The geography of weaving in early nineteenth-century south India

The Sources: An Appraisal

The normal or everyday clothing of south Indians in the nineteenth century must be reconstructed from descriptions by various observers: the most exhaustive documentation of Indian clothing around the midpoint of the century (particularly in terms of design) comes from Forbes Watson, who collected, classified and documented different kinds of cloth from various parts of the country in two large series of albums of 18 volumes each. ¹⁷ For the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, visual data can be obtained from Company paintings, some of which are very detailed. ¹⁸ These comprise different regional sets or series on various castes and occupations from that region, depicting their practitioners (often as a pair or couple—both man and woman). To these can be added written descriptions in personal narratives, travelogues and official records. Before examining these sources, a few things must be said in order to place them in context.

Watson’s collection is not representative of quantities: in other words, it tells us nothing about clothing in terms of yardage. He acknowledges in several places that plain white (often unbleached) clothing or coarse white cloth with minimal decoration/ornamentation was the commonest form of dress, but amongst his samples clothes of this kind are obviously not represented in proportion to the quantities produced. ¹⁹ Since his primary interest lay in documenting as many different designs as possible, cloths of intricate design and colour are disproportionately represented. Hence his collection cannot be taken as a representative sample. For example, amongst men’s garments there is a large collection of colourful cloths worn (and woven) by the Lubbays of Tamil Nadu, a very small community. ²⁰ Nevertheless Watson’s albums give a detailed understanding of the sheer variety of cloth produced. They are particularly useful inasmuch as they give dimensions and prices as well as exact locales of production.

Company paintings were paintings commissioned by Europeans, but painted by Indian artists in traditional style or modifications thereof. Thanjavur in south India was one of the places where such paintings were commissioned; the painters were called Moochys. Trichinopoly (Thiruchirapalli) and Madras were other centres in south India. ²¹ A certain amount of caution must be exercised while analysing these paintings, for as Captain Charles Gold, who commissioned some of them, explained: ‘on the suggestions of Europeans, some of the artists had been induced to draw a series of the most ordinary casts or tribes, each picture representing a man and his wife, with the signs or marks of distinction on their foreheads, and not in their common but holiday clothes’. ²²

Several of the paintings are clearly of this description: in them, men and women seem to be dressed in their best clothes, wearing their ‘caste marks’ (supposedly the distinguishing marks of their caste), and posing with implements of work/trade in their hands; many of the women wear jewellery. ²³ Here, it should be borne in mind that what people wear (or choose to wear) often depends upon the context and audience. ²⁴ However, a few series depict men and women in working postures and in their working or everyday clothes. Although we have no idea whether the artists who made these paintings worked from models, or used their own knowledge (or gathered information) in order to create composite types, some striking features cutting across different sets can be discovered upon close examination.

It becomes clear, for example, that a large proportion of clothes worn by both men and women were unstitched, that is they came off the loom ready to wear. ²⁵ This was particularly so in the case of south India. ²⁶ The sari, the dhoti and the turban are obvious examples. However, even amongst them there were numerous variations in design and dimensions.

Men’s Clothing: Dhotis, Roomals and Turbans

Most men wore a cloth around the lower part of their bodies, accompanied by a similar piece of cloth worn across the shoulders. The former were usually called Dotras or dhotis and the latter dupattas or shalnamas (Watson calls them ‘loongees’). ²⁷ Often the two parts were woven together with a gap (of only warp threads) left between them where the pieces could be separated. The upper cloth could double up as a sheet during the night. It was also common to cut up piece goods of suitable breadth into dhotis and upper cloths. ²⁸ In the colder climate of the Deccan and the region around Coimbatore, the Cumblee or woollen blanket doubled up as body cloth. ²⁹

Young boys wore a shorter version of the dhoti. ³⁰ Most men also wore turbans (in different styles). Roomals which were shorter in length and square in shape were also used as a head dress. ³¹ The poorest castes usually wore only the dhoti or a very short loincloth called langotee, being too poor to afford anything else; often they were socially prohibited from wearing turbans, regarded as badges of respectability and social status. ³²

Men’s clothing was, to a very large extent, unbleached or white. Hoole, describing a Christian congregation in Madras, writes that the

… men were neatly attired in white cotton cloths … [They] wear turbans. The rest of their dress consists of two cloths, one disposed about the loins, forming something like a pair of loose trousers; the other gracefully thrown across the shoulders. ³³

A missionary in Kadapa district described his congregation (assembled for the Christmas celebration) thus:

