DOCSLIB.ORG

1 If We Are to Get Through This to the End I Will Need

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1 If We Are to Get Through This to the End I Will Need 1 If we are to get through this to the end I will need from you an unusual patience, because my descriptions have no meaning. For example, this account begins with events which no one was there to see, which I will describe: a hilltop in the white north, never noted or worth the trouble of naming, as with the great declivity in its side which is the valley with our forgotten trapper's cabin. There it is, barely there in the underbrush, logs or cedar boards rotten with moss, really just enough for a bed, like a room in a brothel. Windowless or clefts where the boards are badly joined; there's a sleeping potbelly there, rusting nicely. By stains and other indications we are told that our tenant was a man of the ordinary habits. Up the valley the ice poured down to the time of a processional, pavane for a dead prince. The ice was as tall as a tall man, and every day on its best days it traveled as far as that man, a strong man, could shoot an arrow. The ice was not white like ice but was more like all the grays of its dirty road, the slough and all the things it had killed. The cabin is a stone in the current, and the ice turns in around it. The warmth of enfolding arms: the ice destroys the cabin in the slowest possible way: solemn, responsible and with a coroner's care; all its details and properties are lifted up and apart, exposed to nature's examining light. When the day is done the parts have been sent to new tasks. Now the night comes down, and with it nature's serene indifference. For after all nothing has happened. Even from the cabin itself, not a word of resistance. But I'm not indifferent. What hadn't mattered at all mattered more when it wasn't there, because all of that is where this story begins. On the shoulder of old Mt. Winton in the Barcaldine Range, the valley is Eudo Draw, just nonsense names from my files but as you can see we have something to call them now, if they ever existed. And our forgotten trapper's cabin –– or of a hermit, or a prospector's cabin if we put forgotten pans in, or a woodcutter's privy, grinning moon in the door, forgotten and imagine its surprise at being consumed by ice –– our cabin is in fact not forgotten at all if it ever existed, because here I am telling its story, and ours. 2 Rackley Rackley down the freeway in one of those automatic motorcars in which the driver is an accessory if not an offense. The speeding freeway: where -- as with prison, hospital, podium -- you'd prefer to be loved but at the very least would accept not being ignored, and Rackley would give voice to this sentiment from time to time by flinging off his safety restraint, a statement of his rights; or he might roll up and down the climate dial to immiserate the cabin air; and so on; also he'd been kitted out in faraway Oregon for the four-hour non-stop with no more than an energy chew and a frankly ridiculous flask for pee; all this to say that at about the two-hour mark he starts heckling the car. "Which part of Classic Rock confuses you? Did they teach you nothing in robot school?" Car's voice was as smooth as hair oil. "Well, the channel's called Classic Rock Hits." Hits. Really ought to call them slaps. Rackley hated music but it was a critical expedient in killing time. Poor time. Means well, but. He touched his nose as if wearing pince-nez and went to his boss voice -- though the quiet one because subtlety, always subtlety -- and said what he so often said at times like this: "Someone send an angry text." That wasn't meant for car. Years ago he'd got the idea of keeping a scribe beside for the saving of his bon mots, blurbs and solutions. Come to find that his smartwatch bore an appurtenance for doing exactly that without the mouth-breathing. He kept it active at all times because you never know; all his delicate words safekept in the Cloud, which he assumed was a satellite. Someday archivists would read them with care. On that note: "Find something atonal. John Cage. Now turn the volume down. Down." Now. What do I call him? He scanned the plastic imprint on the steering wheel. Ford Airbag. "So, Ford. I love that they're making robot cars more and more like humans. Even ten years ago no one would've thought it possible, a car with a learning disorder." "I don't know how to respond to that." "That's the spirit. Anyway, it's a real telltale when you change lanes. Like watching someone pick the chives out of his salad." Car: "Mr. Rackley, you give the impression that you think you're superior to others." I see. "Alright. And … I will confess that, when you tell me that sort of thing, it's difficult not to." Now the rain. He'd been warned about this by his reading. An undecided rain. Not at all a convincing rain. If he could figure out how to activate the wipers he would not even. 3 Car turned on the wipers as if reading his mind and having the reading comprehension of a child. Rackley: "Off. Turn it off. Don't make me drive you." He didn't know how to drive but car didn't need to know that. "It was made clear to me that you don't know how to drive." "Exactly the point I assumed I was making. Okay? Thanks much. Imbecile." "Calling Cecil." Ah, Cecil. Hadn't chatted since firing him. Be good to hear