Safha-e-Awwal› E-Magazine ›100 Bari Daryaftein aur Ijadat

Cotton: Mehrgarh ke taambe ke manke mein chhupa hazaron baras purana dhaga

Aap ne aaj jo qameez pehni hai, us ka dhaga shayad Punjab ya Sindh ke kisi khet se aaya ho. Magar cotton aur insan ke rishte ki sab se purani maloom gawahi kisi khet se nahin, ek qabr se mili.…

Atemad E-Magazine 20 October 2026 · 7 minute ka mutalia

Cotton: Mehrgarh ke taambe ke manke mein chhupa hazaron baras purana dhaga — Alamati tasveer

Aap ne aaj jo qameez pehni hai, us ka dhaga shayad Punjab ya Sindh ke kisi khet se aaya ho. Magar cotton aur insan ke rishte ki sab se purani maloom gawahi kisi khet se nahin, ek qabr se mili. Balochistan mein Darra-e-Bolan ke daman mein Mehrgarh (Mehrgarh) ke maqam par taambe ka ek chhota sa manka nikla, aur us ke andar cotton ke chand reshe saat hazar baras se zyada arse se mehfooz pare the.

Cotton kya hai?

Cotton ek paudhe ke beej ke gird ugne wala naram safed resha hai. Us paudhe ki jins ko science ki zaban mein Gossypium (Gossypium) kehte hain. Aaj duniya mein cotton ki chaar aqsam kasht hoti hain. In mein se do ka aabai watan junubi aur wasti America hai, jabke do purani duniya ki hain: ek bar-e-saghir ki Gossypium arboreum (Gossypium arboreum) aur doosri Africa ki Gossypium herbaceum (Gossypium herbaceum). DNA ke mutale batate hain ke in dono ko alag alag paaltu banaya gaya tha, yani cotton ki kasht duniya mein ek se zyada jagah par shuru hui.

Mehrgarh ka manka: sab se purani gawahi

Mehrgarh Kachhi ke maidan mein waqe woh basti hai jahan mahireen-e-asar-e-qadima ko kheti bari, janwar paalne aur auzar saazi ke ibtidai saboot mile hain. World History Encyclopedia riwayati tareekh ke mutabiq yahan ke naye sangi daur ko taqriban 7000 se 5500 qabl masih mein rakhta hai.

Isi daur ki ek qabr se taambe ka ek manka mila. Muhaqqiqin Christophe Moulherat (Christophe Moulherat) aur un ke sathiyon ne jab is manke ka dhaati tajziya kiya to us ke andar kai dhaage dikhai diye. Taambe ke zang ne in dhagon ko maadni shakl de kar galne sarne se bacha liya tha. Muhaqqiqin ne aam khurdbeen aur electron khurdbeen ko mila kar ek naya tareeqa apnaya aur in reshon ko cotton ke taur par shanakht kiya. Yeh tehqeeq 2002 mein shaya hui.

Maqale ke khulase ke mutabiq Mehrgarh ke yeh reshe chhathe hazara-e-qabl masih ke hain aur purani duniya mein cotton ki ab tak ki qadeem tareen maloom misaal hain. Unhon ne cotton ke istemal ki tareekh ek hazar baras se zyada peechhe kar di. 2022 mein shaya hone wale ek aur mutale mein is qabr ko chhathe hazare ke pehle nisf, yani andazan 6000 se 5500 qabl masih, mein rakha gaya hai.

Albatta yeh tareekhein Mehrgarh ki us purani taqweem par mabni hain jo khudai ke nigran Jean-Francois Jarrige (Jean-Francois Jarrige) ne tajweez ki thi, jis mein yahan ka ibtidai daur taqriban 8000 qabl masih se shuru hota hai. 2025 mein "Scientific Reports" mein Benjamin Mutin (Benjamin Mutin) aur sathiyon ne 23 qabron ke daanton ke enamel ki nai radio carbon tareekhein shaya keen, jin ke mutabiq naye sangi daur ka yeh qabristan 5200 se 4900 qabl masih ke darmiyan shuru hua aur do se paanch sadiyan raha. Agar yeh nai taqweem durust hai to cotton ke yeh reshe bhi andazon se kam purane ho sakte hain.

Muhaqqiqin ne ehtiyat se yeh bhi likha ke yeh tay karna mumkin nahin ke yeh reshe kisi kasht shuda paudhe ke the ya jungli paudhe ke. Albatta un ke baqaul yeh saboot is imkan ki taraf ishara karta hai ke purani duniya ki ek cotton ki ibtida bahut pehle, shayad Kachhi ke maidan hi mein, hui.

Wadi-e-Sindh se duniya tak

Mehrgarh ke baad agla bara saboot Mohenjo Daro se mila. Wahan chandi ke ek chhote bartan ke dhakkan se kapre ka ek tukra chipka hua mila, jise cotton ke bune kapre ka ab tak ka qadeem tareen maloom namoona mana jata hai. Us ki tareekh 3000 se 2750 qabl masih batai jati hai. Beejon ke mutale ki bunyad par mahireen ka khayal hai ke cotton ko baqaida kasht ka paudha banane ka amal Harappa tehzeeb ke zamane mein, yani 2600 se 1900 qabl masih ke darmiyan, hua. Wadi-e-Sindh ko arboreum cotton ka mumkina markaz aur yaheen se us ke phailao ka rasta samjha jata hai.

