Old Madraspatnam. Image via 121 clicks.<\/p><\/div>\n
At its best, the East India Company was the easily-dispatched villainous organization from\u00a0Pirates of the Caribbean\u00a0<\/em>and at its worst, an actual British organization committed to plundering the natural wealth of England’s richest colony: India. The real-life version of this organization received its Royal Charter in 1600 and on its third round of expansion, set up shop in a colony called Armagon.<\/p>\nWoven Madras. Image via Styleforum.<\/p><\/div>\n
The Trading Company was doing much of its business in spices and textiles and the fabrics they discovered in Armagon turned out to be of an unacceptably low quality for export. The company was in a bind and needed to establish a new trading post with a thriving textile industry. In 1637, Francis Day, an administrator of the company’s factory at Armagon began an expedition that would lead to the founding of the city of Madras.<\/p>\n
Fort St. George and the city of Madras. Image via Columbia.edu<\/p><\/div>\n
Francis Day obtained a grant for the pre-existing village of Madraspatnam, leaving it under British control for at least two years. The port itself wasn’t exactly ideal, as many British naval officers pointed out, but the high-quality, cheap cotton in the area was certainly a draw.<\/p>\n
The trading post of Madras and its accompanying military installation: Fort St. George were established in 1639. The English lured weavers and merchants from across the region with promises of exemption from tax duties and in so doing, obtained some of the best hand-woven fabric available on the market at the time.<\/p>\n
Modern Madras. Image via Gentleman’s Gazette.<\/p><\/div>\n
The British made a fortune in Madras. First, by shipping the cheap, strong cotton, then by selling an un-dyed muslin version, and finally by recognizing the talent that had been under their noses all along. The people of Madraspatnam had long been famous for the loosely woven and meticulously yarn-dyed fabrics.<\/p>\n
The fabric that came to be known as Madras is and was woven by hand, first embroidered with elaborate patterns and later in more refined prints, in which red and blue were some of the most popular colors. Rice gruel was used as an adhesive and boiling spring water was used to set the dyes, the water of each region leaving a slightly different hue.<\/p>\n
Records show that even before European presence in the region, their brightly-colored fabrics were traded as far as Northern Africa and the Middle East in the 1400s. The sixteenth century saw this fabric refined to include more intricate dyeing processes and more complex patterns, but the Madras fabric was largely considered a working person’s material, nothing special.<\/p>\n
Tartan in the Colonies. Image via Pinterest.<\/p><\/div>\n
By 1822, fabrics from Madras were mostly in various tartans, which had become popular after King George IV paid a visit to Scotland and found himself drawn to the pattern. The signature vibrant plaid of the Madras either comes from the presence of Scottish troops in the area, or simple Indian agency. It’s just as likely that Indian weavers had created a plaid pattern entirely on their own without any European interference, but as the plaid Madras fabric became a sensation back in Europe, the English did their best to take credit.<\/p>\n