Manufacture of Eri Silk Cloths and Cotton Cloths in the Jaintia Hills.

The number of weavers in the district at the last Census was 533. This
number in the Census Report is ascribed to the cotton industry, no
mention being made of weavers of silk. The spinning of Eri silk thread,
and weaving it into cloths is, however, a fairly considerable industry
amongst the Khyrwang and Nongtung villages of the Jaintia Hills. The
Nongtungs and Khyrwangs rear their own Eri worms, and spin the silk
from the cocoons. The late Mr. Stack, in his admirable note on silk
in Assam, says, "Throughout the whole range of the southern hills,
from the Mikir country, Eri thread is in great request for weaving
those striped cloths, in which the mountaineers delight," but this
observation should have been confined to the Jaintia Hills portion of
this district, the Khasis not weaving themselves either in silk or
cotton. The Khasis obtain their silk cloths from the Assam Valley,
and from the Nongtung or Khyrwang villages in Jaintia. The latter
villages have given the name to the striped cloth, _ka jáin Khyrwang_,
which is almost invariably worn by the Syntengs. Mr. Stack has given
in detail a description of the silk industry in Assam, and it is not
therefore necessary to go over the same ground here. The Khyrwang
cloth is red and white, mauve and white, or chocolate and white,
the cloth being worn by both men and women. The Khyrwang cloths vary
in price from Rs. 5 to Rs. 25, according to size and texture. These
cloths are the handiwork of women alone, and a woman working every
day regularly will take six months to manufacture a cloth valued at
Rs. 25; but, as a rule, in the leisurely manner in which they work,
it takes a year to complete it.