Bar-e-saghir se bahar bhi cotton jald pahunch gayi. Wadi-e-Urdun ke ek qadeem maqam Tel Tsaf (Tel Tsaf) ki mitti mein muhaqqiqin ko cotton ke reshe mile jo taqriban 5200 se 4700 qabl masih ke hain. Mashriq-e-Wusta mein yeh cotton ka qadeem tareen maloom saboot hai. Muhaqqiqin ke mutabiq yeh reshe ghaliban kisi jungli qism ke the aur un ka makhaz bar-e-saghir tha. Urdun ke mashriqi sehra mein Dhuweila (Dhuweila) ke maqam se bhi cotton ke kapre ke nishan mile hain jo 4450 se 3000 qabl masih ke darmiyan ke hain.

"Darakhton par ugne wali oon"

Qadeem duniya ke liye cotton ek ajooba thi. Qadeem Yunani muarrikh Herodotus (Herodotus) ne Hindustan ke bare mein likha ke wahan jungli darakht aisi oon dete hain jo khoobsurati aur umdagi mein bher ki oon se barh kar hai, aur wahan ke log inhi darakhton se hasil hone wala libas pehente hain.

Aaj ki zindagi mein cotton

Mehrgarh ke manke ka dhaga aaj Pakistan ki maeeshat ka aham sootoon hai. Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25 ke mutabiq maali saal 2025 mein mulk mein 20 lakh 40 hazar hectare raqbe par cotton kasht hui aur paidawar 70 lakh 80 hazar ganthein rahi. Yeh pichhle baras ki ek crore do lakh ganthon se taqriban 31 fisad kam thi, jis ki bari wajah monsoon ki zyada barishein aur der se bowai thi. Isi survey ke mutabiq kapra aur malbusat Pakistan ka sab se bara bar-amadi shobah hain.

Yoon cotton ka kurta ya tauliya istemal karte hue hum ek aisi riwayat ka hissa bante hain jis ki qadeem tareen maloom gawahiyon mein se ek Balochistan ki mitti se nikli hai. Taambe ke ek chhote se manke ne insan ki ek bahut bari daryaft ka raaz hazaron baras tak sambhal kar rakha.

Makhaz

C. Moulherat, M. Tengberg, J.-F. Haquet, B. Mille, "First Evidence of Cotton at Neolithic Mehrgarh, Pakistan: Analysis of Mineralized Fibres from a Copper Bead", Journal of Archaeological Science 29 (12): 1393–1401, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.2001.0779 — Copper bead from a Neolithic burial at Mehrgarh; threads preserved by mineralization; identified as cotton (Gossypium sp.) by reflected-light and scanning electron microscopy; 6th millennium BC; earliest cotton in the Old World, first use pushed back by more than a millennium; domestication not ascertainable; possible early origin in the Kachi Plain. (Abstract read as quoted in source 7; publisher page not accessible.)
Li Liu, Maureece J. Levin, Florian Klimscha, Danny Rosenberg, "The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East", Frontiers in Plant Science 13: 1045554, 2022 (open access). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1045554 — Four cultivated cotton species (two American, two Old World: G. arboreum and G. herbaceum, independently domesticated); Mehrgarh threads in first half of 6th millennium BC (c. 6,000–5,500 BC); Mohenjo-daro cloth 3,000–2,750 BC; domestication hypothesised in Harappan period 2,600–1,900 BC; Indus Valley as possible centre for G. arboreum; Tel Tsaf fibres c. 5,200–4,700 BC, likely wild and from South Asia; Dhuweila 4,450–3,000 BC; African/Arabian finds 1st c. BC–7th c. AD.
Joshua J. Mark, "Indus Valley Civilization", World History Encyclopedia, 2020. https://www.worldhistory.org/Indus_Valley_Civilization/ — Mehrgarh as the type site of the Neolithic period, c. 7000–5500 BCE.
Herodotus, The History of Herodotus, Vol. 1, tr. G. C. Macaulay, Project Gutenberg eBook 2707. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2707 — Book 3, ch. 106: wild trees in India bear wool surpassing that of sheep, and Indians wear clothing from these trees.
Finance Division, Government of Pakistan, Pakistan Economic Survey 2024–25, ch. 2 "Agriculture" and ch. 8 "Trade and Payments", 2025. https://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_25/2_Agriculture.pdf and https://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_25/8_Trade_and_Payments.pdf — FY2025 cotton area 2.04 million ha (from 2.4), production 7.08 million bales (from 10.22, −30.7%), causes; textiles and apparel as Pakistan's top export sector.
Benjamin Mutin et al., "New radiocarbon dates of human tooth enamel reveal a late appearance of farming life in the Indus Valley", Scientific Reports 15, 2025 (open access). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-92621-5 — Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates on tooth enamel from 23 Neolithic burials: Mehrgarh aceramic Neolithic cemetery began 5200–4900 BCE and lasted two to five centuries; incompatible with Jarrige's start c. 8000 BCE.
"Cotton", Wikipedia (pointer only). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton — Quotes the Moulherat et al. abstract; locates Mehrgarh in Kachi, at the foot of the Bolan Pass.

100 Bari Daryaftein aur Ijadat: tamam tehreerein →