Madapollam

Madapollam is a fine, soft, closely woven plain cotton, slightly heavier than muslin and lighter than calico, named for the town and East India Company factory on India's Godavari delta that exported it. It was one of the standard plain white cottons of the long India trade, bleached and used for shirts, sheeting, and as a ground for printing and embroidery. Where scrim is the loosest useful plain weave, madapollam sits at the dense, fine end of the same structure, and the two together bracket the range of the plain cotton cloth.

Illustration: an East India Company cloth godown on the Godavari delta around 1800, bales of folded white cotton stacked high under timber beams, a clerk and porters as small distant figures, palms and a river landing beyond the open arches — An East India Company cloth godown on the Godavari delta around 1800, bales of folded white cotton stacked high under timber beams, a clerk and porters as small distant figures, palms and a river landing beyond the open arches.

Named for

Named for Madapollam, the town and former East India Company factory on the Godavari delta where the cloth was made.

Common questions

What is Madapollam made of?: Madapollam is a fine, soft, closely woven plain cotton, slightly heavier than muslin and lighter than calico, named for the town and East India Company factory on India's Godavari delta that exported it.
What is Madapollam named after?: Named for Madapollam, the town and former East India Company factory on the Godavari delta where the cloth was made.