… [M]en, women and children dressed in their best and gayest clothing, mostly snow white garments but relieved continually by contrast with the brightest of colours—a scarlet jacket or turban, etc.; many of the women wear flowers in their hair and the children have garlands of marigold and chrysanthemum. ³⁴

This pattern seems to have continued until the late nineteenth century when changes began to set in. ³⁵ Another observer described Kapu men (Kapus were the dominant cultivating caste in the Telugu-speaking region of the Madras Presidency) as being dressed in a ‘voluminous white turban…a plain unbleached upper cloth and a pair of drawers (called tsalladamulu), both of very coarse material.’ ³⁶

These descriptive accounts are confirmed by the Company paintings, in which the vast majority of men wear white cloths of differing lengths, with less or more embellishment. For example, in the 1770 series (showing 36 castes and occupations), out of 37 men depicted, 26 (or about 70 per cent) are wearing white clothing. ³⁷ In the 1790 series, about 63 per cent of men wear partly or wholly white clothing. ³⁸ In the 1805 series, about 72 per cent are clothed partly or wholly in white. ³⁹

In actual fact, it is likely that more white clothing was used on a day to day basis than these paintings depict, as most working clothes seem to have been plain, unbleached white. In a 1840 series depicting artisanal occupations, most men and women are shown in working postures: all the men are wearing white dhotis, tucked tightly between their legs. Almost all the turbans are white. While working the upper-body cloth was abandoned, probably for convenience in the hot climate of south India. ⁴⁰ In comparison, Company paintings from the north show a larger proportion of men wearing the upper cloth or some form of stitched clothing which accords with the much greater seasonal variations in temperature there. ⁴¹ Much the same observations about dress can be made in the case of paintings depicting agricultural work.

On the other hand, men shown walking in religious and marriage processions are usually dressed in dhotis and upper cloths with ornamented and coloured borders, and colourful turbans. ⁴² Men depicted in their ‘holiday’ clothes are similarly dressed. In support of our inference is Watson’s observation that Indian weavers were economical with decoration, which, according to him, was never in excess but highlighted the beauty of the cloth when worn in the right way. Thus, he notes, the ends (or rather one end) of turbans and dhotis was often decorated with coloured bands and silk or gold thread, and borders running along the edge of the cloth were made using coloured cotton thread (or silk or gold thread). ⁴³ Sometimes white cloth was textured with stripes or checks of the same colour. ⁴⁴ Even very coarse cloth might be decorated with red, brown or blue endings; or borders that became visible depending on the way the cloth was draped: for example, coarse cloths worn by a farming community whom Watson calls Burghers in the Coimbatore region had blue and red borders. ⁴⁵ Similarly, Togataru weavers produced coarse white cloths with red borders, the staple dress of the poor in the region around Bangalore. ⁴⁶

In some social groups, men wore coloured clothing as a matter of course. Lubbays, a Muslim community of traders and weavers, wove coloured dhotis usually patterned with checks or stripes. Lubbays in Company paintings are shown wearing these loose and not tucked in between the legs. ⁴⁷ In the twentieth century, this kind of cloth came to be known as the lungi and passed into common use largely as a kind of dress worn at home (in private spaces rather than public ones). From the 1930s on, it was exported to several countries where Tamil migrants had settled. ⁴⁸

Coloured clothing was also worn on certain occasions, particularly those of religious significance. A Company painting shows a man going on a pilgrimage clad in an ochre dhoti. ⁴⁹ According to Buchanan, sanyasi Brahmins who lived in temples or matams (monasteries) usually wore yellow or red cloth. ⁵⁰ And sure enough in Company paintings sanyasis and religious mendicants are depicted as wearing yellow or ochre clothes. Muslim mendicants are also shown in coloured clothes. ⁵¹ Not unsurprisingly, the most striking and embellished clothes in terms of colour and design are worn by members of prosperous and powerful groups. Foreign travellers in India were struck by the attire of rulers and local elites. ⁵² By the early nineteenth century some of them had declined in wealth and power, and their use of expensive textiles must have fallen proportionately.

