The global success of cotton

Abstract

The story of cotton is one where globalisation as an indubitable factor present in the fibre’s cultivation, processing and in the cloth’s use. This chapter underlines how this was not a linear process. Starting with South Asia, cotton cultivation expanded east and westwards through agronomical knowledge and the adoption of new preparatory, spinning and weaving techniques. Innovation was accompanied by barriers – ecologic, technological and institutional – as well. The silk roads were one of the major channels through which cotton production expanded across Asia. They were closely linked to other maritime routes before and during the rising European presence in the Indian Ocean.