Remonstrantie 4: [3. INDIGO.]
Jahangir's India (Moreland, Geyl) 4
- Language
- English
[3. INDIGO.]
4.1
Indigo is sown in June, when the first rain has fallen, at the rate of 14 or 15 lb. of seed to the bigha, or square of 60 Holland ells. If the rains are moderate, the crop grows an ell high in the course of four months, and is usually cut at the end of September or early in October, when it is fully ripe. The leaves of indigo are round, not unlike the rue of our country. The cold weather sometimes sets in so suddenly that, if the cutting is postponed too long, the indigo loses its colour in the course of manufacture, and comes out brown without gloss, for it cannot stand cold. It is a good sign of a heavy yield if in the nauti [first crop] grass comes up plentifully, though expensive weeding is then required to prevent injury to the indigo roots, or delay in growth. At harvest the plants are cut a handbreadth from the ground, and next year the ziarie [second, or ratoon, crop] grows from the stumps. The yield of one bigha is usually put into each put, and allowed to steep for 16 or 17 hours, the put being about 38 ft. in perimeter, and its depth the height of an ordinary man; the water is then run off into a round put, constructed at a somewhat lower level, 32 ft. in circumference and 6 ft. deep. Two or three men standing in the put work the indigo back and forward with their arms, and owing to the continuous motion the water absorbs the dark-blue colour.
4.2
It is then allowed to stand again for 16 hours, during which the matter, or substance, settles in a bowl-shaped receptacle at the bottom of the round put. The water is then run off through an outlet at the level of the bottom; the indigo which has sunk down is taken out, and laid on cotton cloths until it becomes as firm as soap, when it is made into balls. The bottom of the put [or, the ground under it] is spread with ashes, so that a crust may be formed. The contents of each put is then placed in an earthen vessel, which is closed tightly to exclude light and wind, so that it may not become too dry, for if the indigo is exposed to wind even for an hour, it will become drier than if it were left exposed to the sun for the same time. The contents of each put (known as dadera) is usually from 12 to 20 ser according to the yield of the plant, that is to say, when the peasants or other dealers sell to us; it dries further by quite 5 ser in the maund in the course of handling, and in the bales. This nauti indigo is brown in colour and coarse in quality, and can easily be recognised by the eye or by touch. It is more useful for dyeing woollens and other heavy goods, because it goes further than the ziarie.
4.3
The stalks, which are left a handbreadth high in October, grow again, and in the beginning of the following August, when the crop is fully half an ell high, it is cut in the manner already described for the nauti. Sometimes when the rains are, or have been, favourable, the ziarie plants are so luxuriant that three cuttings are made — once in the beginning of August, once in the beginning of September, and again when the nauti is cut, this last crop being called katel. When this happens, it is a sure sign that indigo will be cheap. The ziarie indigo is superior in quality to the nauti, giving a violet infusion. Its quality can be easily judged, even without examining the inside of it, for it is much lighter in the hand than the nauti. In order to judge indigo with certainty, it should be looked at before midday in the sunshine; if it is pure, it will glisten and show various colours, like a rainbow, so that owing to the variations no opinion of the colour can be formed. If it contains sand or dirt, the adulterations cannot be overlooked in sunlight. Such impurities are common; sometimes they are added intentionally to increase the weight, or they may be caused by the wind, if the balls, while still fresh and not hardened, are left to dry on sandy soil. Katel is of extremely bad quality, hard, dull, without gloss or colour, almost like charcoal. It is bought from the sellers at half price, and beaten into powder with sticks.
4.4
In order to prevent its detection, it is mixed with ziarie and nauti and made into bales, which must be carefully watched for, both in opening the sacks and in the pots. The man who buys in sacks or made-up bales must be on the look out for katel or inferior nauti, which, as I have said, is powdered and added. The man who buys or receives indigo still in pots must personally see that the top and the bottom are uniform, for sometimes ziarie is put on top and nauti under, and sometimes the top is fully dry and light, while the bottom is wet and heavy stuff like earth. This may serve as an earnest warning to anyone who has to receive indigo. Also, if circumstances permit, one should always open indigo in the sun in order to weigh it, for then the good or bad quality will become obvious as the balls are broken, but this operation must be carried on steadily. It is also advantageous, because the indigo dries very greatly while being handled and weighed in the sun. At the present time, however, many makers do not cut the katel, because, while the cost of manufacture is equal for all qualities, the yield of katel is barely half that of ziarie (that is, 15 to 20 ser for each put), the leaves containing little substance; the katel crop is therefore left on the ground to yield seed for the nauti of the following year.
