British Imperialism and its Legacies: Corchorus spp. (Jute)
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of plants collected from other countries. Jute is the name given to the fibrous extracts from the stems of flowering plants of Corchorus in the mallow family. Two species are chiefly used: C. capsularis (White Jute) and C. olitorius (Jute Mallow). Both grow in India, but also occur elsewhere in southern Asia, and some are associated with Africa, though the precise origins are unclear. Jute fibres comprise fibrous bundles extracted from the stems of the tall growing plants, by a process known as retting (soaking in water to soften the surrounding cells to enable extraction of the fibres).
Jute fibres are thought to have been utilised by humans in the Indus valley for around 5,000 years, and the use of jute ropes, sacks and clothing has been documented in Bengal over the last 400 years. The British started to trade in jute during colonial times and Dundee became famous for manufacturing jute products in the numerous mills that developed during the 1800s. Owners of such mills were known as ‘Jute Barons’. Later in the century this manufacturing technology was exported to India where Indian merchants set up competing factories and, by the 1900s, out competed Dundee mills, due to cheaper labour and transport costs.
Today Bangladesh is a major exporter of jute products, although it is grown in many other warm countries across the globe. Even though the development of synthetic fibres resulted in the loss of jute’s importance, it is today making a comeback. Its fibres are considered to have many valuable properties for producing a range of high-performance textiles, and it is seen as a sustainable alternative to plastic.
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