Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t15.4

v1.c5.s2.t15.4

In *Translated Bengali Terms* recorded in Shen Maoshang’s *Extensive Records of Four Foreign Lands* from the Ming period, there is an entry on “fine cloth: dukūla”. Wang Dayuan’s *A Brief History of Island Countries* written in the Yuan period recorded that Banavasi (southeast of Karwar in present-day state of Karnataka in India) “made fine cotton cloth, and people on ships exchanged it for tin”. Men and women in Bengal “wrapped their heads with fine cloth and wore long gowns.” Textiles made in Bengal included “‘bi’ cloth, ‘gaoni’ cloth, ‘douluo’ cotton, etc.” Many men and women in Sindh (in present-day Pakistan) also wore “long gowns made of fine cloth”. *Records of Eminent Monks in the South Seas* compiled by Chen Dazhen *et al*, in the Yuan period recorded that varieties of cloth made in South Asia included white foreign cloth, fancy patterned cloth of foreign origin, ‘bi’ cloth, sheared flannelette, sheared coarse cloth etc. It is recorded that tribute offered by Indian states in the Yuan period included foreign cloth. Ma Huan’s *Overall Survey of the Oceans Shores* in the Ming period mentions that Bengal produced five or six types of fine cloth. One of them was named ‘bi’ cloth and its local name was ‘byramput’. It was over three "chi" in width and five "zhang" and six or seven "chi" in length and it was as fine as pink letter paper. Other species included turmeric cloth, ‘sanah-baf’ in Farsi, cāwtar (沙榻儿, *sha ta er* in Chinese) and malmal etc. During the reign of Zhengtong of the Ming Dynasty, Bengal offered white "bi" cloth and "douluo" cotton as tribute. In *Juan* 326 of the *History of the Ming Dynasty*, the gifts sent by Kulam included white cotton cloth while those sent by Calicut included "danbolan" cloth and "bi" cloth.