Bijoypur white clay (Durgapur, Netrokona)

The story

In the far north of Netrokona, close to the Garo Hills and the Indian border, low hills of pale clay rise above the Someshwari river. This is Bijoypur in Durgapur upazila, home to the best-known deposit of white clay, or kaolin, in Bangladesh. Geologists first identified the clay here in 1957, and commercial digging began around 1960, so for more than half a century Bijoypur clay has gone to factories that make crockery, tiles, sanitary ware and other ceramic goods. In 2021 it was registered as a geographical indication.

It is worth being clear about what that means for a shopper. The GI protects the name of the clay, which is a raw mineral. You will rarely buy Bijoypur clay itself; you meet it, unseen, inside a plate, a cup or a floor tile. Banglapedia notes that the local clay is usually blended with higher-grade imported clay before firing, so a finished ceramic product is seldom made from Bijoypur clay alone, and a listing cannot honestly promise that it is.

Bijoypur is also a landscape. Decades of digging left steep white and pink cliffs and quarry pits that have filled with strikingly blue-green water, and the site now draws large numbers of visitors along with nearby Birishiri and the Someshwari. That fame has a cost. Uncontrolled digging, erosion and the pressure of tourism have worried local people and environmental groups, and extraction has been restricted in recent years. If you visit, stay on safe paths away from crumbling edges and leave the hills as you found them.

How to spot the real Bijoypur white clay (Durgapur, Netrokona)

Raw kaolin is a soft, very fine, chalky clay that is white to cream, sometimes streaked pink or grey. It feels smooth and powdery when dry and turns plastic and slippery when wet. There is no simple home test that proves where a lump of clay came from, so treat any "Bijoypur clay" sold loose as a claim to question. For ceramic goods, judge the piece, not the story: a good plate rings clearly when tapped gently, has an even glaze with no pinholes or crazing, sits flat, and is clearly marked as food-safe by the maker. A brand that says it uses local clay should be able to tell you more about its sourcing.

Buying tips

Price for tableware depends on the body (earthenware, stoneware, porcelain or bone china), the glaze and decoration, the brand and the number of pieces in a set. Ask the seller who made the product, whether it is labelled food-safe and microwave-safe, and whether any pieces are seconds. If you are offered raw white clay for crafts or cosmetics, ask whether it has been cleaned and graded for that use; quarried clay is not meant to be put on skin or eaten.

Each shop on Midmart sets and charges its own delivery, so a dinner set from one seller and serving bowls from another mean two parcels and two delivery charges. Midmart does not take payment or deliver anything: you agree payment and shipping with the seller directly. Ceramics break easily, so ask how the set will be packed and who covers a breakage before you confirm.

Keeping it fresh

Stack plates with a paper napkin or felt between them so the glaze does not scratch, and keep cups on their bases rather than hanging heavy ones by the handle. Avoid sudden temperature shocks, such as pouring boiling water into a cold cup from the fridge. Raw clay should be kept in a sealed tub, dry and out of reach of children.

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