While going through the NCERT books on History, I came across an interesting discussion on how Indian textiles dominated European markets till the 18th century. The decline of Indian textile industry was deliberately brought about the British by imposing high import duties on the cloth in Britain while importing vast quantity of British cloth to India. It is a shocking tale of colonial greed, white man's insecurity and aversion to fair competition and complete decimation of a local industry which provided employment to millions.
When the British first arrived on the scene in Surat in the 17th Century, they had to place orders two years in advance because this was the time required for the orders to reach Europe from India through ships. Once these cloths arrived there, they were auctioned and sold at very high rates. The popularity and the quality of the Indian textiles can be gauged from the fact that rich people of England, including the Queen herself wore clothes of Indian fabric.
