Kagzipura is a town near Daulatabad Fort which houses a small paper community that manufactures paper following a 700 years old tradition. The papers produced were huge in size, sometimes more than six feet, and had a shelf life exceeding that of the white paper introduced by the British.

Paper in India

During ancient times, palm leaves were used as substitutes to paper. The community which has been making the paper for centuries is known as Kagzi (from the word Kagaz). [ref]

Delhi to Daulatabad

After paper was introduced in North India, Tughlaq ruler Muhammad bin Tughlaq brought the paper industry to Daulatabad, allotting them an area of present day Kagzipura, which was situated near a small 
lake. Later, the Mughals supplied the same paper to the world, and Kagzipura became a global supplier. The paper manufacturing took place at home by separate families. 

Technique

These paper makers used old pieces of cloth or cotton which was soaked in water and mixed to make a paste, and then pressed and dried, each in different processes and varities, resulting in beautiful handmade paper of excellent  quality. Cotton and bamboo pulp were used for making the paper for the Quran, with colour addition to the pulp. The ink that was used was either black (made after burning Chickpeas), red (by mixing fresh Kesar) or gold (made using honey of the small bee and gold sticks, which had to be rubbed on a Paras stone, to embed the gold powder in the honey ink).

Historical Usage

The papers produced were huge in size, sometimes more than six feet, and had a shelf life exceeding that of the white paper introduced by the British. Kagzipura is believed to be the first paper industrial town of the Deccan, also supplying paper for Royal Farmaans (Royal orders).

Recommended Articles

• Ajanta Caves
• Ellora Caves
• Daulatabad Fort
• Grishneshwar
• Pitalkhora Caves
• Temples of Sambhaji Nagar
• Western Vakatakas
• Satvahana dynasty
• Malik Ambar
• Malojiraje Bhonsle
• Swami Ramanand Teerth