DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.614#0372
BENARES, PAST AND PRESENT. 329
chiefly, it has come to pass that Benares is one of
the richest cities in India.
Although religion, rather than trade, forms the
principal occupation of the inhabitants of Benares,
still the merchants constitute a numerous and impor-
tant body. A considerable trade is carried on in sugar,
saltpetre, and indigo, which are produced in the dis-
trict. Silks and shawls are manufactured in the city;
and Benares is especially famous for its gold embroidered
cloths called Kincob (KimMwdb) and for its beautiful
filigree work in gold. A large quantity of Manchester
goods yearly finds a ready market here, and is sold for
consumption in the neighbourhood, or is sent to other
parts of the country. The most important place of
trade, however, for English cotton manufactures, in the
North-western Provinces of India, is the city of Mirza-
pore, which, at one time, was the chief emporium, not
only of these Provinces, but also of a large portion of
Central India. One very striking sign of general pros-
perity, in Northern India, and, I imagine, in the
country at large, is seen in the taste, now almost
universal, for white or parti-coloured British fabrics
of fine texture, which, although neither so durable nor
so cheap as native products, are much more elegant.
No persons except the poorest are destitute of one
or more raiments made of English eloth; and, in the
cities and towns, no one considers himself fit for re-
spectable society, if arrayed in cotton garments of native
manufacture.
The bankers of Benares constitute an extensive fra^
ternity. The habits of borrowing, and of plunging reek-
chiefly, it has come to pass that Benares is one of
the richest cities in India.
Although religion, rather than trade, forms the
principal occupation of the inhabitants of Benares,
still the merchants constitute a numerous and impor-
tant body. A considerable trade is carried on in sugar,
saltpetre, and indigo, which are produced in the dis-
trict. Silks and shawls are manufactured in the city;
and Benares is especially famous for its gold embroidered
cloths called Kincob (KimMwdb) and for its beautiful
filigree work in gold. A large quantity of Manchester
goods yearly finds a ready market here, and is sold for
consumption in the neighbourhood, or is sent to other
parts of the country. The most important place of
trade, however, for English cotton manufactures, in the
North-western Provinces of India, is the city of Mirza-
pore, which, at one time, was the chief emporium, not
only of these Provinces, but also of a large portion of
Central India. One very striking sign of general pros-
perity, in Northern India, and, I imagine, in the
country at large, is seen in the taste, now almost
universal, for white or parti-coloured British fabrics
of fine texture, which, although neither so durable nor
so cheap as native products, are much more elegant.
No persons except the poorest are destitute of one
or more raiments made of English eloth; and, in the
cities and towns, no one considers himself fit for re-
spectable society, if arrayed in cotton garments of native
manufacture.
The bankers of Benares constitute an extensive fra^
ternity. The habits of borrowing, and of plunging reek-