Basra: Weavers
Date: 985-91
In his Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fi maʿrifat al-aqālīm, al-Muqaddasi (d. 991) mentions that he saw al-khaz made in Basra. Al-khaz is a type of cloth that is woven from wool and ibrīsam (i.e. silk). This fabric was used for the manufacture of robes known as al-tarāʾif. See also: Spinner; Wool Worker; Tailor.
Citation: Muqaddasi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad. Aḥsan al-taqāsīm fi maʿrifat al-aqālīm (Cairo: Maktabat Madbili, 1991), vol. 3, p. 128.
Date: Nineteenth to early twentieth centuries
L. Kotlov reports that at the beginning of the nineteenth century Basra was a centre for the production of calicos and muslins. A century later these crafts had all but disappeared. See also: Dyer; Spinner; Tent Maker; Mat Maker.
Citation: N. L. Kotlov, Natsionalno-osvoboditelnoe Vosstanie (Moscow, 1958), pp. 49-56. Translated in Charles Issawi, ed., The Economy of the Middle East, 1800-1914, Studies in Middle Eastern History (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1988), pp. 454-57.