The submontane, the peninsular, and the arid zones of South Asia are home to indigenous breeds of sheep. In the past, this resource sustained two large handicrafts, manufacture of coarse blankets and knotted carpets. These industries survived into the twenty-first century. With the development of knitting technology, apparel and hosiery manufacture expanded in the region. All of these users of local wool, however, had to deal with problems of quality and supply of the material. This entry surveys the modern history of wool production and usage in the region and shows how changing land use and commercialization shaped these livelihoods. This entry focuses on the twentieth century, because systematic descriptions for earlier periods remain scarce.
Wool Production
South Asia has 5–6 % of the world’s sheep population and a somewhat smaller percentage of the world production of clean wool. In the first half of the twentieth century, the region contained the fourth largest sheep stock in the...
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References
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Roy, T. (2003). Changes in wool production and usage in colonial India. Modern Asian Studies, 37(2), 257–286.
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Roy, T. (2014). Wool in India. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10080-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10080-1
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