Dhaka-Maslin Jamdani

Dhaka was the seat of fashion dating back to 4^th century BC. The earliest known writings mentioning the use of Maslin from Bengal appeared in Kautiliya’s Arthashastra that referred to the superior cotton fabrics of ‘Vanga’. Magesthenes, the Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya in the 5^th century, was noted to wear magnificent robes of flowered maslins to the royal courts. The famous transparent maslin was at one time known as ‘ab-e-rawan’ or flowing water. Several references to the fine maslins of Bengal are available in the travel accounts of Marco Polo while travelling in Asia. He mentions this closely woven transparent cloth being traded in Constantinople, Turkey as ‘mousselini de Bangala’. Trade records of travelers from china, West Asia and Europe bear testimony to richness of Dhaka’s cloth trade and it’s superlative weaving techniques of the day.