On this day, a severe blow was dealt to weavers in Bengal by the British East India Company. The company’s court of directors in a letter to the Bengal government, dated March 17, 1769, informed that silk manufacturers in Bengal were employed as winders in the company’s factories and were not to be employed elsewhere.
This was to help the silk manufacturers in Britain. The company had been stopped from importing Bengal silk fabrics and products into Britain because the silk manufactured in Britain was suffering in competition.
Bengal silk, remarked an observer, was so fine and beautiful that it was like the work of a fairy or insects. Mughal patronage had nourished the craft. After 1769, the company wanted Bengal to be a source of raw silk mainly. It was extremely damaging for the weavers of Bengal.
During 1769-1770, Bengal suffered one of its biggest famines.
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