History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c23.s2.t3.1

v1.c23.s2.t3.1

The silk tradition in India is a very early one and by the time of the compilation of the *Arthasastra*¹⁸ there had emerged a clear sense of the distinction between Indian and Chinese silk, and, within India, there was an association between the colour and the quality of local bi- and multi-voltine cocoons of *Bombyx mori* (mulberry feeding moth), and that spun from the cocoon of the multi-voltine *Atticus ricini* (Eri). Wild silk is reeled from *Antherea mylitta* (Tasar), *Antherea assamensis* and *Saturnia assama* (Muga). Eri is also obtained from the cocoons of the moth *Philosamia cynthia* (Wardle, pp. 5-6, 55; Nanavaty, pp. 193-210)¹⁹. Bengal and Assam have been the traditional centres for mulberry silk. Muga and Eri are restricted to Assam, while Tasar has been produced in Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.