his voice again. But this wasn't his car and it wasn't his Cecil, and the conversation dragged a bit before its sudden end. Now all manner of looping about as they boarded a bridge across water. Lighted signs began to blaze like klaxons: toll ahead. "Not paying a damn toll," he said. He had no money. Car: "It's done with cameras. They take your picture and send you the bill later, plus the fees for being billed." "And that must be a nasty scrap of mail for you. I'm sorry." With his trim artistic fingers he flicked a bit of dander off the dash. "But anger without action pisses me off." He punched the plastic tab that brought the window down and stuck his naked head into the weather. Outdoorsy smell. He could see the cameras ahead, carrion birds. Here's a treat for you. Rackley kept something like a catalogue of discomposing faces -- intelligent yet kind, cruel but disturbing, etc. -- for use when words alone would not do. Now to cobble one to cause these nefarious eyes to question their calling. It's all about the blend: wince, then eyes lightly upcast under an undecided brow, smile which is really a frown of deep sympathy. Then you add the sharp point to the piece, the flourish, which is always a timing thing: just as they pass beneath the lens Rackley suddenly lets the whole performance fall from his face, leaving nothing. Because no. You don't even deserve my look of disappointment. Now send me the bill. He came back in and arranged his sodden hairpiece. "Acting is all in what you leave out." Here he heard car keep a contemplative silence. Teaching is what I do. The roadway seemed to bend around unnecessarily. To his left two consecutive drive-in theaters, and he looked back in case of matinees, chase scene perhaps and robot cars crashing, but nothing. More mad bends. He saw the way the malls were dotted with old trees, and was reminded of how the khans would kill whole cities but keep a few alive to spread the story: each chosen old hemlock spoke of the great felling here. Now modernity careening past. Skate King. Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. Pizza & Pipes. World Famous B&I Circus Store. Places he'd learned to favor with an unaffected smile as a way of highlighting his kinship with the common man. "So, Ford, where ya from?" "Well -- ." 4 "Ford, your artificial voice has driven me to the brink of madness. Try something else. That actress from the television." "This one?" car purred. Ha-ha: nowadays there's more than one way to drive a car. Rackley smirked, which he figured she could see somehow … wait, a cleverness was forming … tranny, transmission … these things take time … wait, why would I talk to my car. I don't even talk to my chauffeur. Suddenly a slowing down: here they were on the Microsoft Campus. Impressive structures, nicely-monied and pretty: polygons, part-circles and connecting bands, all in modern materials and the new colors. Broad-leaf trees brought from the tropics wondering what the hell. Peoplemovers everywhere so that young scientists could look at phones and speak to spectacles without falling into koi ponds killing koi. The look-feel of a theme park, so life- like in parts it seemed fakey. Car turned into guest parking and slotted neatly. It had a glowing clock on its dash, malevolent, which Rackley refused to acknowledge. "What time is it?" His watch didn't tell time. Still purring: "10:25 in the morning." Well early, over an hour to kill; robots are not good stewards of time.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Microbial Cellulases and Their Industrial Applications
    SAGE-Hindawi Access to Research Enzyme Research Volume 2011, Article ID 280696, 10 pages doi:10.4061/2011/280696 Review Article Microbial Cellulases and Their Industrial Applications Ramesh Chander Kuhad,1 Rishi Gupta,1 and Ajay Singh2 1 Lignocellulose Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India 2 Research & Development Division, Lystek International Inc., Waterloo, ON, Canada N2J 3H8 Correspondence should be addressed to Ramesh Chander Kuhad, [email protected] Received 14 May 2011; Accepted 9 July 2011 Academic Editor: Alane Beatriz Vermelho Copyright © 2011 Ramesh Chander Kuhad et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Microbial cellulases have shown their potential application in various industries including pulp and paper, textile, laundry, biofuel production, food and feed industry, brewing, and agriculture. Due to the complexity of enzyme system and immense industrial potential, cellulases have been a potential candidate for research by both the academic and industrial research groups. Nowadays, significant attentions have been devoted to the current knowledge of cellulase production and the challenges in cellulase research especially in the direction of improving the process economics of various industries. Scientific and technological developments and the future prospects for application of cellulases in different industries are discussed in this paper. 1. Introduction of cellulosomes-cohesin containing scaffolding and dockerin containing enzyme. The free cellulase contains cellulose Biotechnological conversion of cellulosic biomass is poten- binding domains (CBMs), which are replaced by a dockerin tially sustainable approach to develop novel bioprocesses in cellulosomal complex, and a single scaffolding-born CBM and products.
