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The Tibetans believed that they would be struck down by divine wrath if they sold their produce to anyone other than the Kashmiris. And so, for centuries, asli tus or Emperor Akbar’s param naram, (extremely soft) fleece derived from the soft underbelly of mountain goats and sometimes from mountain sheep shepherd dogs and ibex, shed at the approach of summer, made its way from Tibet and Ladakh to Kashmir to be woven into the finest pashmina (Persian ‘pashm’ – any kind of wool and shahtoosh shwls with delicate brocade patterns and silk edgings. Along the way, it inspired stories about the legendary fineness of the Kashmiri turbans, coverlets, loose overall wool garments and the ring shawls of Mughal fame which were so fine that they could be drawn through a thumb ring.
Art historians hold
contrary views as to the origin of wool weaving in Kashmir but one
school of historians quotes numerous evidences of its existence even
in the pre-Christian era. The tiles of Harwan, showing the portrait
of the lady in transparent robes provides archaeological evidence
that the hands of the ancient Kashmiris were not alien to the art of
weaving. A French author has recorded the existence of Kashmiri
woolen shawls in Caesar’s court worn by beauties 2000 years ago.
Hanshu, the history of the early Han dynasty, written prior to the
Christian era, says of the Kashmiris: “They were skillful in
decorative work, engraving and the art of inlay and at weaving
woolens.” In the 7th century A.D. Huien Tsang found
that the products of very fine wool were exported to northern India.
Hindu epic the Ramayana mentions that Janaka, king of Mithila
included many Kashmiri shawls in his daughter Sita’s dowry, on
her wedding to Rama. And the Mahabharata mentions that the
Kurus presented the Pandavas with 10000 shawls on their ascending the
throne of Indraprastha.
The Ain-I-Akbari mentions
Emperor Akbar’s ardent admiration for the Kashmiri woolen shawls
though it throws no light on the styles. The Emperor kept his
wardrobe well stocked with colourful shawls covered with fine flowers
and vase motifs showing the influence of the Indo-Persian as well as
the Mughal naturalist schools. The flower motifs later came to be
knows as butas. In 1668 the historian Bernier recorded that the
decorations were limited to the borders less than one foot in depth.
For the loose overall coats, the decorations were limited to the neck
and armholes. The Hindus apparently favoured the feuille mort or
dead leaf motifs. Emperor Akbar introduced the fashion of wearing
the shawls in pairs (doshala), stitched back to back so that
the under-sides were not visible. Shawls from Kashmir had by then
became renowned the world over and were sent as gifts to distant
countries.
Shawls during the Mughals
period were woven with gold and silver threads. Manrique records, in
1630, that the finest examples of woolen Kashmiri shawls had ornate
borders with fringes of gold, silver and silk thread. The shawl was
generally a male garment and the nobility wore the finest shawls.
Princes wore them like cloaks either muffling themselves or carrying
them on their arms. The choicest shawls were white when off the loom
but later dyed any hue, designed and ornamented with coloured flowers
and intricate decorations. Around this time, 300 vegetable dyes were
in use. Blues and purples were form indigo, orange and yellow from
carthamus, saffron and red form logwood, crimson from cochineal, and
black form iron fillings.
By the third quarter of
the 18th century, Kashmir or Cashmere shawls had become
synonymous with fine woolen wear in India, and were famous in all the
fashionable circles of the west and trade was well established with
China, Afghanistan, Turkey etc. Shawl brocading in Kashmir used the
twill or the tapestry weave. Weft threads, inserted by the wooden
spools or tojils without the use of shuttles, were used to
form patterns that did not run the full width of the cloth but were
woven back and forth round the warp threads only where each
particular colour was needed each shawl required a high degree of
specialization from the naqqash or designer and elaborate
designs were woven on two or three looms, those with a large area of
pattern taking as long as 18 months. Various parts of the shawl were
woven separately and handed over to a needle worker (rafugar)
who joined them together with the expertise that made it impossible
to detect the stitches with the naked eye. In 1821, W.Moorcroft
recorded the use of eight looms for a patchwork woolen shawl made up
of 1500 separate pieces. Amli or needlework imitations of Kashmiri
shawls, required a vastly reduced outlay and far less skill. They
escaped the government duty levied (26 per cent of the value of a
shawl in 1823) and made enormous profits. By 1830, from almost no
rafugars or embroiderers, there were around 5000 of them drawn
from those whose lands were confiscated by Ranjit Singh in 1819 when
Kashmir was invaded and annexed to the Sikh kingdom.
By 1821, the total
produce of asli tus was less than one sixth of the total shawl
wool bulk and only two looms specialized in weaving asli tus.
Second grade fleece from domesticated goats were now used to make the
shawls. An epidemic among goats reduced the quantity of wool derived
from herds kept by the nomadic Kirghiz tribes and imported through
Yarkhanl and Khotan. Supplies seldom met the demand and goat fleece
became expensive, consequently encouraging adulteration and a drastic
fall in standards.
