About The Paper
In the 17th century, at the court of the Mughal Emperor, Jehangir, the paper used
for all documents, edicts and miniature paintings was the paper made in Daulatabad.
Such was the fame of this paper. It was made entirely by hand from a pulp of waste
'sunn' hemp, old fishing nets, gunny sacks, tailoring waste, articles that had outlived
their original use.
In India we have re-used long before the word recycle came into our vocabulary.
It was a necessity.
Four hundred years ago, this paper made in Daulatabad was even more famous than
the Persian paper made in Samarkhand, the gateway through which the Chinese technique
of making paper spread westwards.
But over the decades, machines slowly made inroads into the handicrafts. They replaced
man. The cotton waste was replaced by wood pulp. The master craftsmen were reduced
to making bricks and selling fruit.
At the Bombay Paperie we seek to breathe new life into the dying craft. With the
help of the last two remaining master papermakers we have been able to train a younger
generation. The vats are in use again to make the thin, strong paper of old, possibly
the last mill to make it out of cotton rags.
No trees are cut to make this paper.
Now, with the 21st century, the digital revolution poses a new threat. Paper is
about to become redundant. Can we not find a new use for paper in a world that does
not write letters? Share your ideas with us and help us bring a 17th century craft
into the 21st century.
We are the bridge that links the old of yesterday to the young of today.... walk
over it with us!
