ABSTRACT
The growth of the British textile industry and the colonisation of the Indian sub-continent form part of the same historical frame in which migration from Mirpur took place. Cotton textiles link together various corners of the world in a complex web of economic and social relations. Lancashire and the cotton textile industry hold a special place in the imaginary of Britain's industrial past. The Lancashire cotton textile industry-began a steady decline nominally due to lack of technical innovation and increased competition. Oldham is distinctive in the history of the textile industry in terms of its central role as a producer of spun cotton and spinning machinery and also its relative obscurity in the narrative of industrialising Britain. The post-war boom in Britain's manufacturing industry is often cited as the reason for the employment of Black immigrant labour.