    [Show full text]
  • Catazacke 20200425 Bd.Pdf
    Provenances Museum Deaccessions The National Museum of the Philippines The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University New York, USA The Monterey Museum of Art, USA The Abrons Arts Center, New York, USA Private Estate and Collection Provenances Justus Blank, Dutch East India Company Georg Weifert (1850-1937), Federal Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia Sir William Roy Hodgson (1892-1958), Lieutenant Colonel, CMG, OBE Jerrold Schecter, The Wall Street Journal Anne Marie Wood (1931-2019), Warwickshire, United Kingdom Brian Lister (19262014), Widdington, United Kingdom Léonce Filatriau (*1875), France S. X. Constantinidi, London, United Kingdom James Henry Taylor, Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenant, HM Naval Base Tamar, Hong Kong Alexandre Iolas (19071987), Greece Anthony du Boulay, Honorary Adviser on Ceramics to the National Trust, United Kingdom, Chairman of the French Porcelain Society Robert Bob Mayer and Beatrice Buddy Cummings Mayer, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago Leslie Gifford Kilborn (18951972), The University of Hong Kong Traudi and Peter Plesch, United Kingdom Reinhold Hofstätter, Vienna, Austria Sir Thomas Jackson (1841-1915), 1st Baronet, United Kingdom Richard Nathanson (d. 2018), United Kingdom Dr. W. D. Franz (1915-2005), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Josette and Théo Schulmann, Paris, France Neil Cole, Toronto, Canada Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald (19021982) Arthur Huc (1854-1932), La Dépêche du Midi, Toulouse, France Dame Eva Turner (18921990), DBE Sir Jeremy Lever KCMG, University
    [Show full text]
  • Full Article-PDF
    Sharada.R et al IJCPS, 2014, Vol.2(8): 1082-1094 ISSN: 2321-3132 Review Article International Journal of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences www.pharmaresearchlibrary.com/ijcps Applications of Cellulases–Review Sharada.R1, Venkateswarlu.G2, Venkateswar.S3, AnandRao.M4 1Government Jr. College (G), Sangareddy, Dist. Medak, India 2Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, R.C. Puram, Hyderabad, India 3University College of Technology, O.U., Hyderabad, India 4University College of Sciences, O.U., Hyderabad, India Received: 29 May 2014, Accepted: 30 July 2014, Published Online: 27 August 2014 Abstract Cellulases are important enzymes not only for their potential applications in different industries like industries of animal feed, agricultural, laundry & detergent, textile, paper & pulp, wine & brewery, food processing, olive oil extraction. Carotenoid extraction, pharmaceutical & medical sciences, analytical applications, protoplast production, genetic engineering and pollution treatment, but also for the significant role in bio conversion of agriculture wastes into sugar and bio ethanol. This review paper simply assesses about: Enzymes, Cellulose, Cellulases & its types, Cellulase production and detailed study on Applications of cellulases. Keywords: Enzymes, Cellulose, Cellulase. Contents 1. Introduction . 1082 2. Cellulose . 1083 3. Cellulose Applications . .1084 4. Conclusion . .. .. .1098 5. Acknowledgement . .. 1089 6. References . .. 1090 *Corresponding author Dr. Sharada Venkatesh Department of Chemistry, A.P.S.W.R.Junior College, Zaffargadh, Warangal, India Manuscript ID: IJCPS2144 PAPER-QR CODE Copyright © 2014, IJCPS All Rights Reserved 1. Introduction Enzymes are biological catalysts which are the most remarkable, highly specialized and energized protein molecules found in every cell and are necessary for life. There are over 2000 known enzymes, each of which is involved with one specific chemical reaction.
