The country around Hoshiarpur formed part of the old Hindu kingdom of Katoch In Jullundur. The state was eventually broken up, and the present district was divided between the rajas of Ditarpur and Jaswan. They retained undisturbed possession of their territories until 1759, when the rising Sikh chieftains commenced a series of encroachments upon the hill tracts. In 1815 the aggressive maharaja, Ranjit Singh, forced the ruler of Jaswan to resign his territories in exchange for an estate on feudal tenure; three years later the raja of Ditarpur met with similar treatment. By the close of the year 1818 the whole country from the Sutlej to the Beas had come under the government of Lahore, and after the first Sikh war in 1846 passed to the British government. The deposed rajas of Ditarpur and Jaswan received cash pensions from the new rulers, but expressed bitter disappointment at not being restored to their former sovereign position. Accordingly the outbreak of the second Sikh war, in 1848 found the disaffected chieftains ready for rebellion. They organized a revolt, but the two rajas and the other ringleaders were captured, and their estates confiscated.
HOSIERY, a term used to designate all manufactured textile
fabrics which in their process of manufacture have been built
on the principle of looping or loop structure. The origin of the
term is obvious, being derived from “hose” or stocking, this
being one of the earliest garments made by the process of
knitting (q.v.). While it still forms one of the staples of the
trade, it is only one of a very numerous and diversified range
of applications of the entire industry. The elastic structure
of knitting makes it very adaptable for all kinds of body or
underwear. There is scarcely a single textile article manufactured
but can be reproduced on the knitting or loop structure principle.
The art of knitting is of very modern origin as compared with
that of weaving. No certain allusion to the art occurs before
the beginning of the 15th century. In an act of parliament
of Henry VII. (1488) knitted woollen caps are mentioned. It
is supposed that the art was first practised in Scotland, and
thence carried into England, and that caps were made by knitting
for some period before the more difficult feat of stocking-making
was attempted. In an act of Edward VI. (1553) “knitte hose,
knitte peticotes, knitte gloves and knitte sleeves” are enumerated,
and the trade of hosiers, among others, included in an act
dated 1563. Spanish silk stockings were worn on rare occasions
by Henry VIII., and the same much-prized articles are also
mentioned in connexion with the wardrobe of Edward VI.
Knitting, or loop formation by mechanical means, is divided into two distinct principles—frame-work knitting and warp knitting. Both principles may be employed in the formation of a large variety of plain and fancy stitches or a combination of the two.
Frame-work Knitting in its simplest form consists of rows of loops supporting each other—built from one continuous thread of yarn and running from one side of the fabric to the other and back (fig. 1). It is on this principle of stitch that the greatest amount of hosiery is built (hose, shirts, pants).
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| Fig. 2.—A Single Thread formed into a Chain of Crocket Work, showing the Loop Structure of the plain Warp-knitted Fabric. It is built up as shown in the diagram by a number of threads running up the fabric. | |
| Fig. 1.—The Stitch or Loop Structure of Plain Knitting (back of fabric). |
Warp Knitting in its simplest form consists of rows of loops, but the number of threads employed are equal to the number of loops in the width of the fabric. Thus it will be seen that the threads run lengthwise of the fabric (fig. 2). This principle gives greater scope for reproducing designs in openwork and colour than that of frame-work knitting. For this reason it is largely used in the shawl, glove and fancy hosiery industries.
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| Fig. 3.—Hand Stocking Frame. |
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| Fig. 4. |
| A, The leads into which the needles (B) are cast. D, The old loops or work. C, The new loops formed and brought under the beards. |
Machinery.—In hand knitting the implements employed (a few needles or wires) are very simple and inexpensive. In the manufacturing industry the most complex and ingenious machinery is used. In 1589 the Rev. William Lee, a graduate of St John’s College, Cambridge, while acting as curate (or vicar) of Calverton, Nottinghamshire, introduced his stocking-frame. This machine was the first mechanical means employed to produce a looped or knitted fabric. This frame or machine of Lee’s was the origin of all the hosiery and lace machines at present in use. One of the most remarkable points about his invention was its completeness and adaptability for the work for which its inventor intended it. The main principles of Lee’s frame are embodied in most of the rotary or power frames of the present day. Fig. 3 shows a hand frame of the present day.
In hand knitting an indefinite number of loops are skewered on a wire or pin, but, in Lee’s frame, an individual hooked or bearded needle is employed for the support and formation of each loop in the breadth of the fabric. This needle consists of a shank with a terminal spring-pointed hook (or beard), the point of which can be pressed at will into a groove or eye in the shank. For method by which the loops are formed on the needles of the frame see fig. 4. This shows a few of Lee’s hooked or bearded needles having the old loops or work hanging round the needle shanks. The thread of yarn which is to form the new row of loops is laid over the needle shanks and waved or looped between each pair of needles. This waving or looping ensures sufficient yarn being drawn and loops of a uniform size being made, so that a regular and level fabric will be produced. The looping or waving is obtained by having thin plates of shaped metal, called sinkers, which have a nose-shaped point and hang between the needles. When looping they have an individual movement downwards between the needles, and as they fall the nose-shaped point carries the yarn down, thus forming the new loop (fig. 5). The size of the loop is regulated by the distance the sinker is allowed to fall. After the thread of yarn has been looped between the needle shanks by the sinkers, the loops are brought forward under the needle beards or hooks. A presser bar is now brought down to close or press all the points of the needle beards into the eye in the shank. Thus all the hook ends of the needles are temporarily closed, with the newly formed loops under them. While in this position, the old loops hanging round the shank are brought forward and landed on to the top of the needle beard and off the needle altogether, being thus left hanging round, or supported by the loops newly formed. The needle beards are now released, and the loops drawn back along the shanks to be in position for next new course of loops. The foregoing is only an outline of how the loops are formed on the needles. It is not necessary here to enter into a description of the complex mechanical movements of Lee’s stocking-frame. The first fabric made by Lee was of a
