Cabun-Walah
This article is an extract from
THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL. Ethnographic Glossary. Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press. 1891. . |
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Cabun-Walah
Soap was unknown to the ancient Hindus, who used as detergents Sarjika or Sajji-mati, an impure carbonate of soda, and Besan or peasemeal.2 Soap is one of the chief exports from Dacca, and it is highly esteemed throughout Bengal, at Penang, and the Malay Archipelago.
Soap is manufactured as follows: Eighty pounds of flat (Patta) and forty of broken (Chur) Sajji-mati are mixed in water with sixty pounds of shell lime, and as the solution is poured off water is added until all the salts are dissolved. Animal suet and Til oil are then mixed in varying quantities in a large vat, and slowly heated, the weaker lye being gradually added until an uniform mass is obtained. The fire is then extinguished, and the soap within a few days solidifies.
The strained sediment is removed to another vat, where it is mixed with the stronger lye, called Tezi. After a second boiling, the common soap is fit for the market, but if an article of prime quality is wanted, three or even four boilings are necessary. The manufacture of good soap takes from fifteen to thirty days.
