CENSUS OF INDIA 1981 SERIES-23 WEST BENGAL PART X D HANDICRAFT SURVEY REPORT MASLAND MAT Investigation And Draft : Dipankar Sen Editing And Guidance: Sukumar Sinha HANDICRAFT SURVEY REPORT MASLAND MAT FOREWORD The Indian handicrafts are known the world over for their rich variety~ grace, elegance and skilled craftmanship. Nevertheless, a number of handicrafts because of their stiffcompetition with factory made productl', non~availability of raw mate­ rials, exhorbitant increase in the manufacturing cost, lack of proper marketing faci­ lities 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 their 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 a bout 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 infolmation on those crafts which were selected for the study. At the 1971 Census, the study on handicrafts was not taken up but thi& was apain revived in connection with the 1981 Census. There has been, however, SOlTI_e diffe­ rence between the studies taken up in connection with the Censuses of 1961 and 1981. Woile the 1961 studies have covered both rural and urban crafts, the 1981 studies have focussed their attention on1y 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 ot the region particu1arly the villages. This is in consonance 'With the poUcy 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 indu&trie~ and handicrafts playa significant role. The formats required for undertaking the study were formulated by Dr. K.P. Ittaman under the able guidance of Dr. N.G. Nag, the then Deputy Registrar General, Social Studies Division. Dr. Ittaman who succeeded Dr. Nag as Deputy Registrar General, Social Studies Division co-ordinated the study undertaken in different States/ Union Territories by the Direc10rates 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. I am grateful to all of them for organising this study. ' The present report is the out come ofa study undertaken on M asland Mat by the Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. I have immense pleasure in ack~ nowledging the services rendered by Shri Sukumar Sinha, Joint Director and his col­ leagues in the Census Directorate for bringing out this publication. New Delhi, v. S.VERMA The 1st June, 1988 Registrar General, India ( I Assistance in Investigation Sri Sanat Kumar Saha and Tabulation : Assistant Compiler Preparation of Map Sri Subir Kumar Chatterjee Draftsman PhotograpJry Sri Manas Kumar Mitra Computor II'_' PREFACE The craft of mat-weaving from grass, reeds, cane, leaves of palm and date-palm trees is perhaps one of the oldest and finest traditional arts of India. Along with basketry, mat-weaving is widely practised in many States in India and also in Wesll Bengal. That mats were used in olden times is supported by historical references. Kata denotes a mat made of reeds (Vaitasa) and the maker of mats from reeds (Vidala-Kari) is mentioned in the Vajasaneyi Samhita and the process of splitting reeds for the purpose is referred to in the Atharva Veda I ; Kasipu also denotes a mat or cushion made, according to the Atharva Veda (VI. 138,5), by women from 2 reeds (nada) which they crushed for the purpose by means of stones • On the other hand, the Satapatha Brahmana (XIII, 4, 3, 1) refers to a mat made of gold3 • In fact, 'braiding and interlacing' are two of the oldest handicrafts known to man. The different stages of their development. ....... lead from the simple joining of palm leaves, bast strings and grass blades to the final development of the loom and the multi-textured materials the looms produce4 • At a tilne when the use of tools was Vi!ry lilnited, man preferred to produce grass mat by joining grass into regular patterns which process did not require the aid of tools5 • The use of grass mats in the Vedic period and in the epics has been discussed briefly in the Monograph itsel[ Mats at present are used in India as covers for the floor (as substitute for woollen carpets) decorations for the wans, table-covers, bed-spreads and prayer-mats. In West Bengal the mat-industry flourished under the patronage of the Muslim rulers when mats of fine quality with yarns of silk as warp were prized for their artistic designs, excellent craft~manship and perfect evenness of plaiting. The district of Mr dinipur had become pre-eminent for the production of fine mats. More than hundered years back Maslandpur, a village in the Maslandpur thana of the Tamluk sub-division situated near the Hijli Tidal Canal (northern section) close to Mahishadal was noted for its fine mats, some of 6 which were sold for more than Rs. 100/-each • As early as 1911 mat-making was carried on extensively in the south of the district especially S?Jbong7 .The industry in the Sabong and Panskura thanas employed about 1000 workers and their pro.. ducts are said to fectch Rs. 1000/ to Rs. 2000/ . on each hat dc.y at each of the four 8 9 recognised local markets • The number of mats manufactured in 1907-08 was 448300 • The production of Masland mats of Medinipur is now restricted to very few craft­ centres and the finest masland mats of legendary fame aTe not produc~d now. They were luxury crafts, made for the consumption of the old Rajahs and Zemindars and one Midnapore masland mat could sell from Rs. 100. to Rs. 1000 about 100 years ago. Today that would alnount to Rs. 1000 to Rs. 10,000 for a single mat. The ------- 1 Ved ic Index of Names and subjects by-A.A. Macdonell and A.B. Ke ith, London,-1912,-pp. 133. 2 Ibid. 133. 3 Ibid. 4 'Kora grass Mats'-in 'Se lected crafts of Kerala' by M.K. Devassy, Census of India, 1961, Vol. VII, Part VIlA, pp. 143. 5 Ibid. 6 A Statistical Account of Bengal, Midnapur and Hooghly by W.W. Hunter, Vol. III, London 1875, ))p. 46. 7 Bengal District Gazetteer-Midnapore by L.S.S.O' Maller, Calcutta, 1911, pp. 54~, 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. (ix) (x) rich upper cl()~s s of modern s o c iety ~ who can afford to spend the amount, would not like to do so for a mat because that does not constitute an essential iteln in the paraphernalia of modern steel-tube-tapestry aristocracy. It is said that the finest kind of Midnapore masland . ... was so slTIooth that a snake could not run over it anq it could be easily folded into a coat procket_'Io. There are 'big rolls of old mats in Mahishadal, Narajol arid other r'ajbaris in Midnapore ' disiric't, lnOre than one hundred yards long, on which two to'three hundred persons could sit quite ,d:nufor­ tably on ceremonial occasions. Ceremonies' are' still there~ but the custom bf prQvid­ riig seats or mats has changed. Such mats are therefore no longer made and the 'Craftsmen who could make these Inats have also vanithed.' II ' Even though the craft now call~not boast of products to be iiribued with the IDi gic touch of its past excellence, the artisans are still carrying on tne' tradit16hS of their forebears who had once 'furnished the palaces and mansions of feudal lordS arid royal dyn3sts with tIie finest rolls of masland mats. It is iinportant therefore to scrible down whatever can be known about the craft and the craftsmen before they are 16st· in the annals of history. 11 The prec;ent monograph is the second in the series of the Rural Craft Survey Reports as part of the 1981 Census progranune, the scheme having been enunciated in details by Sri V. S. Verma, Registrar General, India, in his Foreword. The investi­ gation.in the field was conducted in 1987~88 by Sri Dipankar Sen, Investigator with the help of , qu~ stionnaires and schedules. Sri Sen was assisted in the fielp. by Sri Sanat Kumar Saha, Assistant Compiler, Pllblished books and journals, group, discussions. and participant observation supplemented the coD;tprehensive st_udyof tl1~ craft,. cO~lducted with an eye on qbjectivity. Yet, subjectjvely crept in at, tiJnes but never divorcing the analysis from moorings o( reality. Involuntary O1nis~ions.' if any, may be forgiven as human aberations. Opinions' here or elsewhp!e are personal, representing neithes the policies nor the views of the State or Central Government. l ' , JII. , ,- The succes~ of any study of the present kind depend~ very l~rgely on the response from and cooperation of the practising and non-practising craftsmen in the c,r",ft­ Gentres.