Silk fibre is an animal protein fibre obtained from silkworms. The discovery of drawing silk from the cocoons of the silkworm was kept as a secret by Chinese for many centuries. There are evidences of existence of silk in China as early as 1725 B.C. As per the legend, Si-Ling-Chi, a Chinese princess was the first to find silk cocoons in her garden. She accidentally dropped a cocoon in warm water and while removing the cocoon, she found that it yielded a very fine fibre. Later Chinese learned to carefully nurture the silkworms on mulberry leaves and initiated ‘Sericulture’ and produced beautiful silk fabrics. Later the secret was unveiled by byzantives who produced very rich silk fabrics. By the 12th and 13th centuries AD, Italy became the silk centre of the west. Even though it has spread to many other countries, China still retains its first position maintaining monopoly in production of quality silk. India ranks second in production of silk rich fabrics.
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