Jute has been shown to exist in the Bronze Age in Iran. Historical documents state that the poor villagers of India used to wear clothes made of jute. Simple hand-looms and hand spinning wheels were used by the weavers, who used to spin cotton yarns as well. History also suggests that Indians, especially Bengalis, used ropes and twines made of white jute from ancient times for household and other uses. It is highly functional in carrying grains or other agricultural products.
For centuries, jute has been an integral part of the culture of East Bengal and some parts of West Bengal. Since the seventeenth century, the British started trading in jute. During the reign of the British Empire, jute was also used in the military. British jute barons grew rich in processing jute and selling manufactured products made from jute. Dundee Jute Barons and the British East India Company set up many jute mills in Bengal and by 1895 jute industries in Bengal overtook the Scottish jute trade. Many Scots emigrated to Bengal to set up jute factories.
Jute is chiefly grown in India and Bangladesh. The natural condition of these areas are ideal for its cultivation.
More than a billion jute sandbags were exported from Bengal to the trenches during World War I and also exported to the United States southern region to bag cotton. It was used in the fishing, construction, art and the arms industry. Initially, due to its texture, it could only be processed by hand until it was discovered in Dundee that by treating it with whale oil, it could be treated by machine. The industry boomed throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but this trade had largely ceased by about 1970 due to the emergence of synthetic fibers. In the 21st century, jute again rose to be an important crop for export around the world in contrast to synthetic fiber, mainly from Bangladesh.
