The weavers of India are alike of the Hindu and Muhammadan religions, and in the rural parts of the country nearly all the aboriginal races and many of the Sudra Hindus occupy the slack season of their field work in weaving coarse cottons and woollen fabrie,s. An investigation by the Madras Board of Revenue in 1870 showed an increasing extent of weaving ; and in the year 1881,workers in cotton, flax, silk, and wool, in India numbered 3,114,082 souls. The people of moderate means are now largely using the piece-goods of Europe and America, but the finest and coarsest products are still produced from the Indian looms. Yarns and twists are largely imported, and em ployed in the manufacture of the textile fabrics which meet the particular wants of the natives.
Divisions of the weaver caste in Telingana are Pursala wanloo, Sumsala wauloo, Puttaxiasala wanloo, and Sala wanloo.
Zunlozi, weavers of the wonderfully beautiful patterns of gold and silver tissues, plain and tigured, with and without admixture of silk or cotton, in flowers and patterns ; gold and silver tissue lace of all breadths and pattenis, used for trimming scarfs and for bridal dresses ; 'larger scarfs of muslin and tissue combined, as those of Benares; aud that wonderful cloth of gold called kimkhab, \which is without parallel in the ornamental manufactures of the world. Peo-ple of all ranks indulge in raiment gorgeous according to their means. Thespoorest marriage trousseau has some tissue or trimming, and the wealthier people make great use Arocade and tissue scarfs, shawls, and tnrbands. `The chief localities of manufacture are Benares, \purhanpur, Aurang abad, Murshidabad, Dehli, Arcot, and Mysore. The workmen are usually Muhammadaits.
At Bangalore, the descendants of the old court weavers still manufacture a peculiar kind of cloth, printed in red and black -with mythological designs. ' In the Bombay Presidency, Ahrnad • abad, Surat, and Baroach are the chief centres of the manufacture of printed sarees, for whic,h Gujerat is celebrated; while Poona, Yeola, Nasik, and Dharwar produce the fabrics dyed in the thread, which are rn ch worn by the Mahratta races.
Spinning of yarn for weaving is practised by all classes of women in India ; even the highest at one time used to amuse themselves with the spinning-wheel. Among the agricultural classes the occupation is constant, or fills up time not required for other household occupations. At the latter part of the 19th century, the imports of yarn into British India had increased enormously, and the weavers had also largely increased. The spindle in use is not much thicker than a stout needle. It is from 10 to 14 inches in length, and attached to it, near its lower point, is a ball of unbaked clay to give it weight in turning. The spinner holds it in an inclined position, with its points resting' on a piece of shell, and turns it between the thumb and forefinger of one hand, while she at the same time draws out the single filaments of cotton from the roll of cotton in the other hand, and twists them into yam upon the spindle. Dryness of the air prevents the filaments
of cotton from being sufficiently attenuated or elongated, and is therefore unfavourable to the spinniug of fine yarn. A certain degree of moist ure, combined with a temperature of 82°, is the condition of the atmosphere best suited to the carrying on of this operation. The Dacca spinners usually work from soon after dawn to 9 or 10 o'clock, and from 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon till half an hour before sunset. The finest yarn is spun early in the morning, before the rising sun dissipates the dew on the grass ; or, when this is wanting and the air is unusually dry, it is not unfrequently made over a shallow vessel of water, the evaporation from which imparts the necessary degree of inoisture to the filaments of cotton, and enables the spinner to form them into thread. As a proof of the fineness of the yarn thus deli cately spun, Mr. Tayler mentioned that one slcein which was carefully weighed, proved to be at the rate of 250 miles in length to the pound of cotton.
Dr. Watson has given the result of microscopic examinations of French, English, and Dacca muslins in an elaborate table ; and he reports that the diameter of the Dacca yarn is less than that of the finest European ; that the number of filaments in each thread is considerably smaller in the Dacca than in the European yarns ; that the diameter of the ultimate filaments or fibres of which the Dacca yarn consists is larger than the European ; and that the superior fineness of the Dacca yarn depends solely ou the fact that it contains a smaller number of filaments. These causes--combined with the ascertained result that the number of twists in each inch of length in the Dacca yarn amounts to 110.1 and 80.7, while in the British it was only 68.8 and 56-6—not only account for the superior fineness, but also for the durability of the Dacca over the European fabric. At Nandair on the Godavery, at Muktul, Dhanwarum, and Amarchinta in the Nizam's dominions, and at Arnee near Madras, muslin which rivals that of Dacca-is made in consider able quantities. In these localities the process of spinning by the spindle is the same as that of Dacca ; but as the climate is drier, the spinners, who are both men and women, work in partially darkened rooms, the floors of which are watered to produce the necessary amount of moisture. The hand-spinning of fine thread used for Brussels lace, according to Air. Palliser's account of it, is spun by women in darkened rooms.