Not all men wore dhotis and body cloths. The paintings show that many wealthy individuals and men employed in the bureaucracy and army wore tunics or kurtas. By the early nineteenth century many cultural influences were at work upon clothing. Nayaka rulers (who came from further north), Muslim rulers and nobles, the Marathas and the British successively brought new forms and fashions to south India. The use of stitched clothing increased. All the indigenous names used by Watson to describe stitched tunics come from Urdu or other north Indian dialects, indicating that these costumes were introduced through northern influence. ⁵³

Men of the ruling classes as well as those belonging to immigrant groups from the north (such as Muslim nobles, Marathas and Sikhs) are shown wearing long robes or kurtas/coats with trousers/dhotis. Some of these robes/kurtas are white but most of them are coloured and elaborately patterned; those used by the well-off being heavily embellished with gold. Similarly, the British also exerted their own stylistic influence. According to Hoole, ‘native men, in the service of Europeans, generally wear also a close jacket, of muslin or calico, with sleeves down to the wrist’. ⁵⁴ Company paintings show dubashes, shroffs, cooks, soldiers, barbers and tailors wearing stitched upper garments. Cooks and soldiers are also depicted in trousers of varying lengths.

Thus styles of dress imbibed new influences from other regions. These changes also affected designs and patterns. South India does not appear to have had a local tradition of tie and dye: this became popular with the coming of the Pattunoolkarar weavers, who arrived in the Tamil country during the reign of the Nayakas. Maratha nobles were said to be particularly fond of tie and dye textiles. ⁵⁵

Another element of men’s clothing was the turban. It was universally worn, though in present-day south India the custom has almost died out. Turbans were usually of fine texture since they had to be wound many times around the head; they came in varying sizes and were worn in myriad styles, often representative of particular regions and castes. The length of a turban was usually between 15 and 25 yards (but some could be as long as 60); it was about nine to twelve inches broad. ⁵⁶ Shorter turbans or Roomals (literally handkerchiefs) were widely used.

In the case of turbans too white was the commonest colour. ⁵⁷ The cheapest turbans had no ornamentation but simple coloured borders, particularly in red. Of coloured turbans, those dyed in red and yellow were the most popular. Printed turbans were also worn. The most expensive mode of ornamentation was the use of gold threads in borders and ends. Coloured scarves and shawls were also worn, often made of silk and embellished with gold. Some men also wore other kinds of head dresses. For example, Brahmins might wear stitched caps made from dyed cotton cloth. ⁵⁸ Soldiers usually wore caps of various designs.

Women’s Clothing

Most women wore saris, known by different names. ⁵⁹ Hoole describes the women of a Christian congregation in Madras as being dressed in

…red or blue cloths, of the same material (cotton), or of silk, one piece of about nine yards in length being disposed (without the aid of pins or sewing) into a modest covering of the whole person; one end being drawn over the head, to serve as a veil when they assemble in a public congregation…Some of the hindoo women wear under the cloth a ravvikei, or body-dress, usually of fancy silk, fitting close to the person, and only long enough to cover the bosom; it has short sleeves, reaching half way to the elbow. Many of them have gold or silver bracelets and anklets of large size on their arms and ankles, and an abundance of rings and jewellery about their noses and ears, fingers and toes; they wear no shoes and no head dress. ⁶⁰

According to Buchanan, women in the Mysore region wore what was called the ‘shiray’, which they ‘wrap around their haunches and then throw over their heads and houlders’. A slightly shorter version of this was the ‘kirigay’, used by girls. In addition, there was the ‘cuppisa’—a ‘little jacket which the women at this place wear’—the cloth for which was woven in long pieces (from which as many as 12 jackets could be made). ⁶¹

Saris came in numerous designs and dimensions, each community having its own way of draping it. Some women wore cholis or bodices but most did not. Saris were mostly coloured, though white saris with coloured borders and ends were also common. White clothing predominated in certain regions: a series of Company paintings from the Malabar coast show men and women, including Brahmins and ‘low’ castes, toddy tappers and fisher people, wearing white clothes of varying styles and lengths. ⁶² In Vishakapatnam district as late as the twentieth century, white saris with coloured borders were reported to be widespread. ⁶³ Togattaru weavers near Bangalore wove white cloth with a red border (worn by both men and women). ⁶⁴ Mothasaudys (coarse saris) produced in the Ceded districts were also white. ⁶⁵ In Baramahal, too, white saris were common.

