The Silk Trade of Patna in Early Seventeenth Century
Summary
This comprehensive study traces the early seventeenth‑century silk trade centred on Patna and its integration into global commerce. Patna was already known for cotton goods, but English factors discovered that the city and surrounding region were a thriving market for raw silk imported from Bengal and Orissa. The East India Company organised a commercial mission under Hughes and Parker in 1620–21 to procure ambati calicoes and raw silk; Hughes observed that the factory’s two main supports would be calicoes and silk and urged continuous residence at Patna. The article reviews European silk industries: English silk manufacture was limited until the fifteenth century, and foreign imports were restricted by law; James I tried to promote domestic silk production, and the persecution of Huguenots brought skilled silk workers to England, creating a need for cheap raw silk. High prices of Persian silk drove English traders to seek supplies from Bengal, where raw silk could be purchased at 15–16 pagodas per maund. Patna received large quantities of serbandy (cocoon) silk from Murshidabad and Saidabad; the Dutch factor Pelsaert noted that the city yielded 1,000–2,000 maunds annually. Prices in 1620 were around Rs.100 per maund gross and Rs.75 net after deductions. Hughes experimented with buying cocoons and having them wound locally; his letters report the costs of various grades of skein silk and note that local winding could be cheaper than buying skeins at Agra. He set up a karkhana employing thirty to a hundred winders and planned to expand, but opposition from Agra and Surat curtailed the experiment. Despite setbacks, Hughes remained optimistic and proposed to purchase larger quantities of cocoons and convert some into floss silk for export. The article underscores the entrepreneurial spirit of early English traders, the role of Patna as a hub in the Bengal silk network, and the interplay of local monopolies, production techniques, and international demand.
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Conclusion
The study reveals how Patna emerged as a strategic centre in the early modern silk trade. English factors saw an opportunity to source cheap raw silk, bypassing expensive Persian supplies. Patna’s access to high-quality serbandy from Murshidabad and its network of silk winders allowed experiments in processing cocoons into skein silk and floss silk for export. Though bureaucratic resistance limited Hughes’s scheme, his initiatives foreshadowed later factory-based production. The article highlights the complex economics of colonial trade—balancing local monopolies, price differentials and European industrial demands—and situates Patna within the global silk economy of the seventeenth century.