    [Show full text]
  • Textiles Under Mughals
    Chapter V Textiles under Mughals- The advent of the Mughal dynasty gave an undeniable boost to production of the up-market textile, as to other craft. Textiles are singled out for mentioned by Abul Fazl, the minister and biographer of Akbar (1556-1605), in his Ain-i-Akbari, compile in the 1590‟s as a subject in which the emperor took particular interest. Akbar favoured woollen garment – the chosen wear of Sufis (Muslim mystics) – „from his indifference to everything that is worldly‟ in preference to the richer stuffs. His penchant for wool is also indicated by the steps he took to improve shawl manufacture; especially in the relation to dyes and width of fabric.1 Ain-i- Akbari goes into fascinating details on the manner of classifying garments in the imperial wardrobe (toshkhana). The textiles were arranged according to the date of entry which was recorded, sometime with other information, on a label tacked on to the piece (practice which survived in provision toshkhana into the 20th century). Price, colour and weight were also taken into account. Within these boundaries, textile took precedence according to the nature of the day, astrologically auspicious or otherwise on which they were received. A further refinement took into account the colours, of which thirty five are listed in the order of precedence. Abul Fazl further records that imperial workshops had been set up in the cities of Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Ahmedabad, where the best of the local craftsmen were requisitioned to supply the needs of the court.2 Persian masters were brought in to teach improved techniques.
    [Show full text]
  • Cyclical Time and Ismaili Gnosis
    ISLAMIC TEXTS AND CONTEXTS Cyclical Time General Editor Hermann Landolt and Ismaili Gnosis Professor of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal and The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London Henry Corbin Assistant Editors KEGAN PAUL INTERNATIONAL London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley Elizabeth Brine in association with Dr James Morris ISLAMIC PUBLICATIONS The Institute of Ismaili Studies London The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in December 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning in Islam, and a better understanding of other faiths, beliefs and practices. Its programmes are designed to encourage a balanced study of Islam and the diversity that exists within its fundamental unity. They also deal with the contemporary situation of the Islamic World, focusing on issues that are critical to its well-being. Since 1980 the Institute has been affiliated to McGill University, Mon- treal, Canada. It also works in association with other universities. With the co-operation of McGill University, the Institute runs a Depart- ment of Graduate Studies and Research (London and Paris). The series "Islamic Texts and Contexts" is edited by this Department. The views expressed in this series are those of the respective authors. Contents Editorial Note IX 1 CYCLICAL TIME IN MAZDAISM AND ISMAILISM 1 Translated by Ralph Manheim 1. Cyclical Time in Mazdaism 1 The Ages of the World in Zoroastrian Mazdaism 1 The Absolute Time of Zervanism 12 Dramaturgical Alterations 20 Time as a Personal Archetype 22 2. CyclicalTime in Ismailism 30 Absolute Time and Limited Time in the Ismaili Cosmology 30 The Periods and Cycles of Mythohistory 37 Resurrection as the Horizon of the Time of "Combat for the Angel" .
    [Show full text]
  • Information to Users
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMÎ films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfiims International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North) Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9201686 Time philosophy in Derzhavin’s poetics. [Russian text] Cho, Jugwan, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1991 C opyri^t (c)1991 by Cho, Jugwan.
