Ancient Indian Textiles
The Muslim period in India extended from around 1200 A.D. to
1760 when the British took over. Marco Polo left detailed accounts of the
people and industries of the coastal regions of India in the late thirteenth
century. He mentioned seeing on the Coromandel Coast the finest and most
beautiful cloth in all the world-buckrams like the tissues of spider webs, and
he observed dyeing with indigo in the great textile center of Cambay and
spinning of cotton in Gujarat. A permit was required to buy silks, satins, and
brocades, and only the well-to-do were allowed to have them. The sultan
employed four thousand silk weavers who made robes of honor, hangings, and
gifts of gold brocade for foreign dignitaries.
The greatest Akbar who ruled for
the second half of the sixteenth century-governed a glorious empire where the
textile arts flourished until the late seventeenth century. Fabulous horse and
elephant trappings, as well as the apparel, pillows, and wall hangings, were
remarked upon. There were marvelous gold brocades called kimhabs, or kincobs,
from Banaras. Writers proclaimed on the sheerness of Dacca muslins, called
evening dew, running water, or sweet-like-sherbert.
Contemporary Indian Textiles
Where
tradition, not fashion, rules, concentration on the aesthetic can prevail
instead of mere change. Indian textile heritage has been preserved by the
woman's sari, which often exhibits fine weaving, delicate textures, beautiful
colours, and rich patterns (Plate 49). A formal sari might be of silk (or a
cotton called jamdani), brocaded in floral patterns formed with many tiny
bobbins, each holding a different colour. An everyday sari could be a simple
striped or checked cotton or a solid made iridescent by having the warp of one
colour, the weft of another. Sometimes saris are exquisitely block printed with
gold or silver floral sprays or show all-over spot patterns of tie-dye. Ikat is
used for traditional diamond or trellis patterns.
Embroidery is
important in India and there are many regional styles. Sometimes it is the work
of village women; other times it is done by male professionals. There is a vast
difference between the work that reaches western markets and the fine embroidery,
important for its symbolism - that was made for the courts and temples of old
India.
Phulkari (flower work) is a specialty of Punjab
embroiderers. Bright-coloured floss silk is worked on cotton with a darning
stitch. Phulkari is sometimes combined with the mirror work that originated
when blue and green beetle backs were sewn onto wedding garments of the hill
tribes of southern India.
