We see paper many times from morning to evening, but have ever thought that when this paper was made for the first time, who made it and how did it reach us? Today we will talk about the story of paper.
History of the story of paper
In the early period, primitive humans used to write their thoughts on the big stones and the walls of the caves. When civilization developed then sheets of zinc, brass or bronze were used for writing. In ancient times, writing on clay plates was done in Sumeria and the countries situated on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptians used papyrus for writing 3000 years before Christ. The writing sheet called papyrus is made by joining together the parts of a plant that grows on the marshy land of Egypt. The word ‘paper’ in English is derived from this papyrus. The inhabitants of Greece and Rome used to put wax or plaster on wooden plates and write on them with a metal rod or sharp bone.
Paper was invented by a Chinese scholar Sai Lun in 105 AD. He prepared pulp by mixing tree bark, old cloth, and fishing net in the water and made paper from it. The art of papermaking from China reached Japan in 610 AD. About 1000 years later, this art reached Europe via Baghdad, Egypt, and Morocco. Paper was made in Spain in 1151 AD, then Italy in 1276, France in 1348, Germany in 1390, Poland in 1491, England in 1494, Mexico in 1575, Russia in 1576, Denmark in 1635, Norway in 1690, and then America and Canada in 1803.
Machine for papermaking
Paper reached India through Arabs. During the time of the Mughal emperor Akbar, the paper started coming in the use of the common man. Then the paper was made by hand. The first paper-making machine was made by French engineer Nicolas Louis Robert in 1795 AD. In 1805 AD, the Fourdrinier brothers of England modernized this machine. The first paper-making factory in India opened in 1867 AD at a place called Bali near Kolkata. Gradually, the paper began to be made on a greater scale in India as well. These papers are also made by hand in Gandhi Ashrams and cottage industries, which are used for some special work.
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