was cultivated in the fields of Botany Department of Rajshahi University and of the Institute of Biological Science.
From Shahbag to London via Kolkata
During the campaign for the collection of Muslin cloth from local sources, samples of eight cloths were found from different parts of the country.
The team of analysts also found a 300-year-old saree while collecting samples. Examination later showed that the saree was actually made of silk.
As the investigators were not being able to find any samples of Muslin from any sources, they later approached the museum authorities since they needed a four-by-four inch of a piece of Muslin cloth, but the authorities concerned were reluctant to part with the sample.
Even after the permission of the ministry, the museum authorities did not issue a sample of their Muslin cloth.
Later the team spent about eight months hoping for the sample from the National Museum that retains only one turban made of Dhakai Muslin.
Hence, they went to the National Museum of India in search for Muslin sample collection.
Experts at the Indian museum say the Muslin saree now being made in Murshidabad is made of cotton grown in South India, which is not as soft as the one for Dhakai Muslin.
According to them, in order to make Dhakai Muslin, one has to find the cotton variety from the vicinity of Dhaka. This is because of the special role of the cotton and yarn and climate in the production of Muslin.
In Kolkata, the research team was disappointed. Upon hearing the news, the Prime Minister asked them to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in London where she came across the Dhakai Muslin.
Finally in July 2017, a group of three members of the committee visited the London museum where they had important information.
Finally Phuty carpas (Special variety of cotton)
Henceforth, the DNA sequences of Muslin cloth were extracted by the researchers that found 95 per cent similarity in the DNA of this Muslin with a previously collected species of carpas plant in Kapasia. They became convinced that this is what they were looking for.
Sources said it is not an easy deal to make the 500-count category of yarn from Phuty carpas since it cannot be produced by machine. It is to be manually spun.
It is reported that the weavers in Chandina of Cumilla are still spinning thick yarn by spinning.
However, that yarn does not come to the size of the count category. It can be a maximum of eight to ten counts.
After much wandering, the Muslin project team members found two old women named Hasu and Nurjahan in Cumilla who could say their ancestors used to make special yarn for Muslin by spinning, but they themselves cannot do so now due to their old age.
Eventually, the researchers came across those who used to spin yarn for Khadi or Khaddar (Woven natural fibre cloth). The empiricists wanted to exploit their potentials.
The spinners were then divided into eight groups each with five, and were engaged in competition to make yarn thinner.
It took two years to pick up the best of each team who became instructors subsequently, and six months to teach 11 more people by the instructors.
The project staff are working with the aim of creating 300 skilled spinners.
Besides, the new spinning wheel has been designed by the senior instructor of the weaving board Manjurul Islam and Dean of Textile University Prof Alimuzzaman.
A three-finger work
The work of refining the yarn is done by three fingers, and this yarn looks finest when prepared by the women. All three fingers need to be kept as soft as possible.
In the evening lotion was applied to three fingers while the yarn used to be produced in the morning. And all the time the three fingers had to be taken much care of so that they do not get hurt or injured of any kind.
If the fingers get sweaty while working, they are brought back to normal applying powder to them. Since it has no mechanical dimensions, the amount of yarn to be released to make it thinner has to be controlled with the full rotation of the spinning wheel.
From 150 to 631-count category of yarn
It requires 150-count category of yarn for Jamdani saree which is actually an inferior kind of Muslin. The optimistic researchers visited from door to door of weavers to produce 300-count category of yarn, but to no avail. But they did not back down either.
At one stage the desired weaver was found in Narayanganj. They are Rubel Mia and Md Ibrahim who could lend their hands in weaving original Muslin made of 300 to 500-count category of yarn produced manually by spinning.
The erstwhile Muslin cloth was made with 500-count category of yarn, but now it is woven with 300 to 631-count category of yarn – all have been possible because of strenuous efforts.
The fineness of the yarn has been reached, but its durability has yet been found. So research is going on to increase the sustainability of the thread.
Knitting preparation
The yarn was too thin. Starch was needed to prevent corrosion from friction, but conventional starch was not working. At one stage, researchers were able to work using thin rice starch. When it is wrapped in starch, it gets torn repeatedly. However, researchers found out method that prevented the yarn from being torn.
Difficulty arose further. This time the yarn is torn while filling the bobbin, while pulling or even while getting a very simple touch. So every step had to be rediscovered. In order for the bobbin to rotate easily in the beam, structural aspect had to be adjusted. A half-hour work takes four hours to complete due to very thin yarn.
The entire work requires a temperate weather. So the loom is put in the earthen hole because Muslin has a relationship with soil moisture. Water is kept in buckets to prevent the yarn from tearing repeatedly.
Finally, the Muslin cloth came into being
At first a loom was made, and with it came three. Rubel and Ibrahim saw the design of the saree woven in 1810 and wove exactly one like that. At present 22 artisans are working in 12 looms. The goal is to set 20 looms.
In addition, work is underway to install the remaining eight looms, and for this 40 weavers will be trained to do the job.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses about 350 Dhakai Muslin sarees, one of which was woven in 1710. The last exhibition of Dhakai Muslin was held in London in 1850.