Shoulder mantles became
fashionable wear in western Europe in the second half of the 18th
century – they were mostly muslin, but the Kashmiri shawl sailed
form Bombay in 1765 and arrived in London form India. In 1774,
Warren Hastings even tried to export Ladakhi goats to Britain but
most of them perished even before landing in England. Soon paisley
imitations of the shawl were exported from India. During the reign
of Ranjit Singh, agents from Europe who came to see the shawls, in
view of the demand in Europe saw tents doubled with Kashmiri shawls.
The Russian price Solykoff, in1842, wrote “we not only walked on
Kashmiri shawls, while sitting down I perceived alleys, ceilings,
streets, as far as the eye could encompass, covered with them, even
horses prancing on them. The interior walls of the Golden Temple
were lined with them.”
It was during the Sikh
period that Allard and Ventura, Napoleon’s former generals were
recruited into the Raja’s army. Allard was the first link
between Paris and the shawl weavers of Kashmir. Since the exit of
many weavers to Amritsar, Ludhiana, Sialkot, Gujarat, Patiala,
Kangra, Shimla during Gulab Singh’s oppressive reign, these
centres had developed into subsidiary centres for the making of the
Kashmiri shawl with dyeing and finishing facilities. With the famine
in Ranjit Singh’s period, most of these centres, including
Islamabad, Lahore, Agra and Patna, began to produce imitation
Kashmiri shawls. In the plains the weavers often adulterated their
fleece with sheep wool. During the period 1850-60, Fresh designers
who arrived in Kashmir to improve the designs to their
specifications, spurred the export to Europe to an all time high.
But the woolen industry suffered with the arrival of the Jacquard
loom, the Franco-Prussian was of 1870-71 which closed the French
market, and the famine of 1877-1879. Despite of the agony and
ecstasy of the woolen industry Kashmir the northern areas of the
country which had a long tradition of spinning and handweaving kept
up. Their production of blankets, shawls and carpets. Traditional
artisans in the hilly ranges of the Himalayas continued the use of
homespun woolen yarn for production of khadi caps, mufflers and
blankets. Due to the severe winter in the northern parts for around
three to four months every year, the demand for wearable and
non-wearable woolens was regular. The artisans living in these parts
used to produce woollen goods mostly for their own use by using
handspun woolen yarn. Today, finer varieties of shawls and tweeds
are produced in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and the border
districts of Rajasthan, the medium varieties of shawls, tweeds,
blankets, mostly form indigenous wool are produced in the plains of
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and the coarse varieties
like kamblies and ghongadise are produce in
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
India now has an
estimated sheep population of more than 45 million, producing around
40 million kilograms of raw wool. It is the sixth largest sheep
rearing country possessing approximately 4.1 per cent of the world’s
sheep population and producing about 1.1 per cent of the world’s
wool. The Indian wools are generally known for their resilience as
carpet wools. Until recently the wools was mostly used for producing
coarse varieties of woolen goods like blankets. In recent times
efforts were made both in Rajasthan and the Kashmir valley for
improvement of the quality of wool by selective cross breeding.
Around 20 per cent of the wool is now being used for producing
apparel goods.
Financial support is now
being provided by various handloom and handicraft promotion bodies,
and by the Government of India to market the surplus produce of the
traditional artisans like the lohies in the Kashmir valley,
Haridwari kamblies in Uttar Pradesh, dhoblies in
Gujarat, ghongadies in Maharashtra and kamblies in
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, the art of pashmina
and shahtoosh weaving in the Kashmir valley was revived by
promoting new artisans. Today, consistent efforts have ensured that
around 200-300 weavers re engaged in this art in Kashmir. Due to the
sealing of the Tibetan border, the inflow of the pashmina and
shahtoosh varieties of fleece stopped almost completely.
Artisans dependent on spinning finer count of yarn were threatened
with unemployment. Today, Merino greasy wool is imported from
Australia by quasi government bodies, processed into wool tops and
made available to the artisans. The artisans of the Uttarkhand area
and other states also receive Nepali wool sold at the Uttar Pradesh
border districts.
In the meantime the other
sectors of the wool industry in the country have moved on to blends
and other material that serve as winterwear without being wool
itself, like wool poly-vastra, acrylic and jute blended-wool. The
Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute in Rajasthan, has been
working on developing mohair cloth.
Most of the woollen goods
produced in the organized industry re exported to foreign countries,
mainly the U.S.S.R., which imports hosiery from India. The major
portion of the woollen readymade garment industry in the organized
sector is concentrated in the northern states, especially Punjab. 40
per cent of the handwoven cloth in the state comes from Amritsar.
Spinning mills in Jalandhar provide quality yarn to weavers based in
Amritsar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur.
Tailoring, embroidery and
cutting are done in Tand and Bullowal in Hoshiarpur and in Patiala
district and in Chandigarh. Producers from the cooperatives meet
orders form government agencies as well as export houses and emporia.