In the Company paintings, the poorest women are usually shown wearing white clothes, often only a waist cloth with the upper body left bare. In three series of Company paintings dating from 1770, 1790 and 1805, women described as grass-cutters, basket makers, Cullers, mud-wall makers, rat-catchers, toddy tappers, tank builders, firewood sellers, jugglers and beggars (a catalogue of the poorest and most menial occupations) are depicted in plain white clothes without borders, with the cloth often reaching only up to the knee. Some of them carry babies in slings made of white cloth partly covering their bodies. In the case of potters, carpenters, weavers, bricklayers, blacksmiths, butchers, bracelet or necklace sellers, washermen, shoemakers, etc., all shown as couples, the women wear white saris with red or blue borders, or else coloured ones: these are artisans, somewhat higher up the social scale. In the 1770 collection (consisting of 36 paintings), of the 32 women depicted, 17 are wearing white. ⁶⁶ Out of these, if one wearing a fine muslin dress is excluded, about half are dressed in the simplest white clothing. In the 1790 series, about 25 per cent of the women are in white, and in the 1805 series, the percentage rises to 32. ⁶⁷

In general, it appears that women who could afford to, especially in modern-day Tamil Nadu, south Karnataka and southern Andhra Pradesh, wore coloured saris. Joseph Mullens, a missionary, noted that ‘the women are fond of coloured dresses, which they wear rather short; and often leave the head uncovered out-of-doors: a thing never done in Upper India’. ⁶⁸ Buchanan wrote that women in the Mysore country generally wore coloured saris. ⁶⁹ Poorer women used white cloths with red borders. Indigo blue and madder red were the commonest colours. Dyeing in red was easier and cheaper than blue and mostly done by weavers themselves. ⁷⁰ Dyed saris could be plain with the entire cloth in one colour except for a border and/or end dyed in a contrasting shade. Nearly all saris had borders and some kind of design at the end that was draped across the shoulder, or over the head, or tucked into the waist. ⁷¹

Saris could be patterned or ornamented in several ways. The most common method was patterning on the loom whereby checks or squares were created by using threads of different colours. The borders might be intricately patterned with threads of a different dye, sometimes of silk, and interwoven with gold thread. Tie and dye was another method used to create patterns, though this was restricted to a few specialised centres. Madurai was famous for its tie and dye saris in dark red produced by the Pattunoolkarars. ⁷² Block printing was less common, in the inland regions at least. ⁷³

Though the sari was ubiquitous, other forms of clothing, such as skirts, also existed. Lambadi women wore a petticoat with a kind of blouse or choli. So-called dancing girls are often seen in skirts or petticoats with a choli and dupatta. ⁷⁴

To summarise: in the early nineteenth century, most men in south India wore traditional clothing consisting of dhoti, angavastram or upper cloth and turban. Sari was the commonest form of clothing worn by women. Stitched clothes were worn to a limited extent. Much depended on the economic and social status of the wearer. Generally speaking, most clothing was coarse and white (or unbleached), with coloured borders and ends. Wealthy men and women wore colourful and patterned textiles. White was prevalent amongst the poor, though less so in the case of women.

Cloth Produced for Other Purposes

Apart from clothing, cloth was woven for many other purposes. Textiles, some very fine and brocaded, were used for decoration and ornamentation in the homes (and palaces) of dominant classes and groups. ⁷⁵ Jamakalams or carpets of varying quality, in different colours and designs, were widely used. ⁷⁶ Carpets made of silk were produced for the nobles and rulers of Thanjavur.

But ordinary cloth also had a variety of uses. Far more important for our purposes was the consumption in very large quantities of thick plain cloth known as khadi (presumably the origin of the term later used for handlooms woven from hand-spun yarn as espoused by Gandhi). This was used as clothing especially in colder regions. But it was also used as tent cloth, either plain or printed, and some varieties were used for making sails. Apart from this, khadis were used ‘for packing goods, and as a covering for the dead, for which last purpose a large quantity is employed both by Hindoos and Mahomedans’. ⁷⁷ The thicker varieties, sometimes called Dungarees, were used for tents and sails. Watson took particular note of the ‘strength, lightness, and other good qualities of the cotton sailcloth manufactured in India’. ⁷⁸ Cotton tapes were also woven in large quantities for stringing cots. ⁷⁹

The Coimbatore–Salem Region

Buchanan reported that many weavers lived in the town of Coimbatore as well as in surrounding villages. Those in the town were predominantly Jadars and Coiculurs (Kaikolars); those in the villages were Bestas, Canara Devangas and ‘Pariahs’ or Parayars. ⁹⁵ Reports from later periods attest to the presence of a small number of Pattunoolkarars who produced fine silk and cotton cloths. ⁹⁶ The Jadar made fine cloths of different kinds. ⁹⁷ The Kaikolar, Parayar and others wove coarse cloth: plain cloth called khadi, plain ‘shirays’ with red borders or blue ends. ⁹⁸ Forbes Watson collected coarse unbleached cloth with red and blue borders worn by cultivators near Coimbatore. ⁹⁹ The Parayar were the prototypical ‘untouchable’ caste of the Tamil country and we will see their name crop up repeatedly hereafter in connection with the weaving of coarse cloth. ¹⁰⁰

