Which of the following statements is/are correct about muslin, a cotton textile of pre-colonial India?
Statement I: Muslin is a type of cotton textile which had its origin in and around Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Statement II: ‘Bombay Muslin’ had gained worldwide fame as an exquisite type of cotton textile.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Neither Statement I nor Statement II is correct.
Statement I: Muslin is a type of cotton textile which had its origin in and around Ahmedabad in Gujarat. — False. Muslin is a cotton textile, but it began in Bengal, in and around Dhaka.
Statement II: ‘Bombay Muslin’ had gained worldwide fame as an exquisite type of cotton textile. — False. The muslin with worldwide fame was ‘Daccai Muslin’.
NCERT (2026-27): “Box 1.1: Textile Industry in Bengal Muslin is a type of cotton textile which had its origin in Bengal, particularly, places in and around Dhaka (spelled during the pre-independence period as Dacca), now the capital city of Bangladesh. ’Daccai Muslin’ had gained worldwide fame as an exquisite type of cotton textile. The finest variety of muslin was called malmal. Sometimes, foreign travellers also used to refer to it as malmal shahi or malmal khas implying that it was worn by, or fit for, the royalty.” |