Indigo dye

Indigo dye is an important dyestuff with a distinctive blue color (see indigo). The natural dye comes from several species of plant, but nearly all indigo produced today is synthetic. Among other uses, it is used in the production of denim cloth for blue jeans.

History

Indigo is among the oldest dyes to be used for textile dyeing and printing. Many Asian countries, such as India, China, and Japan, have used indigo as a dye for centuries. The dye was also known to ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Britain, Peru, and Africa.

Related Topics:
India - China - Japan - Mesopotamia - Egypt - Greece - Rome - Britain - Peru - Africa

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India is believed to be the oldest center of indigo dyeing in the Old World. It was a primary supplier of indigo to Europe as early as the Greco-Roman era. The association of India with indigo is reflected in the Greek word for the dye, which was indikon. The Romans used the term indicum, which passed into Italian dialect and eventually into English as the word indigo.

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In Mesopotamia, a Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablet of the 7th century BCE gives a recipe for the dyeing of wool, where lapis-coloured wool (uqnatu) is produced by repeated immersion and airing of the cloth. Indigo was most probably imported from India.

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The Romans used indigo as a pigment for painting and for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. It was a luxury item imported to the Mediterranean from India by Arab merchants.

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Indigo remained a rare commodity in Europe throughout the Middle Ages; woad, a dye derived from a related plant species, was used instead.

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In the late fifteenth century, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India. This led to the establishment of direct trade with India, the Spice Islands, China, and Japan. Importers could now avoid the heavy duties imposed by Persian, Levantine, and Greek middlemen and the lengthy and dangerous land routes which had previously been used. Consequently, the importation and use of indigo in Europe rose significantly. Much European indigo from Asia arrived through ports in Portugal, the Netherlands, and England. Spain imported the dye from its colonies in South America. Many indigo plantations were established by European powers in tropical climates; it was a major crop in Jamaica and South Carolina. Indigo plantations also thrived in the Virgin Islands. However, France and Germany outlawed imported indigo in the 1500s to protect the local woad dye industry.

Related Topics:
Portuguese - Vasco da Gama - Spice Islands - Persia - Levant - Netherlands - Spain - Jamaica - South Carolina - Virgin Islands - France - Germany

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Indigo was the foundation of centuries-old textile traditions throughout West Africa. The use of indigo here pre-dated synthetics. From the Tuareg nomads of the Sahara to Cameroon, clothes dyed with indigo signified wealth. Women dyed the cloth in most areas, with the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Manding of Mali particularly well known for their expertise. Among the Hausa male dyers working at communal dye pits were the basis of the wealth of the ancient city of Kano, and can still be seen plying their trade today at the same pits.

Related Topics:
West Africa - Sahara - Cameroon - Yoruba - Nigeria - Mali - Hausa - Kano

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In Japan, indigo became especially important in the Edo period when it was forbidden to use silk, so the Japanese began to import and plant cotton. It was difficult to dye the cotton fiber except with indigo. Many years later the use of indigo is very much appreciated as a color for the summer Kimono Yukata, as the blue sea and the nature are recalled on this traditional clothing.

Related Topics:
Edo - Kimono

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In 1865 the German chemist Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer began working with indigo. His work culminated in the first synthesis of indigo in 1880 and the announcement of its chemical structure three years later. BASF developed a commercially feasible manufacturing process that was in use by 1897, and by 1913 natural indigo had been almost entirely replaced by synthetic indigo. In 2002, 17,000 tons of synthetic indigo were produced worldwide.

Related Topics:
1865 - German - Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer - 1880 - BASF - 1897 - 1913 - 2002

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In the nineteenth century, the British obtained much indigo from India. With the coming of the synthetic substitute, these farmers lost their livelihood.

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