4.5
The best comparison I can give to illustrate these three kinds of indigo is that the nauti is like a growing lad who has still to come to his prime and vigour; the ziarie is like a man in his vigorous prime; the katel is like an old, decrepit man, who in the course of his journey has had to cross many valleys of sadness and many mountains of misery, not only changed and wrinkled in the face, but falling gradually into helpless senility. I will add that the nauti far surpasses the katel in substance and quality, for while only a rupee a maund separates the ziarie from the nauti, they are worth fully double the katel. The standing indigo is liable to many more accidents or misfortunes than other crops or products. If scanty rains follow the sowing of the nauti, the seed withers in the ground, while excessive rain and lack of sunshine quickly cause the plants to rot or to be washed one over another. Sometimes after a successful nauti, excessive cold in December, January, or February, so injures the roots which should give the ziarie, that no crop can be expected; and, if this has not happened, but the rains are late, with no fall in June or the first half of July, then the roots dry up, and obtain no nourishment for the crop. Further, for the last three years in succession, locusts have appeared in such numbers during June, July and August, as sometimes to obscure the sun, and wherever they settled, they cleared the land so completely that not a blade was left.
4.6
They dominated the neighbourhood of Bayana to such an extent that they ate up entire fields of indigo as far as the eye could reach, leaving nothing but the bare stalks, and this has kept the price of indigo very high. Again, in September of 1621, the rainfall was so excessive and continuous that the whole country was flooded; the indigo crop, which was so promising that the peasants were afraid there would not be merchants enough to buy it, was so thoroughly washed away that what survived would not yield 400 bales ; and consequently many men who were rich and had been concerned in sowing indigo all their lives, were reduced to such poverty, that even now nothing like so much indigo is sown as formerly. The yield of the indigo in the adjacent region known as Bayana used to be 4000 bales, but at present it is, at the outside, very little more than half that quantity. The true Bayana indigo, which is made near that town, does not amount to more than about 300 bales, but it is much superior to the produce of other neighbouring villages. This superiority is due to the brackish water in the wells near the town, for the use of sweet water makes the indigo hard and coarse. There may be two wells nearly close together, one brackish and the other sweet; and in that case plant worked with the brackish water will give indigo worth at least one rupee per maund more than plant cut from the same field, and worked with the sweet water.
4.7
The villages where indigo is made are the following, grouped under the five principal places: 1. Bayana. Ebrahemedebat (one kos), Serco (4 k.), Otschien [Ujjain] (6 k.), Patehiouna [? Pachauna] (5 k.), T’sonoua [Sanowa] (4 k.), Pinijora (6 k.), Maunana (6 k.), Birampoer (4 k.), Melecqpoer [Malikpur] (4 k.), Berettha (5 k.), Azenaulie (4 k.), Batziora [Bachora] (4 k.), Pedaurle (4 k.), Gordaha (5 k.), Helleck (7 k.), Nade Beij (10 k.), Pehekertsie (7 k.), Koreka (5 k.). Khondier (5 k.), Rodauwlkera (4 k.), Nimbera (7 k.), Berouwa {5 k.), Ratsiona (7 k.), Indiara (4 k.), Tseneorpana (5 k.), Lathehora (4 k.). 2. Ghanowa, 10 kos west of Bayana. Mahal (2 k.), Roubas (2 k.), Tsertsonda [? Sirsaunda] (1½ k.), Daber (½ k.), Mahalpoer (1 k.), Gorassa (1 k.), Danagham (2 k.), Bockolie [Bakhauli] (1 k.), Barrawa (1½ k.), Ordela (½ k.), Ziasewolie [? Jajawali] (1½ k.), Phetapoer (5 k.). 3. Bassouwer, 10 k. east of Bayana. Weyer (3 k.), Ratsoulpoer [Rasulpur] (4 k.), Hissounla (4 k.), Tserres (2 k.), Borolie (1½ k.), Ziarathara (3 k.), Pantla (2½ k.), T'zetzolie [? Chachauli] (3 k.), T’sonoher (6 k.), T'sonkeri (6 k.). 4. Hindaun, 10 k. from Bayana. Khera (2 k.), Ziamaelpoer [Jamalpur] (2 k.), Kottopoer (2 k.), Paricanepoer (3 k.), Osierpoer [Wazirpur] (6 k.), T’serroot (5 k.), Siltoioali (6 k.), Nardoulie (6 k.).
4.8
5. Tora, 18 kos from Bayana, with several villages under it, yields only about 200 bales annually; the indigo is brown rather than violet in colour, and the balls are made much smaller than elsewhere. Other places also yield large quantities of indigo, such as Koil or Gorsa, which lies 30 kos from Agra on the other side of the river. Most of its produce is bought up by Armenian, Lahore, and Kabuli merchants; it is good indigo, but has not such a reputation as that of Bayana, and consequently is not bought by us or by the English. A few bales ought to be purchased for a trial, so that our employers may be able to judge of the difference in the market and in dyeing, but it could not be done this year owing to lack of funds; if it should prove satisfactory, we should not be so closely restricted to the produce of Bayana. Taking one year with another, the yield is 1000 bales.
