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PLACES
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VALSANG
Situated in 17°30' north latitude and 76°05' east longitude on the Sholapur-Akkalkot road about fifteen miles to the south-east of Sholapur in South Sholapur taluka, Valsang has a population of 4,923 souls as per the Census of 1971. This large village has a post office and a police station, the jurisdiction of which extends over thirty-six villages. There are three primary schools, one each with Marathi, Kannada and Urdu as medium of instruction and Shri Shankarling High School with both Marathi and Kannada as medium of instruction. The village is electrified. A weekly market is held in this village on every Wednesday. Wells form the main source of drinking water.
The old Sholapur District Gazetteer, 1884, describes the place to be a market town of some importance. It further states that " the
town has a large dyeing and weaving industry, the yearly out-turn being estimated at about £ 10,000 (,Rs. 1,00,000). This estimate includes the manufacture of indigo and surangi dyes, the dyeing with them of cotton thread and cloth, and of a cheap quality of silk called panjam. Women's robes woven of this silk are well-known in the Karnatak as Valsangacha Band and are worn by all classes except Brahmans. The industry is carried on by Koshtis and Bangars sometimes weaving and dyeing together and sometimes separate."
Formerly indigo and surangi dyeing was done with dyes mixed in water found in one of the wells in the village having some ingredients used in dyeing. The dyeing industry has decayed with the introduction of chemical dyes. Though some dyers are still found in the village, they have also adopted chemical processes. Weaving of a sari is a speciality of the weavers in the village and the occupation is not at present confined to any particular castes. The annual turn-over of the weavers including those in the co-operative fold as revealed by the local enquiries amounts to about six lakhs of rupees.
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