Dhaka muslin: the finger-ring legend and Bangladesh's revival

Dhaka muslin was a very fine handwoven cotton cloth from Bengal, today’s Bangladesh. It is famous for a legend, and, more recently, for a government project to bring it back. This guide sets out what the sources support and what they do not.

Could a muslin sari really pass through a ring?

Legend says a whole sari of Dhaka muslin could pass through a finger ring. The story comes from old travellers’ accounts, not from a measurement. In 2022, AFP photographed a revived sari being pulled through a ring (AFP, via Al Jazeera). That shows the new cloth is very fine. It does not prove the old story.

The craft was then lost for more than a century. Sources disagree on how long. Prothom Alo says about 170 years, The Daily Star says over 200, and Arab News says almost 100. We use “more than a century” because no exact figure is agreed.

How did Bangladesh find the right cotton?

Bangladesh decided to revive muslin on 12 October 2014. The first problem was the raw material. Which cotton plant made the original yarn, and did it still grow anywhere?

Researchers tested 39 cotton samples (reported March 2022). They found a surviving plant, phuti karpas, in Kapasia, Gazipur, north of Dhaka. They then compared its DNA with muslin thread held by the V&A museum in London (AFP, via Al Jazeera).

Reports of the match vary. The Business Standard said above 90%, with some deviations (February 2023). Anadolu reported 96%, and Arab News and AFP close to or at 100% (all 2022). We found no peer-reviewed paper. The fair summary is a close DNA match, not an identical one.

How fine is the new yarn?

Fineness is measured by yarn count. A metric count tells you how many metres of yarn one gram makes. The project’s finest yarn reached 731 metric count (reported March 2023), so one gram stretches about 731 metres.

This is not a bedsheet “thread count”, which counts the threads in a square inch of fabric. The two numbers cannot be compared. The Daily Star (June 2025) describes 731 as only approaching the fineness of the historical cloth. So we do not call 731 a record, or say the revived cloth is “finer than the original”.

The work is slow. Spinning one gram of thread takes 3–4 days, and weaving takes about 8 hours for an inch of cloth (AFP, via Al Jazeera; The Daily Star, both 2022). The project has trained hundreds of women; its head put the number of women weavers at 327 in 2025.

Can you buy revived Dhaka muslin?

Not from the government project. Phase one made 58 pieces, including 27 saris. They are not sold commercially. They are kept for research and exhibition. Here is the latest we found:

1. Phase two is due to run from March 2025 to mid-2027. It was confirmed as ongoing in parliament on 15 July 2026.
2. In February 2026, a project staffer said plans were under way to hand the project to private entrepreneurs.
3. At the Handloom Board fair in March 2026, muslin was only displayed and demonstrated. The sales stalls listed jamdani, Tangail and other handloom cloth.

As of 13 October 2026, no sale date and no retail price had been announced. Prices quoted in news reports conflict, and none is a retail price, so we do not repeat them.

“Muslin” is also a trade name. A separate private project, Bengal Muslin, has sold limited muslin saris and scarves, as The Business Standard reported in 2023. When someone offers “muslin”, ask who made it and how, just as you would check a “Made in Bangladesh” label.

Who owns the name?

A geographical indication (GI) is a legal label that ties a product’s name to the place it comes from. Bangladesh received its GI certificate for “Dhakai Muslin” in June 2021. India registered its own GI, “Banglar Muslin” from West Bengal, in March 2024. Both countries hold a muslin GI.

The revival sits far from today’s export factories. For how the modern garment trade began, read how roughly 130 trainees started Bangladesh’s garment industry.

Why it matters to buyers today

Bringing back a lost product meant rebuilding the whole chain, from the plant to the spinners to the looms, years before there was anything to sell. The same care applies to handloom textiles that are on sale today, such as jamdani: check volumes, making times and any heritage claims. If a seller uses a protected name like “Dhakai Muslin”, ask which maker produced the cloth and what the yarn count is. Loom & Harvest does factory checks, sample coordination and inspections for fixed fees; you can send an enquiry.