Is muslin just a fabric? Speaking of the heritage of this Bangladesh, there is no way to exclude muslin when it comes to history. That's why it took six years for a group of researchers to regenerate muslin. Eventually they succeeded. What a wonderful way to screw people over.
The last exhibition of Dhaka muslin was in London in 1850. 160 years later, the traditional Dhaka muslin sari was woven again in Bangladesh. Just like that, as it was said, a whole sari melts through the ring. GI ownership of Dhaka Muslin has already been approved. A related gazette has been published on 26 December.
Tradition has it that after the fingers of muslin artists were cut off, Dhaka muslin production stopped. Now muslin is also made in India. But experts say that the specialty of Dhakai muslin is different.
That is why a group of researchers set out to make Dhaka muslin. They are the result of six years of effort and research. Six muslin saris have been made. One of which researchers have given as a gift to the Prime Minister. But in the beginning, the researchers had to run from Kolkata to London to get a piece of ‘original’ muslin cloth. The ‘footy corpus’ cotton tree, which is made of muslin woven yarn, has been found using a variety of methods. Even in this age of mechanical civilization, weavers had to use 500 counts of yarn cut by hand to make this sari. The cloth is also woven by handloom.
In the beginning
During a visit to the Ministry of Textiles and Jute in October 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke of bringing back the muslin tradition. Knowing in which areas of Bangladesh muslin yarn was made, he instructed to rescue the technology. In order to implement this directive of the Prime Minister, a seven-member expert committee was formed by convening the Chairman of the Weaving Board in Bangladesh. The other members of the committee is Professor of Botany, Rajshahi University. Manzur Hossain, Professor Shah Alimuzzaman of Bangladesh Textile University, Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Additional Director of Bangladesh Cotton Development Board, Mahbub-ul-Alam, General Manager of BTMC Dhaka, ASM Golam Mostafa, Deputy General Manager of Bangladesh Weaving Board and Member Secretary of the Weaving Board. To Manjurul Islam. Later, seven more members were added to the committee in the interest of research. They are Professor Bulban Osman of Dhaka University, Professor M Firoz Alam of the Department of Botany, Rajshahi University, Professor of the Department of Agronomy and Agril. Mostafizur Rahman, Chief Planning Officer of the Bangladesh Weaving Board. Ayub Ali and Bangladesh Silk Research and Training Institute Rajshahi Research Officer. Abdul Alim.
At the beginning of the work, the researchers did not have any samples of muslin cloth or cotton. Their first task was to cut the yarn from cotton and weave muslin sari, to find that cotton plant.
To complete this work, a project titled 'Bangladesh's Golden Tradition Muslin Yarn Making Technology and Muslin Fabric Recovery (Phase I)' was undertaken. The main scientist of the project is Rajshahi University Professor of Botany. Manzoor Hossain. The project director was appointed chief planning officer of the Weaving Board in Bangladesh. Ayub Ali.
At the beginning of the work, the researchers did not have any samples of muslin cloth or cotton. Their first task was to cut the yarn from cotton and weave muslin sari, to find that cotton plant. Muslin cloth was needed again to make sure that the tree was not a real footy corpus. Getting these two things together became the main challenge for the project.
In search of footy corpus
The chief scientist of the project. Manzoor Hossain said that the main task of his team was to find out the DNA sequence of his yarn and match it with the DNA of the footy cotton plant. But there is no pattern of muslin cloth in hand, no sign of footy corpus. There were only a few books like 'Spice Plantrum' written by Swedish researcher Carolus Linnaeus and 'Dhakai Muslin' by Abdul Karim. In the book of Carolus Linnaeus, it is mentioned that ‘footy corpus’ is suitable for weaving muslin cloth. It is written that this tree was cultivated in eastern India and Bangladesh.
Professor Manzoor Hossain said the footy corpus has the potential to survive somewhere in Bangladesh in the wild. Based on this idea, it is planned to collect cotton varieties found in different parts of Bangladesh in different parts of the country and to experiment by cultivating them in their own research fields.
