1.5 Sericulture in India
1.5.1 SERICULTURE IN THE PRE-BRITISH PERIOD
From various references in literature it is clear that silk had a prestigious place in the culture and commerce of India even in the Pre-Vedic times. According to some historians, raw silk was exported from India to Rome during the reign of Kanishka in 58 B.C., probably through the Silk Road. Artisans engaged in silk production and weaving were patronized by emperors, kings, jagirdars, and other rich people throughout Indian history. It has had periods of great prosperity as well as decline. In the pre-British period it flourished in the states of Bengal, Mysore and Kashmir.
Each sericultural state in India has a traditional reputation for a particular kind of silk goods from ancient times, Benaras Silk, Kashmir Silk, Bengal Silk, Mysore Silk, Kanjeevaram Silk, etc., to name a few. Each state followed its own rearing method, used local silkworm races and local mulberry variety, traditional reeling and weaving techniques.
1.5.2 SERICULTURE DURING THE BRITISH PERIOD
It was during the British reign that the foundation for the modern Indian silk industry was laid. The East India Company, as soon as it established itself in West Bengal, saw the immense trade potential of Indian silk and silk products and started trade in it in 1670 itself which increased continuously throughout the British reign. When there was a slump in the industry due to diseases, it took immediate steps to promote sericulture and by liberal tax-exemption schemes encouraged farmers to plant mulberry. It invited foreign specialists to give proposals for the improvement of Indian sericulture and took steps to import foreign silkworm races, mulberry races and reeling appliances, particularly from Italy and France. These improvements spread to the south also and it was at this time that Tipu Sultan established the Mysore Silk Industry and James Anderson introduced sericulture in the Madras Presidency (present-day Tamil Nadu). Funds were allocated for special reasearch schemes. The decline in European silk industry because of the pebrine disease affecting the silkworms helped Indian silk industry by increasing its demand. At this time, the state monopolized sericulture industry of Kashmir was brought to the mainstream of India which promoted it to a profitable industry and Punjab was brought under mulberry cultivation. Separate sericulture departments were created in Karnataka (1911) and Madras (1919). Formation of Mysore Silk Association (1927), Mysore Silk Weaving Factory (1932), Mysore Spun Silks (1936) and The Silk Conditioning and Testing House at Mysore (1942), and Sericulture Research Station at Berhampore (1943) helped the sericulture industry in India to make rapid strides. After the end of World War II, which had greatly helped in boosting up Indian Silk Industry by creating a very high demand for silk for parachute manufacture and powder bags, there was a slump in the industry as war-related silk consumption decreased suddenly. To overcome this, in 1945, the Government of India created a Silk Development Directorate and in 1947 organized an All India Silk Conference. These laid the foundation to the establishment of the Central Silk Board in the Independent India.
1.5.3 SERICULTURE AFTER INDEPENDENCE
Legislation in the Constituent Assembly of India to establish a Central Silk Board was introduced in 1947. After independence, the Central Silk Board Bill was referred to a Select Committee in 1948. After the submission of the report by this committee, the Central Silk Board Bill was passed by a Parliamentary Act and it was established in 1949. The history of Indian sericulture after the constitution of the Board is linked to the activities of the Board, its expansion and development.