Though the town of Coimbatore was an important weaving centre, most textile production appears to have been dispersed over the countryside. In 1824, the collector reported that

…there are very few large towns, the population is scattered over a large extent of country and in the numerous petty hamlets. In each of these hamlets two or three looms are to be found, the person who has no loom will get his thread manufactured into cloth at the loom of his neighbour. ¹⁰¹

A large proportion of these weavers were Parayars. ¹⁰² According to Buchanan, most weavers in Coimbatore wove on their own account or sought help from better off weavers; if they took advances from merchants it was only for a piece at a time, for fear of getting indebted and having to work for a very low rate. ¹⁰³

The town of Salem, in the Baramahal region adjoining Coimbatore district, was an important weaving centre. It had a settlement of Pattunoolkarars (or Saurashtras), who were also settled in smaller numbers in the villages of Paramapatti and Namakkal. ¹⁰⁴ They, along with Jadars, specialised in weaving fine cloth, which was exported to Mysore and the west coast, the Carnatic and Thanjavur. ¹⁰⁵ Saliar (Salay) and Seniyar weavers lived mostly in and around the towns of Rasipur and Salem. ¹⁰⁶ The Salay produced cloth similar to that woven by the Jadar, while the Seniyar specialised in women’s clothing embellished with colours and stripes. ¹⁰⁷

OPEN IN VIEWER Figure 1

Weaving Loci in Inland South India

The Salem region had more weavers’ settlements and a larger proportion of cloth was exported. Buchanan noted that merchants lived in villages and collected goods for export. Ammapettai near Bhavani was a village of 40 houses, all inhabited by merchants and weavers. ¹⁰⁸ The village of Doddarapalayam had 50 Devanga/Jadar households. ¹⁰⁹ Komarapalayam, Puttur (Puthur), Mohanur, Velur, etc. were even larger weaver settlements. ¹¹⁰ Around the town of Sati-mangalam (Sathyamangalam) lived many weavers of the Jadar and Kaikolar castes. ¹¹¹ Here, according to Buchanan, merchants ‘frequently make advances for the cloth intended for country use’, seeking in this way to draw weavers into debt. Only some weavers could afford to weave ‘on their own account’. ¹¹²

At the same time, weavers belonging to other castes such as Kaikolars and Koliars (another ‘untouchable’ caste) were distributed all over the region: they produced coarse varieties of cloth called Mota khadis and parkallas: these were sold in adjoining regions. ¹¹³ In some villages lived Chembadavars, who wove similar kinds of cloth; many Manniwars (another ‘untouchable’ caste) lived in the northern part of the Baramahals: they wove fine turbans and body cloths. ¹¹⁴ Merchants provided them with advances (especially once the East India Company began buying up cloth from this region). ¹¹⁵

The Mysore Region

In the region around Mysore, little cotton was grown: here, Bangalore acted as a centre for fine silk and cotton cloths manufactured for export. Otherwise it seems to have been a net importer of cloth (though some coarse cloth was exported to the Malabar region). The finest cloths were woven by the Puttegar and Cuttery. ¹¹⁶ They made them on commission (after obtaining an advance from merchants) but when demand was low they also wove on their own account, borrowing money from bankers or moneylenders to do so. ¹¹⁷

Meanwhile the Shayanagaru and Devanga specialised in coarse varieties of coloured cotton cloth for women. ¹¹⁸ The Shayanagaru (again) and Salay specialised in weaving white muslins. Each kind had several patterns and each pattern had three degrees of fineness. According to Buchanan, all these groups were financed by merchants but also wove cloth on their own account, which they might sell to merchants or on the open market. ¹¹⁹ The Togataru, who were poorer, made coarse, thick, white cotton cloth with red borders: ‘in general [they] receive the thread from the women in the neighbourhood and work it up into cloth, for hire’. ¹²⁰ A prominent caste was the Whalliaru, also called Deds, whom Buchanan describes as the equivalent of Parayars of the Tamil country. They lived ‘scattered in…villages’, and made a coarse, white, strong cloth called parkalla worn as an upper cloth. ¹²¹

