(12) Afghanistan - Industrial Products. Carpets, Felts, Clothing, Rosaries.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS. – These are not important. Silk is produced in Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar, and Herat, and chiefly consumed in domestic manufactures, though the best qualities are carried to the Panjab and Bombay.

Excellent carpets – soft, brilliant, and durable in colour-are made at Herat. They are usually sold in India as Persian. Excellent felts and variety of woven goods are made from the wool of the sheep, goat, and Bactrian camel. A manufacture, of which there is now a considerable export to the Panjab for the winter clothing of our irregular troops, besides a large domestic use, is that of the postin, or sheepskin pelisse. The long wool remains on, and the skin is tanned yellow, with admirable softness and suppleness. Pomegranate rind is a chief material in the preparation.

Rosaries are extensively made at Kandahar from a soft crystallized silicate of magnesia (chrysolite). The best are largely exported, especially to Mecca.





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Afghanistan - Table of Contents