CENSUS OF INDIA 1981 Part - X 0: SERIES - 3' ASSAM HANDICRAFT SURVEY REPORT: ENOl StLK INDUSTRY OF ASSAM Draft Report By Or. s. K. BARUAH , nvestigator Edited By N. BHATTACHARJ£f A$sistant Director of Census Operations, Assam Supervised By J. c. BHUVAN Deputy Director of Census Operation$, Assam FOREWORD HE Indian Handicrafts are known the world over for their rich variety, grace, T elegance and skilled craftsmanship. Nevertheless, a number of handicrafts because of their stiff competition with factory made products, non-availability of raw-materials, exhorbitant increase in the manufacturing cost, lack of proper marketing facilities for finished products or due to a variety of other reasons have either become extinct or have reached the moribund stage. After independence, however, a number of schemes were introduced by different government agencies for (heir growth and development but still this sudden impetus have helped only a few crafts to flourish and thereby become spinners of foreign exchange for the country. Despite the unique position being enjoyed by the handicrafts especially in the realm of national economy, the general awareness among the people in the country about our crafts and craftsmen had been deplorably poor. Nothing was practically known about the commodities produced, techniques employed for the manufacture of different objects, raw materials used, their availability, methods adopted for the sale of finished products etc. An attempt was therefore made in connection with the 1961 census to study about 150 crafts from different parts of the country with a view to provide basic information on those crafts which were selected for the study. At the 1971 census, the study on handicrafts was not taken up but this was again revived in connection with the 1981 census. There has been, however, some difference between the studies taken up in connection with the censuses of 1961 and 1981. While the 1961 studies have covered both rural and urban crafts, the 1981 studies have focussed their attention only on traditional rural based crafts. That apart, the 1981 studies besides touching upon those aspects which were covered under the 1961 series, have laid emphasis on matters that are vital for the revival of rural crafts and thereby for the rejuvenation of the economy of the region particularly the villages. This is in consonance with the policy of the government to give due importance to the rural sector with focus on employment intensive strategy of development in which next to agriculture, the small scale industries and handicrafts playa significant role. The formats required for undertaking the study were formulated by Or. K.P. Ittaman under the able guidance of Or. N.G. Nag, the then Deputy Registrar General, Social Studies Division. Or. Ittaman who succeeded Dr. Nag as Deputy Registrar General, Social Studies Division co-ordinated the study undertaken in different States/Union Territories by the Directorates of Census Operations. The reports received from the Directorates were examined by Shri M.K. Jain, Senior Research Officer with the help of Smt. Suman Prashar, Assistant Director of Census Operations and Shri. Shyam Singh, Junior Investigator. I am grateful to all of them for organising this study. (iii) The present report is the outcome of a study undertaken on Endi Silk Industry of Assam by the Directorate of Census Operations, Assam. I have immense pleasure in acknowledging the services rendered by Shri J.C. Bhuyan, Deputy Director and his colleagues in the Census Directorate for bringing out this publication. New Delhi, V.S. Verma the 1st June, 1988 Registrar General, India (iv) PREFACE SSAM enjoys irrefutable reputation for its exquisite handloom products, Aespecially the fabrics made of silk. The silk industry of Assam mainly comprises the culture of Endi, Muga and Mulberry silk. Endi and Muga culture are the exclusive monopoly of the people of Assam. Eri-culture and Endi-weaving has tremendous potentiality and given due care and attention, this industry can generate employment opportunity for more and more people and thus help solve the problem of unemployment to a considerable extent especially in the rural areas where economy till now is primarily agro-based. In Assam the production of Endi and Muga silk are mainly concentrated in the Brahmaputra valley and is predominantly based in the rural areas. The present study is limited to various aspects of Endi-silk industry alone. Though this traditional craft is located throughout the rural areas of Assam yet one comes across the major and most important Endi-producing centres in the southern bank of the river Brahmaputra in the district of Kamrup. Rampur area, as is popularly known, comprising about twenty villages, in this part of Brahmaputra valley, boasts of producing the largest quantity of Endi-fabrics. Almost all the households located in this area have taken this craft as one