There were towns and villages like Waluru, Colar (Kolar) and Sirijapura (Sarjapur) described as weavers’ settlements, but in most places Buchanan that passed through, he found weavers scattered across the countryside. Lacor near Waluru was not a large town, but had many weavers of the Devanga, Padmasalay, Shaynagaru, Togataru and Kaikolar castes. They sold part of their cloth at weekly markets in neighbouring towns, and partly to merchants who came from places like Bangalore, Kolar and Krishnagiri. ¹²²

Weavers in Waluru made cloth both for ‘country use’ and export:

The coarse cloths for the former purpose, they sell at the weekly fairs. The finer kinds they either weave on their own account, selling them to traders at the same places; or they receive advances from merchants to enable them to purchase thread. ¹²³

Kolar had once been an important manufacturing town: it had Devanga and Shaynagaru weavers, who produced white cotton cloth with silk borders, muslins and turbans. These were bought by merchants from places like Gubi (Gubbi), Seringapatam (Srirangapattana), etc. In the surrounding villages, ‘much coarse cloth was made by the Whalliaru’. ¹²⁴ In Sarjapur, Devangas, Salay and Togataru weavers produced coarse goods (in earlier times they claimed to have been weavers of fine cloth). ¹²⁵ Here, ‘the merchants…act merely as brokers and the weavers frequently carry their own goods for sale to Bangalore. Purchases are made here by traders from Seringapatam, Sira…Bangaluru, Colar…’. ¹²⁶ The town of Silagutta had a small settlement of Padma Salays, who produced coarse cotton cloths with red borders. But the bulk of the cloth was made by the Whalliaru in surrounding villages, and some of it was exported: merchants told Buchanan that they made advances only when there was a large demand for it. ¹²⁷

In Sira, the Billy Muggas wove a coarse thin muslin called Shilla of differing qualities. The Devangas made two kinds of thick coarse cloth: one was khadi similar to that woven by the Whalliaru near Bangalore; the other, with red borders, similar to that woven by the Togataru. ¹²⁸ The town of Gubi (Gubbi), where a very large weekly fair was held, had no weavers, but ‘the country, for ten or twelve cosses around, produces for sale coarse cotton cloth both white and coloured’. This was woven by Devanga, Togattaru and Whalliaru weavers. ¹²⁹ In Priyapattana, bordering the Coorg region, most of the cloth was imported from Mysore, but a small quantity of coarse cotton cloth was manufactured by a caste of weavers called Torearu. ¹³⁰ The Whalliaru could be found everywhere, producing coarse cloth for sale. In the town of Taiuru and its environs, Buchanan reported ‘no commerce; nor any manufactures, except the coarse cloth which the Whalliaru weave’. ¹³¹

Thus throughout the Mysore country, we find large groups of weavers living in towns, producing fine varieties of cloth, while in the countryside coarse cotton cloth is produced, mainly by the Whalliaru, but also by the Togataru and other groups, for local consumption. Merchants provided advances in the case of fine cloths, or when there was a considerable demand for certain varieties. Weavers also bought yarn on their own account (borrowing money if necessary) and sold their cloth on the open market or to merchants. They also wove cloth using yarn provided by their customers.

The Madurai–Dindigul Region

The city of Madurai was an important weaving centre. A large number of Pattunoolkarar weavers lived in it. They wove fine white dhotis with patterned borders that might be decorated with gold thread (zari), clothes with silk borders, white and red turbans, fine saris with intricate borders, etc. ¹³² The finest cloths were woven on commission, on receipt of an advance to buy yarn and zari. ¹³³ Another group of Pattunoolkarars lived in Paramakudi, a large village east of Madurai, on the banks of the Vaigai. ¹³⁴ But Madurai district also had weavers belonging to other castes, amongst them Parayar. These did not live in the city, but produced much of the cloth used for ordinary wear. ¹³⁵

In Dindigul, too, fine-cloth weavers were concentrated in the town and larger villages, but there were dispersed looms in almost every village weaving cloth of the coarser kind. It was reported that the town of Dindigul had

…20 kinds of looms, consisting of (sic) about 93 in number, for the manufacture of different sorts of cloth, both fine and coarse, comprising long cloths, muslin, handkerchiefs, turbans, doopetahs, shomens, vaties and various kinds of women’s cloth. Besides the above, there are 146 looms in the villages dependent to (on) the cusbah talook, where coarse cloths are manufactured by parayars, which serve the purposes of the inhabitants in the country. ¹³⁶

The Ceded Districts

The Ceded districts grew a great deal of cotton. Much of this (40 per cent, according to Munro) was consumed locally. The remainder, along with substantial quantities of thread and cloth, was exported to the Coromandel Coast and Mysore.