4.9
Mewat is a tract 30 kos from Agra, but, owing to the hills and forests, it is mostly in rebellion against the King. Indigo is made in many of the villages of this tract, and the annual yield is 1000 bales or more, but it is inferior and of low quality, and usually sandy. The method of manufacture is that of Sarkhej rather than Bayana; the steeping of the plant, and the working back and forward to extract the dye from the leaves, are done in a single put, whereas in Bayana or Gorsa two are used as already explained. The price is consequently much lower, 20 rupees for a maund in Mewat when Bayana is selling for 30 rupees; very little is exported, but it is distributed all over Hindustan to places where indigo is not produced. This year, however, we have bought some bales for a trial. Opinions may differ as to the course to be followed in buying indigo, but my own view, based on several years' experience, is this. When the yield is plentiful, that is to say, when the ziarie has suffered no injury, and the rains have been timely for the nauti, one or two experienced men should be sent in the end of August or the beginning of September to Chanowa or the adjoining villages, and should buy whatever is really good;
4.10
but if the crop promises to be short, it is better to remain quietly in Ghanowa, and buy only from the substantial Hindu or Moslem merchants, who live there and have been many years in the trade, and who have made advances against indigo some months beforehand, binding the debtors to sell to no one else. These merchants would rather deal with us at a small profit than with other buyers; also, in Ghanowa there is much indigo, half of it made in the village. The question may be asked whether, if they get the indigo, we could not obtain it there, and at the same price. We might do so, on a single occasion, or in a single village, but the very next day the price will have risen at least a rupee per maund, [and] we shall be told by the merchants that their stock is not for sale. From repeated personal experience then, my opinion is that at such times it is more profitable for the Honourable Company that buyers should keep quiet, than that they should run about the country from one village to another. Goodness knows, the Armenians do quite enough of that, running and racing about like hungry folk, whose greedy eyes show that they are dissatisfied with the meal provided, who take a taste of every dish, [and] make the other guests hurry to secure their own portions, but directly they have tasted each course, they are satisfied, and can hold no more.
4.11
In the indigo market they behave just like that, making as if they would buy up the whole stock, raising prices, losing a little themselves, and causing great injury to us and to other buyers who have to purchase large quantities. Now the Hindus have first of all the advantage of the profit they make in buying, and they get it through generous weighing, to which they persuade the peasants by wrangling and cajolery. There used to be a custom that in weighing indigo a bag of doubled cloth containing 152 pice was reckoned as 5 ser, giving an excess of quite one ser in the maund. Again, when the indigo was moist, they kept from 20 to 30 balls ready behind each balance, which dried quite 5 ser in the maund; while by an old custom the maund was reckoned at 41 ser, so that altogether there was overweight of 7 ser or more in the maund, which greatly reduced the cost of buying; for in those days indigo was so plentiful that the peasants were sometimes confounded, and the middlemen might have to hold over perhaps 100 bales for want of buyers. Since, however, the crop was washed away in 1621, the whole of the produce is marketed promptly, and there is little or no surplus. They have nearly brought it to this that the balls are made smaller by one-half, the weighing is done with tens instead of with pice or 5-sers, in order to give less excess, and in places only 10 or 15 balls are kept ready, so that there is very little overweight, and this can be of little advantage in buying.
4.12
I may add that the loss by drying is incredible, for I estimate that a bale which here weighs 4 maunds will yield only 3½ maunds in Holland, an experience which has probably already surprised our honourable employers. It is also necessary to have a buyer in Bayana, where the market opens much later than elsewhere, so that it is amply sufficient to go there in the beginning of October. The reason is that some rich and substantial merchants live in the town; the chief of them are named Mirza Sadiq and Ghazi Fazil, who sow most of the indigo, and who in some seasons have sold to nobody but us. The price is settled at his [sic] house, usually a rupee per maund more than the rate at Ghanowa or in other villages, because, as has been said, the quality is superior; and when the price has been fixed, but not before, anyone can sell to anyone he chooses. This subservience, or respect, is shown to Mirza Sadiq because he is the oldest [merchant] in Bayana.
4.13
I have now written at length of the indigo bearing the name of Bayana, which for the last four years has been very closely bought up, both by us, by Armenians, and by Moguls; the latter classes export it to Ispahan, whence some of it goes to Aleppo. In six years the English have not bought more than 600 bales, because, owing to bad luck, adversity, and mismanagement, their commercial position has greatly deteriorated; but if they begin to buy against us, as they would like to do if they had the money, indigo is likely to rise in price.