Knitting centres exist in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and
Gurdaspur. Ludhiana and Mohali have readymade woollen garment
industries set up with the help of the Government of India and are
using modern machinery for auto mass cutting, buttonholing, button
stitching, overlocking etc.
Over the past decade, the
woollen readymade garment industry in the country has undergone a
seachange in patterns, colours and designs. As most of the hosiery
and readymade woollen garments from the organized sector were
exported, the goods available for local consumption were not very
interesting in design or pattern. However, the entire garment
industry in the country has undergone a change over the last decade
or two and mittens, earmuffs, mufflers, scarves and pullovers, knee
length socks and sweaters, have magically surfaced in captivating
geometric designs, more modern patterns and electric colours.
Dhariwal in Punjab and
Ludhiana, the ‘Manchester of India’ are famous for the
hosiery and knitwear garments industries. There are 5514 units
registered and are providing employment to 60495 people. They
produce goods worth Rs. 1.9 million annually, the bulk of which is
exported. At every stage of manufacture, the specialized jobs form
processing and dyeing the wool to knitting, cutting, stitching and
even sewing on buttons and labels are done by thousands of
individuals in their homes where they have installed the facilities
for that particular process. The manufacturer’s job is basically
reduced to co-odinating between one processor and another who charge
piece-meal rates. This facilitates the investment of far more
capital in the industry and the returns are also widespread.
Modernization is
primarily the major reason why the industry, especially the organized
sector in both the private and the government-run bodies, has been
able to spruce itself up with the latest international designs and
patterns.
Winterwear now also
features a wide range of blended wool fibres heavy cotton, padded
nylon jackets, parkas and windcheaters. In the major cities, as well
as in minor towns. The coming of the Tibetan camps still signals the
arrival of the colder season, like the swallows signaling the coming
of summer. The common belief that the Tibetans sell garments made of
pure wool has been reversed. The camps of the long exiled Tibetans
no longer herald the coming of the finest wool in the world but
blended yarn is passed off as the param naram. In the
meantime, winterwear manufacturers out do themselves in colour and
fashionable cuts of both Indian and occidental winterwear coupled
with household names in wool like Oswal, Dhariwal, Lal mli, Greatway,
Raymonds, OCM and other. The chains of garments countrywide like the
Inter Shoppe and others also offer the brightest in winter clothing
at reasonable prices. And winter no more strikes that cold, chilly
drab grey finger in the heart of the man-on-the-street. He now has a
wide choice of colourful blended wool material and winter wear in the
most vibrant of colours to warm up with.
WOOL SHOPPING
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Come September-October,
hundreds of households all over the country get busy hoarding up for
winter. November finds housewives and women all over the north and
the hilly country in the south, east and west busy knitting yarns of
a million different colours and textures in buses on their way to
work, at lunch time, in coffeeshops, restaurants, market places and
parks. You can get cheap woollen garments from the Tibetans who
descend to the plains, hawking collies on the pavements and sidewalks
of most Indian cities.
Besides the usual
pullovers, shawls and sweaters one can buy Kashmiri woollen kurtas
called phirens. Wool yarn from Ludhiana, Dhariwal, Amritsar
and other places like Kanpur is sold by the grades, by the weight or
by rolls. Wool can be bought from any number of wool shops in the
cities.
WHERE TO LOOK FOR WOOL
Are you looking for
catchy designs and the latest patterns? Then the capital’s many
trendy fashion and readymade garment chains are the places to head
for. The genuineness of wool is guaranteed here. These chains are
in all the big cities of the country. Most of these chains also hold
discount or bargain sales in mid-summer. Among the steady stand-bys
and old reliables in winterwear are Oswal, Raymonds, Dhariwal, OCM,
and Lal-Imli.
Genuine wool wear at
reasonable to high prices can also be bought from the state emporia.
The best buys in Kashmiri shawls and kurtas as well as other
woolen wear are available at the Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh and Punjab emporia. The softest blankets and rugs can
be picked up from the emporia of the north-eastern states. Soft
woollen carpets with delicate floral handwork generally in softer
shades are another Kashmiri speciality.
PRICES
If quality is of prime
importance, then winterwear is better bought form the established,
reputed wool and garment chains. Formal wear in the best tweed, can
range anywhere form Rs. 1500/- at the cheapest to a fine ensemble t
Rs. 6000/- to 7000/- Pullovers are priced anywhere between Rs. 450/-
to Rs. 700/-. Rough woollen shawls in rainbow colours can be bought
for Rs. 40/- to Rs. 80/-.
Chequered, striped,
patterned and plain mufflers, socks and gloves can be bought from Rs.
20-25/- to Rs. 50-55/-. Kashmiri shawls are available at the Jammu
and Kashmir emporia all over the country. Peshmina for Rs.
1000/- and above Shahtoosh Rs. 10000/- approximately.
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