The largest number of looms was in the districts of Goorankondah (Gurram Konda), Pooley–Wandrah (Pulivendula), Chittawail (Chitvel), Dummalmudgoo (Jummalamadugu): they produced coarse to middling kinds of cloths. The main staples were khadis of low counts as well as women’s cloths (also of low counts). Thirty-four per cent of the looms in Pulivendula made khadi and 34 per cent made mothasaudys (making a total of 68 per cent producing coarse cloth). Similarly, 38 per cent of the looms in Chitvel produced khadi and 29 per cent mothasaudys. ¹³⁷ Much of this cloth was woven using yarn provided by the customer. The collector of Cuddapah (Kadapa) reported that ‘the practice of supplying the material and getting cloths made for home use obtains to a great extent in this district’. ¹³⁸

In contrast, the districts of Bellary, Compli (Kampli), Harpanhally (Harpanahalli), Goottee (Gooty) and Koilhonttah (Koilkuntla) had fewer looms, but produced finer textiles. Silk cloth was produced at only a few places (on a total of 44 looms), namely Kampli, Gooty, Yadhi (Yadiki), Chennumply (Chennampalle), Tarputree (Tadipatri) and Adhoni (Adoni), with Kampli containing the largest number of looms (19). From another source we learn that Kampli was a large town with many weavers. ¹³⁹ They wove cloth of middling to fine texture. Bellary also produced medium to fine textiles and was an important centre for women’s cloths: 41 per cent of its looms produced red and blue saris. Kamalapuram (further east) was another centre of fine cloth production, this time of very fine dupattas, and women’s cloths (35 per cent of its looms being given over to it). In the late nineteenth century, Uppalur, in Kamlapuram, developed into one of the most important silk-producing centres in the district. ¹⁴⁰

Gooty district had an interesting combination of looms: 38 per cent produced khadi; the remainder made different varieties of fine cloths, going up to 32 punjams in some cases. ¹⁴¹ It also had six silk looms and was a centre for women’s cloths (36 per cent of looms made red and blue saris). A lot of coarse chintz (printed and painted) was made around the town of Gooty. ¹⁴² Part of the cotton producing (black soil) tracts of the Ceded districts, the district had the usual combination of fine-cloth production in the town and larger villages, and decentralised production of coarser varieties of (largely white) cloth in the countryside.

This broad pattern, of widespread and decentralised production of coarser, white cloths, and clustered production of fine and coloured cloths (particularly women’s clothing) is confirmed by a careful analysis of the kinds of cloths produced in different areas. White cloths, particularly coarser varieties such as khadi, were produced almost everywhere, while the weaving of coloured cloth, and particularly women’s cloths, was much more concentrated. In the Ceded districts, red saris were made mainly in Pulivendula, Gooty, Roydoorg (Rayadurgam), Bellary and Naguldinnah. ¹⁴³ Blue saris were woven in Gooty, Chennampalle, Rayadurgam, Darmavar (Dharmavaram), Kamalapur, Nauguldinnah, Bellary, Kampli and Koodligah.

Munro’s report provides valuable details about the number of looms and kinds and quality of cloth produced, but not the social composition of weavers. For this we must look elsewhere. One of the largest groups of weavers in this region were the Malas. The social equivalent of the Parayar in the Tamil country, they produced the strong coarse cloth used by poor folk. In Kadapa, Kurnool and Bellary districts lived a great many Malas (though no exact figures exist), whose primary occupation is described as weaving.

According to a missionary source, ‘the Malas are not mere coolies; the majority of them weave with the handloom, and their wives spin thread; some are cultivators, others field labourers’. ¹⁴⁴ As late as 1896, an official estimated that in the Deccan districts one third of the weavers were Malas, who wove the coarse cloths ‘worn by the Malas themselves and by the cultivating classes’. ¹⁴⁵ Kapus (the dominant cultivating caste of this region) provided Mala weavers with cotton, paid the women for spinning it into yarn, and the men for weaving it into cloth. ¹⁴⁶

Other weaving castes reported for Kadapa are Sales (Padma and Pattu), Togattas and Devangas. Togattas and Sales wove silk and fine cotton cloths. ¹⁴⁷ A large number of Muslim weavers also lived in this region, mostly in towns like Adoni and Kurnool, and specialised in weaving carpets. ¹⁴⁸

