* The image depicts a cottonwood tree as imagined by medieval Europeans.

Image from Wikipedia.

【The relationship between cotton and people ① 〜When did it begin? 〜】

When did people first get involved with cotton? I have done a lot of research.
A strange rumor once spread among Europeans in the Middle Ages. It is said that there was a mysterious being that was half sheep and half direct object. The origin of this story is said to be a travelogue written by a Frenchman of the time called "Uncle Exaggerated Mambilé. This rumor is believed to have circulated throughout Europe between 1357 and 1371, mainly in northern France.

Some say that some wealthy Romans and Greeks were aware of the extravagant products brought from India by Arab camel caravans, although this was considered "unbelievable" by Europeans of the time.

Indian cotton history states that the cotton industry was already in India at least as early as the Indus civilization in 2300 BC.

It is also believed that cotton was present in completely different areas. In Chile and Peru on the Pacific coast, there was a cotton crop during the Inca Empire.

It is widely believed that cotton gradually spread westward from India, first to Egypt and Turkey. Cotton from the Pacific coast, on the other hand, seems to have spread to Central America and the Caribbean.

(It is recorded that it was introduced to Japan in 799 A.D. near Aichi Prefecture.)

Researchers seem to agree that cotton began to be cultivated in two very different regions of the earth, the ancient Indian subcontinent and the South American continent. They also agree that only a very few people of high status, such as the aristocracy, were able to wear cotton at that time.