To find the tree, it was first painted by an art student of Rajshahi University. That picture was advertised in the newspaper. Is broadcast on BTV. Meanwhile, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam gave a status on his Facebook. Seeing this, the principal of a college in Kapasia area of Gazipur. Tajuddin distributed leaflets and miked at various local schools and colleges in search of footy corps. In view of this, news of this tree came from Kapasia and Rangamati of Gazipur in March 2016. The researchers went and collected samples. Then Baghaichhari, Sajek and Langdu of Rangamati; A total of 36 samples were collected from Bagerhat, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram. Cotton, seeds, leaves, stems and flowers are taken as samples. Researchers find similarities between sketches (pictured) with a species of Kapasia tree. This variety of potential footy corpus is cultivated in the field of Botany of Rajshahi University and in the field of IBSC.
From Calcutta to London
Similarly, a notification was published in Prothom Alo on 11 December 2016 to procure muslin cloth from local sources. Then they get about two thousand phones. Samples of 8 fabrics are available from different parts of the country. The research team also found a sari 300 years ago while collecting samples. Examination later showed that it was actually an old silk cloth.
Not finding any muslin samples from any other source in the country, they swore to the National Museum authorities. The researchers needed a four-by-four-inch piece of covered muslin cloth. But the museum was not giving them samples at all. Even after getting permission from the ministry, the museum authorities did not give them samples of muslin. The research team spent about eight months hoping for samples from the National Museum. At one point they went to the National Museum of India in Calcutta to collect samples of muslin. Experts at the museum say the muslin sari now being made in Murshidabad is made from cotton grown in South India, which is not as soft as Dhakai muslin. According to them, if you want to make Dhaka muslin, you have to find the variety from the vicinity of Dhaka and use that cotton in that area. Cotton varieties and weather have a special role in making muslin. If you want, you can't make sari like Dhaka muslin anywhere.
The research team also found a sari 300 years ago while collecting samples. Examination later showed that it was actually an old silk cloth.
The research team was disappointed after failing to go to India. Professor Manzoor Hossain said that after hearing this news, the Prime Minister asked them to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has seen Dhaka muslin there. Finally, in July 2016, a four-member team, including three members of the committee, visited the museum in London for a small sample of muslin. There they found samples of muslin cloth and important information.
Finally that footy corpus
DNA sequences of muslin cloth collected from London were extracted. Researchers have finally found a similarity between the DNA of this muslin and that of a previously collected cottonseed plant. They are convinced that this is their desired variety of 'footy corpus'. A local man named Abdul Aziz found the corpse. He was gladly given a mobile phone by the committee.
After doing so much, however, they were allowed to enter the National Museum. The project director said they saw that only one museum turban was made of Dhakai muslin.
500 count yarn
If you weigh one kilometer of yarn and divide the length of the yarn by the number of grams, you get the count. For example, if the weight of a yarn of 1000 meters length is 2 grams, then dividing 1000 meters by 2 gives 500. This quotient is counted as the count. Muslin cloth was usually woven with 500 counts of yarn. A sari requires 140 to 150 grams of yarn. The trained spinners of this project can now cut one gram of yarn in five days. In other words, if one continues to cut muslin yarn at this speed, then it should take him about two years to make yarn for a sari.
After wandering around for a long time, they found Hasu and Nurjahan, two old women in their eighties. They say their ancestors used to cut muslin yarn. They also have memories of fine yarn in their childhood.
Making 500 counts of yarn from cotton is no small feat. This yarn will not be in modern machinery, it will be cut in a spinning wheel. Manjurul Islam, member secretary of the committee and senior instructor of the weaving board, led the work of making yarn. This time the search begins where the weavers still spin the spinning wheel. The news comes that these weavers are still in Chandina of Comilla. They cut thick yarn on a wheel for khaddar. However, that yarn does not come to the size of the count. It can be a maximum of eight to ten counts. Yet researchers rushed there. They think that it is possible that one of their ancestors cut muslin yarn. After wandering around for a long time, they found Hasu and Nurjahan, two old women in their eighties. They say their ancestors used to cut muslin yarn. They also have memories of fine yarn in their childhood. Finding them, the research team saw the light of hope at the end of the tunnel. But they can't cut the thread now.
Manjurul Islam said that in the end they decided to work with the fat spinners of Khaddar. Five of them divided into eight groups. Each team competed to make the yarn thinner. The team is formed again with the best of each team. In this way, it took them two years to come up with the best six. All six have become trainers. It took only six months to teach 11 others with one of them. They are working with the goal of creating 100 such people.
Manjurul Islam and Dean of Textile University Professor Alimuzzaman made a new spinning wheel.