Textiles & Craft
Spinning wheel (charkha)
c. 500-1000 CEIndian textile traditionHistorical recordPan-Indian / unspecified
500 CE
A wheel to speed the spinning of thread from fibre.
- Dated
- 500 CE–1000
- As scholars put it
- c. 500-1000 CE
- Originator
- Indian textile tradition
- Source text
- Historical record
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Textiles & Craft
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- Medium
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Meanwhile in the West
The spinning wheel later spread across Eurasia and Europe.
Fair to say
The spinning wheel's exact origin (India vs. China vs. the Islamic world) is debated.
Path to modern innovation
Mechanised spinning transformed textile production.
Builds on
5,000 BCETransmission
Diffused westward across Eurasia.
References
- 1Wikipedia: Spinning wheel
- 2textile histories
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-117 on GitHub.