of the sources of livelihood. Rampur area can therefore be considered as having ideal representative villages as far as practice of Endi-weaving is concern~d. The schedules devised for this study were canvassed in two sets of selected households in three selected villages in Rampur area having maximum concentration of craftsmen. The first set consisted of those households where the craft is still practised by one or more members of the households and the second set comprised those where the craft was once practised but has now been given up owing to various constraints. Utmost care was taken to elicit as much meaningful information as possible from the respondents. In this report an attempt has been made to study the various aspects of the craft as revealed by field survey. The analysis and observations are obviously based on data thrown out by the survey. The field work was done by Shri T. D. Sinha, Statistical Assistant and Shri A. C. Deka and Shri S. Swargiary, Assistant Compilers under the guidance of Dr. S. K. Baruah, Investigator. Shri T. D. Sinha has done a commendable job in compilation and tabulation of data of Household Schedules canvassed during field survey and incorporated in this report as inset tables and also those appended to this report as Appendices III and IV. In this work he has been ably assisted by Shri A. C. Deka and Shri S. Swargiary. Dr. S. K. Baruah has prepared the first draft of this report and has also revised the same as per comments received from the Social Studies Division in Registrar General's Office. Credit goes to Shri A. Singh, Artist for illustrati.Jn on the cover page. Shri N. Bhattacharjee, Assistant Director has edited the report. (v) We are much grateful to Dr. K. P. Ittaman, Deputy Registrar General, Social Studies Division for providing us with very useful technical guidance and most valuable suggestions in improving the report. The State Khadi Board and Directorate of Sericulture and Weaving also deserve our sincere thanks for supplying us with various useful informations. Above all we must express our heart·felt gratitude to Shri V. S. Verma, Registrar General, India for his patient and unfailing advice and guidance and constant inspiration in every stage of production of this report. Guwahati, J.e. Bhuyan September 14, 1988 Deputy Director of Census Operations Assam: Guwahati (vi) Photographs Facing page 1. Gents' wrapper 10 2. Ladies scarf 10 3. The Khadi Bhandar office of Rampur area 12 4. The Water-resorvoir at village Rampur 18 5. Smti. Rebati Kalita - the famous weaver of Rampur village engaged in spinning 68 6. Smti. Rebati Kalita - the famous weaver of Rampur village engaged in weaving in the loom 68 7. A weaver at work in the loom placed in t"e corner of the verandah 72 8. A village woman purchasing Endi yarn from Khadi Bhandar office 76 9. An assembly of weavers and spinners at Khadi Bhandar office 76 10. 'Ugha' - a reeling appliance 80 11. Few important implements used in weaving 80 12. A Philosamia Racini - the endi worm 82 13. The Endi cocoon 82 14. Two young girls extracting the chrysalliss 84 15. The traditional method of spinning 84 16. Two minor girls spinning with a'takli' - the drop spindle 84 17. An old woman spinning with 'takli' 84 f 18. The drum warping operations lator' and 'Chereki' 84 19. Another view of drum warping operation 84 20. A young _girl winding yarn with a 'Jator' and 'Chereki' 84 21. An embroidered lady's scart ion 88 22. An elderly woman engaged in heald knitting operation 88 (vii) CONTENTS Pages Foreword (iii) Preface (v) CHAPTER I History of Origin and Development of Craft History of origin - Names of important centres within the state and outside the state - Par­ ticulars of community, caste and tribe associated with the craft in the past - Different hand­ icraft items. 1-13 CHAPTER" Craftsmen in their Rural Setting The residential pattern of surveyed villages - Economic condition of the artisan households - Social status of the craftsmen - Description of sample villages - Demographic profile of the craftsmen - Ethnic composition of the surveyed population - Family size and composi­ tion of the surveyed households - Settlement history - Workers and non -workers by age, sex type of activity etc. - Non - practising households - Agencies for development of the craft. 14-59 CHAPTER '" Process of Learning Modes of acquisition of skill - Duration, terms and condition 'of training - Adequacy of train­ ing - Biological sketches of selected craftsmen 60-71 CHAPTER IV Manufacturing Process Place of work - Purity and pollution associated with the craft - Raw materials required for the craft - Consumption of raw materials - Different handicrafts produced by the households - Tools and implements used in practice of the craft - Rearing of endi worms - reeling ap­ pliances - Various stages of manufacturing process - number of persons engaged in the craft - Designs used in the craft.