Extraction: Processing and Trade in Limestone in the Southern Region of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills during the Colonial Era

Author(s): Dr. Bobby Wycliff Wahlang

Abstract:

The limestone trade in the foothills of Khasi-Jaintia began during the Mughal era. The advent of colonial rule in Bengal led to the expansion of the lime trade. European merchants, including the French, Greeks, Dutch, English, and Armenians, invested their capital in the limestone business. Information about commercial activities in this region, particularly the lucrative limestone trade, was documented by collectors of Sylhet such as William Makepeace Thackeray and Robert Lindsay in their reports to the Court of Directors in Calcutta. These reports highlighted the flourishing lime trade. Besides limestone, other commodities such as oranges, forest products (including bay leaves and black pepper), as well as iron slags and tools, were also traded. Later, British officials like Thomas Terraneau, W.J. Allen, B.C. Allen, Thomas Oldham, and T. Jones provided detailed accounts of how the Khasi-Jaintia people carried out the quarrying and extraction of limestone. Interestingly, most of the lime-making process took place in the plains of Sylhet Limestone from the hills was used by the company not only for construction work in Bengal but also supplied to other parts of India. Oldham noted that the limestone from this region, particularly from the Sohbar belt, was of the purest quality and did not require processing. The extraction and lime-making techniques were simple, and fuel for processing the limestone into lime was readily available. However, by the 1890s, the lime business began to decline due to the availability of limestone from other parts of British India. The great earthquake of 1897 further altered the topography of the region, accelerating the industry's collapse.

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