EARTH
GUILD
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Asheville NC 28801
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SPINNING: Book Charkha Spinning Wheel
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This Indian Book Charkha is made of teak, finished and ready to
use. It includes 3 spindles, a skeinwinder and instructions. It is
designed for spinning fine fibers such as cotton, silk, angora, cashmere,
etc. into fine yarns. This exceptionally compact and unusually shaped
wheel has a very interesting history. |
During the rule of the British Crown, Indian-produced cotton was shipped
off to England to be spun and then made into cloth. The British then sent
the cloth back to India to be sold at a price most Indians could not afford.Mahatma
Ghandi was looking for a way to impress on the British that exploitation
through cotton would not go unchallenged. He suggested a competition for
the Indian people: develop a spinning wheel that every Indian could afford,
a wheel that would be compact enough to fit in every home and also portable
so it could be taken everywhere a person might travel. Ghandi encouraged
everyone to sit down and spin when they had a free moment and did so himself.
This spinning would be done in public and hopefully in the presence of
the British. The Charkha spinning wheel (charkha means “wheel”) shown
above won this competition and helped in the fight for independence. It
is still used in India today.
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(Updated March 2008)
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