    [Show full text]
  • The Textile Museum Thesaurus
    The Textile Museum Thesaurus Edited by Cecilia Gunzburger TM logo The Textile Museum Washington, DC This publication and the work represented herein were made possible by the Cotsen Family Foundation. Indexed by Lydia Fraser Designed by Chaves Design Printed by McArdle Printing Company, Inc. Cover image: Copyright © 2005 The Textile Museum All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means -- electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise -- without the express written permission of The Textile Museum. ISBN 0-87405-028-6 The Textile Museum 2320 S Street NW Washington DC 20008 www.textilemuseum.org Table of Contents Acknowledgements....................................................................................... v Introduction ..................................................................................................vii How to Use this Document.........................................................................xiii Hierarchy Overview ....................................................................................... 1 Object Hierarchy............................................................................................ 3 Material Hierarchy ....................................................................................... 47 Structure Hierarchy ..................................................................................... 55 Technique Hierarchy ..................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Textile Manufacturing and Trade Without and with Coercion: the Indian Experience in the Eighteenth Century Om Prakash India
    Textile Manufacturing and Trade Without and With Coercion: The Indian Experience in the Eighteenth Century Om Prakash India has traditionally been a major textile manufacturing nation. Indeed, until the early part of the nineteenth century when the Industrial Revolution conferred a distinct cost advantage on the West, India had dominated world trade in textiles. Such domination was clearly in evidence in the Indian Ocean trade, alternatively referred to as Asian trade, in the period prior to the arrival of the Europeans in the Ocean at the end of the fifteenth century. In part, this indeed was a function of the midway location of the subcontinent between west Asia on the one hand and southeast Asia on the other. But perhaps even more important was the subcontinent’s capacity to put on the market a wide range of tradeable goods at highly competitive prices. By far the most important of these goods was textiles of various kinds. While these included high-value varieties such as the legendary Dhaka muslins and Gujarat silk embroideries, the really important component for the Asian market was the coarse cotton varieties manufactured primarily on the Coromandel coast and in Gujarat. There was a large scale demand for these varieties both in the eastern markets of Indonesia, Malaya, Thailand and Burma as well as in the markets of the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and East Africa. While it is impossible to determine precisely what proportion of total domestic demand for mass consumption textiles in these societies was met by imports from India, the available evidence would seem to point in the direction of this not being altogether insignificant.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Contracting Nomadic Carriage for an Aquatic Agenda
    Connecting Histories in Afghanistan Shah Mahmoud Hanifi Chapter 2 Contracting Nomadic Carriage for an Aquatic Agenda Sayyid Muhin Shah and the Validation of Market Profitability Sayyid Muhin Shah became a nomadic trader in response to unfavorable political conditions 1 in his home village near Qandahar. He met Arthur Conolly in Herat and the two traveled to Delhi where Muhin Shah impressed the Governor General and Viceroy of India, and other high-ranking colonial officials. Muhin Shah was immediately contracted to perform a series of commercial experiments for the British that validated the profitability of exporting Indian and European goods to Afghanistan and Central Asia.1 Muhin Shah came from a family of Sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, who 2 resided in Peshin, a village about twenty miles north of Quetta on the road to Qandahar. The Sayyids' social status carried economic and political benefits. In nineteenth-century Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Muslim world, sayyids, saints, and sufis received monetary offerings from ordinary people and political elites in return for a variety of blessings, consultations, and ritual performances. For example, during his aborted attempt to reclaim the Durrani throne in 1833, Shuja borrowed Rs. 2,000 from a merchant in Sind to use as monetary "blessings" to the Peshin Sayyids as he advanced to Qandahar through their village.2 But, more important, their Sayyid status gave them access to an interregional network of Muslim merchants. The Peshin Sayyids used their piety, capital, and network connections to become significant actors in the horse and slave trades through Qandahar and Quetta and prominent landholders in Peshin, as the following quotes reveal: The Syads of Peshin and other small traders carry on the traffic in human beings in Western Afghanistan, and some 400 or 500 are annually disposed of in Kandahar alone.