Chingelput (Chengalpattu) and North Arcot Districts

In the district of Chengalpattu, out of a total of 3,917 looms, as many as 2,339 were located in the taluk of Conjeevaram (Kanchipuram) and 574 in the taluk of Manemungalum (Manimangalam); some taluks such as Nayer and Teruporoor (Tiruporur) had less than hundred looms each. ¹⁴⁹ Another report shows that about half the looms in the district were found in or around Kanchipuram and Arnee (Arani) and that these paid high loom taxes. Looms paying a tax of ₹4 to 4½ were found only in Kanchipuram. Those in Arani paid ₹3 ½ on average. The remaining looms, scattered across the rest of the district, paid from 1 to 2 rupees. ¹⁵⁰ Though loom tax rates could vary widely within the same district, often for no discernible reason, a higher tax is usually indicative of fine-cloth production. From Forbes Watson’s collection we learn that Arani was famous for fine muslins, dhotis and saris. ¹⁵¹ Kanchipuram was also an important centre for the production of fine cloth. ¹⁵² Thus Chengalpattu conforms to the pattern set out so far: while fine-cloth weaving was concentrated in towns or large villages, the production of ordinary or coarse varieties was dispersed.

This is confirmed by the data on duties paid on different kinds of cloth in the district. Of total duties collected on cloth valued at more than two rupees, no less than half was collected at the Kanchipuram chowki alone. Sixteen per cent came from Arani chowki. ¹⁵³ Villages around the chowkis of Panapaukam (Panapakkam), Saulavaupum, Tricutehicoonrum (Tirukalukundram), Terooporoor (Tiruporur) and Parumbaukum (Perumbakam) produced cheaper cloth: the collector remarked that if cloth worth less than two rupees was to be exempted from duties, these chowkis could be dispensed with. ¹⁵⁴ According to him, ‘cloths of this description are made by the commoner classes of weavers, on their own account and that of others, who make their own thread, and pay the hire of weaving it into cloth’. ¹⁵⁵

In North Arcot, weavers producing more expensive cloth lived in the taluks of Cauverypauk (Kaveripakkam), Trivullum (Thiruvallam) and Sholingur (Sholinghur). ¹⁵⁶ Here again, cultivators of the ‘lower orders’ were ‘in the habit of preparing the thread, [and] getting the cloths made for their own use’. ¹⁵⁷ The collector of Guntur distinguished between two categories of weavers—one, ‘those who are chiefly employed in the manufacture of cloths in ordinary demand among the natives of this and the adjoining districts’; and two, ‘those who made cloths for exportation to the order of Native or European merchants’. According to him, the latter were concentrated in the villages of Mungalaghery (Mangalagiri), Raujahpett (Rajapeta), Peralah (Perala) and Ventapollum (Venkatapalem). ¹⁵⁸ Swarnalatha describes the industry in Guntur district as consisting of ‘traditional’ weavers, who lived in the major zamindaris; and Pariah weavers and those of some other castes, who supplied cloth for local consumption, spread all over the district. ¹⁵⁹

Thanjavur was a seat of political power and fine cloth production, presumably catering to local notables. Some of the best samples (particularly in silk or a mixture of silk and cotton) in Watson’s collection come from there. ¹⁶⁰ Cloths worth more than 10 pagodas were manufactured in a village called Vijayamundapum. ¹⁶¹ A sample of a fine silk sari suggests that Combacconum (Kumbakonam) in Thanjavur district specialised in fine women’s cloths. ¹⁶²

Thus, unlike the Coromandel coast, large weaving settlements were not the norm in inland regions. In towns and larger villages lived a large number of weavers producing fine varieties and special cloths. But a very large proportion of cloth for ordinary use was produced by weavers scattered in small villages in the countryside. Weavers of certain castes might specialise in particular kinds of cloths. Those weaving coloured/patterned cloths (fine and coarse) and fine varieties of cotton and silk cloth were usually full-time weavers—for example, Pattunoolkarars, the Pattu and Padma Saliar, Devangas and Muslim weavers. These usually lived in towns or larger villages. Most coarse cloth was woven by part-time or full-time weavers scattered in villages: these belonged to castes such as the Kaikolars, Togattas, Devangas, and, above all, Parayars (and other ‘untouchable’ castes such as Malas, Koliars, Manniwars, Whalliaru). And this brings us to the widely accepted definition of weaving as a full-time occupation.