By Rafe Calder
The facts about muga silk are short, and most of them fit in one sentence. It is made by the larvae of one moth, Antheraea assamensis, in one river valley, the Brahmaputra’s, in the Indian state of Assam. Wikipedia says so. Everything else is detail, and some of the detail does not agree with itself.
The animal and its tree
Dialogue Earth, an environmental news site, says the silkworm is semi-domesticated, is found only in the Brahmaputra Valley, and feeds on the som plant. Wikipedia adds a second host, sualu (Litsea polyantha), alongside som (Machilus bombycina). The Central Silk Board’s Kamrup page does not name the host species at all. It says the worm is multivoltine, meaning it produces several generations in a year, and describes pruning host plants to about 6 feet and rearing the worms on the foliage.
A year of crops
The Silk Board page gives five to six crops a year, in three groups. Two are commercial crops, called Jethua and Katia. Two are pre-seed crops, Jarua and Aherua. Two are seed crops, Chotua and Bhodia. It says pre-seed and seed crops often suffer heavy early losses from weather, disease, pests and predators.
The page also describes the care taken. Rearing plots are disinfected with a mixture of bleaching powder and slaked lime. Eggs are checked under a microscope for disease. Worms are protected with nylon nets while small, and tree trunks are wrapped in oil-coated polythene so they cannot crawl down or predators climb up. When they spin, worms are placed on bamboo mounts, up to 1,500 to a mount, in a semi-dark, aerated, rat-proof room. Cocoons are harvested once pupation is complete, about 7 days in summer and 10 in winter.
Dialogue Earth says the worms are reared outdoors and need roughly 30 to 35 °C and 80 to 85 per cent humidity. The Silk Board gives egg incubation at 26 ±1 °C and 85 ±5 per cent humidity. These are different stages, so they need not conflict, but we show both.
Colour and wear
Wikipedia calls the colour a natural yellowish-golden tint with a shimmering, glossy texture, and says the silk is extremely durable. It says the silk can be hand-washed, that its lustre increases after each wash, and that it can be dyed after bleaching. Dialogue Earth gives the same claims about lustre and durability and says the Assamese word muga means yellow or amber.
Protection
Wikipedia says muga silk was registered as a Geographical Indication in 2007. Dialogue Earth also gives 2007. Wikipedia adds that a GI logo was granted in 2014, that the Central Silk Board can inspect muga products and certify authenticity, and that the board can authorise use of the logo. A research institute in Jorhat is named as working on it.
How much is made
The figures do not line up.
- Wikipedia: in 2014 to 2015, India produced 158 tonnes of muga silk, 136 tonnes of it in Assam, out of 28,708 tonnes of all silk.
- Dialogue Earth: demand exceeds 5,000 tonnes a year; Assam has averaged about 90 tonnes a year, rising to 115 tonnes in 2011 to 2012.
Different years, different scopes. Our reading: the totals are small either way beside the quantity of silk India makes overall. That is our inference, and the sources give the raw figures only.
Where it is woven
Wikipedia’s Sualkuchi article places the town in Kamrup district, about 35 km from Guwahati, on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. It calls it the textile centre of Assam, with a large cottage industry in handloom weaving, and says it is known as the Manchester of Assam. Muga, pat and eri silks, plus endi cloth, are noted for quality, and mekhela chadors and gamosas made from them are in demand across Assam and beyond. The Muga silk article repeats a story that the weaving village was established in the 11th century by a king who brought 26 weaver families. The page flags it as a story, and we do too.
Wikipedia’s Muga article lists uses: saris, mekhalas and chadors.
Why it is at risk
Dialogue Earth is the one source that dwells on this. It says unpredictable rainfall, rising temperatures and persistent floods have endangered cocoon production. In Dhemaji district, floods affected 50,500 farm families in one year and silt covered 3,718 hectares of farmland. Floods and silt have destroyed or endangered som plantations. Changes in temperature and humidity can bring diseases named Flacherie and Grasserie, which can wipe out a whole batch. Pesticides from nearby tea gardens reportedly kill silkworms. It reports that the Central Silk Board had not at that time studied climate effects on muga. The article’s text we read gives no date for that remark, so we cannot say whether it still holds.
The same article says the work is labour-intensive, and household members typically rear, reel and weave.
Dates in order
- At least 321 BC: production in the region, according to Dialogue Earth, which gives no further support in the text we read.
- 11th century: Sualkuchi founded, according to a story cited by Wikipedia.
- 2007: GI registered, according to Wikipedia and Dialogue Earth.
- 2011 to 2012: 115 tonnes, according to Dialogue Earth.
- 2014: GI logo granted, according to Wikipedia.
- 2014 to 2015: 158 tonnes in India, according to Wikipedia.
Side by side
Wikipedia and Dialogue Earth agree on the valley, the colour, the washing and the GI year. The host plant is named by two sources and left open by the third. Output figures differ by year and scope.
What kind of sources these are
Two Wikipedia articles, which anyone can edit; a news site covering environment; and a page from the silk board’s regional site. Reeling methods are described in none of them, so we give none.
What we left out
Prices, weaver names, a temple mentioned in the Sualkuchi article, and the claim that the silk is among the world’s most expensive, which rests on one source with no figure.
Quick answers
Where does muga silk come from? According to Wikipedia, only Assam’s Brahmaputra Valley, from the Assam silkmoth, Antheraea assamensis. Dialogue Earth agrees.
Does muga silk get brighter with washing? Wikipedia and Dialogue Earth both say its lustre increases with each wash, and that it is very durable.
Does muga silk have a GI tag? Yes. Wikipedia and Dialogue Earth both say it was registered in 2007.
Related on this site: ahmedabad-walled-city-pols-unesco, odisha-pattachitra-raghurajpur-natural-pigments, kolhapur-jaggery-gur-winter-crushing-season
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