    [Show full text]
  • Weavers , Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Teacher: Harmeet Kaur Sodhi
    Class 8 Social Science( history) Date :2 December 2020 chapter6- Weavers , Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Teacher: Harmeet kaur Sodhi 1. What kinds of cloth had a large market in Europe? Answer. Cotton and Silk had a large market in Europe. Different varieties of Indian textiles were sold in European markets: a. Chintz b. Cossaes or Khasa c. Bandanna d. Jamdani Indian printed cotton textiles were also famous in England for their exquisite floral designs, fine textures and inexpensiveness. 2. What is jamdani? Answer. 1. Jamdani is a fine muslin on which decorative motifs are woven on the loom, typically in grey and white. 2. Often a mixture of cotton and gold thread was used, as in the cloth in this picture. 3. The most important centres of jamdani weaving were Dacca in Bengal and Lucknow in the United Provinces. 3. What is bandanna? Answer. • Bandannas are any brightly coloured and printed scarf for the neck or head. • Originally, the term derived from the word “bandhna” (Hindi for tying) and referred to a variety of brightly coloured cloth produced through a method of tying and dying. 4. Who are the Agaria? Answer. A group of men and women forming a community of iron smelters. 5. Fill in the blanks: (a) The word chintz comes from the word chhint. (b) Tipu’s sword was made of wootz steel. (c) India’s textile exports declined in the nineteenth century. 6. How do the names of different textiles tell us about their histories? Answer. The different textiles like ‘muslin’, ‘chintz’, ‘calico’ and ‘bandanna’ have a history to their names: a.
    [Show full text]
  • Textile Manufacturing in Eighteenth Century Bengal Om Prakash I
    From market-determined to coercion-based: Textile manufacturing in eighteenth century Bengal1 Om Prakash I For many centuries prior to the nineteenth, India had been a major producer and provider of textiles of all kinds. Textiles were manufactured in large quantities all over the subcontinent to provide for consumption in the domestic, the Indian Ocean as well as the world market. While an overwhelming proportion of the total domestic demand for this basic consumption good was obviously met through local village level production involving very little, if at all any, trade, the proportion of total output entering regional or sub-continental trade was by no means entirely insignificant. This was particularly true of trade in luxury textiles where the element of regional specialization was of particular importance. One might also note the large-scale long-distance trade in textile raw materials. One only needs to draw attention in this behalf to the large scale dependence of the Bengal cotton textile sector on the import of cotton from Gujarat which, in turn, depended for its silk textile sector mainly on the raw silk imported from Bengal. Beyond the subcontinent, in the west, Indian textiles were traditionally a familiar item in the markets of the Middle East, and via these markets, to a limited extent in the markets of the Mediterranean. The fifth century A.D. cotton fragments discovered at Berenike, a harbour site on the Egyptian side 1 of the Red Sea, are the earliest patterned textiles of Indian origin so far recovered from an archaeological context. In the east, Indian textiles were traded on a much more substantial scale in mainland and island southeast Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • Unit 22 Non-Agricultural Production
    UNIT 22 NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION Structure . 22.0 Objectives 22.1 Introduction 22.2 Agro-based Production 22.2.1 Textiles 22.2.2 Indigo \ 22.2.3 Spgar, Oil, etc. 22.3 Minerals, Mining and Metals 22.3.1 Mineral Production 22.3.2 Metals 22.4 Wood-based Crafts 22.5 Miscellaneous Crafts 22.6 Organisation of Production 22.7 Let Us Sum Up 22.8 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises 22.0 OBJECTIVES During the period of our study, India had a high level of craft production. After going through this unit you would : know the various types of articles rhanufactured in India; be able to list the main centres of specific crafts; have an idea about the minerals found in various parts of the country; know about the techniques used in production of a few commodities; and have some idea about the organisation of production in certain crafts. 22.1 INTRODUCTION India had a high level of craft production during the period of our study. This craft production was linked with the pattern of trade and commerce. We find that the manufacturing activity was brisk in and around the main commercial centres. The Persian chronicles provide limited information about the crafts and techniques of production. European travellers and documents and correspondence of various European trading companies supply more detailed information. These companies were keen observers of the process of production and the quality of production. Craft production was basically governed by the demand and consumption in the home market. The increase in demand in overseas markets in the 17th Century was so great that it started influencing the production activity.
    [Show full text]