An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s16.1

v1.c21.s16.1

Defined as woven fibres or fabric in any media, especially cloth, ancient Indian textiles were mainly constituted of wool (*ūrṇā*), silk (*kauśeya*), linen (*aumaka*) and cotton (*kārpāsa*) according to literary and inscriptional evidences. The subcontinent is believed to be the homeland of cotton, for the Babylonian and Greek terms for cotton, *sindhu* and *sindon* respectively, appear to have been derived from Sindhu, i.e., the Indus region.