Textiles & Craft
Single-roller cotton gin
by 5th c. CE; worm-drive by 13th-14th c.Indian inventorsAjanta depictionsMaharashtra
401 CE
A roller device (charkhi) to separate cotton fibre from seeds, later improved with worm-gearing and a crank.
- Dated
- 401 CE–1400
- As scholars put it
- by 5th c. CE; worm-drive by 13th-14th c.
- Originator
- Indian inventors
- Source text
- Ajanta depictions
- Region
- Maharashtra
- Discipline
- Textiles & Craft
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Meanwhile in the West
A mechanised precursor to Eli Whitney's 1793 cotton gin (a different design).
Fair to say
Whitney's gin is a distinct later invention for a different cotton type.
Path to modern innovation
Cotton ginning is central to the cotton industry.
Builds on
5,000 BCETransmission
Indigenous mechanisation of cotton processing.
References
- 1Baber, The Science of Empire
- 2Ajanta evidence
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-118 on GitHub.