Gazetteer Of The Amritsar District 1883-84

· 1883 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Amritsar District. |

2CHAP. LV.—PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION 39

3But the figures are perhans the least satisfactory of all the

4Census statistics, for reasons explained in the Census Report;

5Chapter IV, B.:

6Occupations,

7and they must be taken subject to limitations which are given Industries, Com-

8in some detail in Part II, Chapter VIII of the same report. The

9fizures in Table No. XXIII refer only to the population of 15 years

10? of age and over. The figuresin the

11margin show the distribution of

12the whole population into agricul-

13; tural and non-agricultural, calculat-

14Nenvopricattural “| 178788] asno7e| ed on the assumption that the

15ees | yer800 | gon3e7| DBUmber. of women and children

16dependent upon each male of over

17| 15 years of age is the same what-

18ever his oceupation. These figures, however, include as agri-

19cultural only such part of the population as are agriculturists pure

20and simple; and exclude not only the considerable number who

21combine agriculture with other occupations, but also the much

22larger number who depend in greaé measure for their livelilood

23upon the yield of agricultural operations, More detailed figures for

24the occupations of both males and females will be found at pages

25106 to 114 of Table XITA, and in Table XI1B of the Census Report

26of 1881. The figures for female occupations, however, are exceed-

27ingly incomplete. |

28Table No. XXIV gives statistics of the manulactures of the

29district as they stood in 1881-82, and Table No. XLVA gives similar

30figures for the manufactures of the municipality of Amritsar.

31The most important among the numerous manufactures of

32Amritsar are those of pashmiéna or shawl-wool, and silk. The pashm

33or wool used in the first-enamed kind is imported from Thibet vid

34Rampur and Kashmir.

35The trade declined during 1866, owing, among other causes, to

36the adulteration of the wool with a fine but inferior sort imported

37vid Kabul from the province of Kirman, whence the wool is known

38as Un Kiendni. The trade is said to be now reviving. The

39pashména fabrics are either plain uni-coloured cloth called alwdn,

40malida, &c., which are mhde up into cloaks and articles of European

41apparel either plain or embroidered with silk, or else are woven

42into shawls, the thread being previously dyed and wound off expressly

43for the purpose. The shawls in which the pattern is produced in

44the loom are the most valuable: in others the pattern is produced

45on a ground-work of plain-coloured pashména by embroidery with the

46needle and fine pashm thread: such shawls are called amlikar,

47as opposed to the kannikar or loom-woven.

48The manufacture of pashména work was first introduced some

4970 years ago about the time when Ranjit Singh was commencing to

50extend his rule over the whole Panjab. It is almost exclusively con-

51ducted by Kashinfri Musalmans. It is calculated that soon after

52the manufacture was instituted, there were about 300 shops establish-

53ed in Amritsar in which pashména work was carried on, and that

54shawls, &c., to the value of Rs. 30,000 were manufactured yearly m

55the city. Besides what was manufactured in the city itself, pash-

56ména work was imported from Kashwir to the extent of sorfle two

57Population. Towns, | Villages.

58merce, and Com-

59munications.

60Occupations of the

61people.

62Principal industries,

63aud manufacturcs,

64Shawl] manufacture,