Punjum (panjam, pŭn′jŭm; pun jum)
was a type of Indian
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
cloth. It was produced in the
Northern Circars
The Northern Circars (also spelt Sarkars) was a division of British India's Madras Presidency. It consisted of a narrow slip of territory lying along the western side of the Bay of Bengal from 15° 40′ to 20° 17′ north latitude, in the pr ...
, on the
Coromandel Coastal region in South East India.
Punjum was a kind of cotton
longcloth
Longcloth (or long cloth) refers to a plain cotton cloth originally made in comparatively long pieces.
The name was applied particularly to cloth made in India. The long cloth made at Coromandel Coast was of the length of 37 yards. Longcloth, wh ...
that was produced in a variety of thread counts.
Varieties of punjum
Punjum was a woven fabric structure with an unusually strong texture. It was manufactured with a variety of widths from coarser to finer qualities (The finer the threads the greater number of punjums were contained in the breadth up to 40). There were Punjums available with a 120-
thread count
Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.
* A fiber, a single filament of natural material, such as cotton, linen or wool, or artificial material such as nylon, polyester, metal or mineral fiber, or man-m ...
. A Punjum was regarded as a sign of quality, there were different numbers assigned for different grades ranging from 10,12,14,16, 18 up to 40.The lowest and coarse was called number 10. Later,
Baramauhal successfully duplicated an imitation of Punjum which was a cloth with a lower thread count and half the length of the former. It was named
Salampore
Salampore (salempore) was a kind of cotton cloth produced in India. It had been in use since the 17th century and was exported to Europe and Africa.''There were three staple varieties of cotton cloth manufactured in Coromandel - longcloth , salempo ...
.
Dimensions
John Forbes Watson
John Forbes Watson (1827–1892) was a Scottish physician and writer on India.
Life
Born in Scotland, Watson was the son of an Aberdeenshire farmer, George Watson and his wife Jean McHardy. He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where he ...
used sample 466 to show Punjum in his book, "The textile manufacturers and the clothes of the people of India." As per John, a common piece of Punjum weighs 14 pounds and is 18 yards long (36 Cubits). Its width ranges from 38 to 44 inches.
Exports
Punjum cloths accounted for a sizable portion of
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
' exports in the 18th century.
Fourteen and sixteen number Punjum, Salampores, Palampores, Chintz, Book muslin and Longcloth, varieties of Ghingahm were among the piece goods which were exported to America from Madras.
See also
*
Piece goods
Piece goods were the textile materials sold in cut pieces as per the buyer's specification. The piece goods were either cut from a fabric roll or produced with a certain length, also called yard goods. Various textiles such as cotton, wool, silk, ...
References
{{Reflist
Woven fabrics