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II.-The Story of a Cotton Printed Fabric from Orissa.

By O. C. Gangoly,

What has hitherto passed as "a piece of ancient Chinese calico" offers in the female types depicted so close a parallel to Orissan figures so familiar to us through old ancient Orissan paintings and wall cartoons, that the inference is almost irresistible that the piece of printed cotton here illustrated [Plate 1] may have originally come from some part of Orissa. The fabric is supposed to have co.ne from China and was originally reproduced in the Kokka, No. 115, Plate VI. And whether it is Orissan or not, there is absolutely no doubt that is a piece of Indian cloth and the fact that it now hails from China gives it a quite unique interest. From the edict of Asoka at Dhauli we get a glimpse of the kingdom of Kalinga, of which ancient Orissa was a part. It was an extensive, populous and civilized kingdom before the conquest of Asoka. That frequent sea voyages were made to countries outside India from the ports of Kalinga is now a recognized fact in Indian history. It is highly probable if not absolutely certain, that a section of the inhabitants of ancient Kalinga sent out a colony to Java where Indians have ever since come to be called the "Klings" [i.e. Kalingaites]. As late as the eighth century we have evidence of an intercourse of Orissa with China. This is afforded by the Japanese edition of the Chinese Tripitaka which is a translation of a portion of the Buddhist Buddhāvatamsaka Sutra made by a Chinese monk named Prajna on the basis of a manuscript sent as a present to the Chinese Emperor Te Tsung by the King of Utcha [Odra] in A. D. 795. The name of this King in the letter of presentation has been read as Subhakara Kesari [No. 89 in Mr. Buniyu Nanjio's Catalogue; Watters On Yuan Chwang, Vol. II, page 196; Puri District Gazetteer, 1908, page

20]. On the basis of this evidence, it may be possible to suppose that the printed fabric in question may have travelled to China either by the inland or the maritime route. At present the chief centres of production of printed cloths and wax-dyed palampores are at Masulipatam, Kuruppur, Ponneri, Kalahasti, Saidapet, and Sikkanyakanpet [near Kumbakonam]. There is reason to believe that the traditions of this craft in Southern India have been derived from ancient Kalinga where cloth used to be manufactured in such large quantities that Kalinga became the word for cloth in old Tamil. In minor details of the architecture represented and in the general spirit of the design the fabric in question has many interesting coincidences with a piece of modern painted cotton from Sikkanayakanpet [reproduced as Fig. 4 in the account of The Victoria Technical Institute, Madras, 1909]. So that it is possible that our printed fabric from China originated either in Orissa or some part of Southern India. My reasons for suggesting that the piece of cloth came from Orissa are:-(1) that the female figures represented are unmistakably Orissan in type, rather than Southern Indian and this can be easily demonstrated by comparison with figures in old Orissan paintings; (2) some of the architectural details appear to be specially characteristic of Orissa; these are the towers and sikharas of the Vimanas which closely reproduce the towers of many Orissan temples, particularly the towers placed over the Kirtimukhas on the tri-foiled arches, which are characteristically Gaudian or at least Northern Indian types. The principal objection to identify the piece as Orissan is in the type of the male figures represented which rather recall the dress and headgear of the Mahrattas who occupied Orissa from A.D. 1742. If the old textile craft of Kalinga be supposed to have survived to the time of the Mahratta occupation, it is hardly possible that the craft was actually practised during the misrale, anarchy and violence which followed the tyrannical occupation of the country by the Mahrattas. It is unlikely that after 1742 any direct intercourse either by sea or land could have taken place between India and China. On the other hand, we

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Photo-engraved & printed at the Offices of the Survey of India, Calcutta, 1919.

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Photo-engraved & printed at the Offices of the Survey of India, Calcutta, 1919.

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