The Magnificent and Splendid shawls of Kashmir-Sham Misri

 

The Magnificent and Splendid shawls of Kashmir

The shoulder mantle of the shawl has been in existence in a variety of forms from the most ancient times serving as a staple and protective garment not only for the rich and noble but also and above all for the common people.

The shawl industry in Kashmir is very old. It is stated to have flourished in the days of the Kurus and Pandus. It was a prosperous industry in the days of the Roman Empire when the proudest beauties at the court of the Caesars wore Kashmiri shawls. In the Asoka's time, we find the shawl mentioned in Buddhistic work as the Kashmiri shawl. But after that for a long period, this art was dead.

In ancient Buddhist literature, the shawl can be found among recorded inventories of woollen textiles and its manufacture appears to have been a cottage industry in Kashmir as early as the eighteenth century.

In the 14th century, a Persian saint named Syed Ali Hamadani visited Kashmir along with some experts of handicrafts. It is they who re-establish this precious art with new techniques. Later, the emperor of Kashmir Sultan Bud Shah played a vital role in the promotion of this art during his regime. He brought many experts from Central Asia to introduce modern techniques in the field of handicrafts.

 

Shawls in the Valley are produced by two techniques woven or Kani shawls, and needle embroidered or Sozni shawls. The price of each piece varies from Rupees 30,000 to Rupees 2 lakh.

Over the centuries, the very word cashmere has become identified with shawls made in Kashmir, and the Kani shawls are Kashmir's best cashmere.

Kashmiri shawls are produced by two techniques.

      I.          woven or Kani shawls, and

    II.          needle embroidered or Sozni shawls.

I.                Kani loom-woven shawls are also called tiliwala, tilikar or kani kar, sometimes woven in one piece, but mostly woven in small segments which are then sewn together with high precision and fineness.

A written account of Kani shawls comes from the Rajatarangini of Srivara, a 15th-century Kashmiri text, that discusses woollen fabric with fine woven designs. The Ain I –Akbari, an account from the Mughal period in Kashmir (1586-1752, states that Emperor Akbar was a keen collector of Kani shawls. The labour necessary to produce a Kani shawl, as for the Sozni shawl of the same size, is almost five times, and naturally, the price also is five times.

Kani shawls are woven into intricate patterns using a technique in which the weavers throw the weft across, and then the design is decided based on which the different coloured threads are woven in.

Kani is the Kashmiri name given to a wooden spool, which works most while weaving a shawl on the loom. Weaving is meticulously regulated by a coded pattern known as Talim drawn by the  Naqash for the guidance of the weaver.

Kanihama, a village in the western part of Kashmir, has monopolised the weaving and trade of Kani shawls. The craft had died during the early decade of the century but got revived by the government and by private concerns in a small way.  There are about 300 looms operative in Kanihama, doing their best to keep the traditions alive.

Artisans of tremendous skill and patience go to the loom and create marvellous of Kani shawls.  An unbelievable amount of concentration is required for weaving just an inch of this shawl. An artisan cannot weave beyond an inch a day while being at the loom. The shawl is oblong in shape. generally, remains in 1x2 metres in size. Two craftsmen can complete a shawl within two to three years, and in some cases the period of weaving even stretches to five long years, depending entirely on designs.

II.             Sozni embroidered shawls are also called as Amlikar. In these shawls, elaborate patterns are created by working on the root of the plain pashmina with the help of a needle.

The design of the Amalikar is worked in almost invisible stitches covering the whole ground in an elaborate pattern. The production of an Amalikar shawl may involve a year's labour and be sufficient to make a fine choga. Said Baba, Alias and Ali Baba invented this later in the time of Azad Khan, the Afghan governor of Kashmir from 1783 to 1785. A.D. Kani or loom-woven shawl woven in small segments which are sewn together with such precision and neatness that the sewing is quite gradual.

The prettiest Kashmiri shawls are produced by three methods: by embroidering upon plain foundation cloth; by weaving a pattern as an integral part of the foundation cloth; and subsequently enhancing and decorating it with embroidery.

According to Frank Ames, author of The Kashmir Shawls, the definitive book on the subject, in 1853, one Kani shawl ordered by the Empress of France took 30 men approximately nine months to complete. Only in 2006, the Government of India was able to get the geographical identity (Gl) for the Kani shawls, so that no other country, not even any other state of India, could produce these exquisite shawls.

It was fiercely contested by Pakistan, which claimed that it also produces genuine Kani shawls in its portion of occupied Kashmir.

There are many varieties of exquisite Kani shawls, like the dorukha, double sided shawl. The right side of it cannot be easily distinguished from the wrong side.

There are also doranga - dorukha, which are double-sided and in two colours, the design on one side being reproduced in another colour on the other side. The finest variety of all, however, as the aksi reflection, in which the designer is produced on one side by splitting the warp thread into half, leaving the other side plain or embroidered with another pattern.

The Shawls made of Kelphamb:

The beauty of the shawl depends as much on the brilliance and ability of its supreme colours and the material of the shawl as one of the qualities of its workmanship. The shawl is made of fine, soft, flossy, under fur called Tosh or Kelphamb or pashm (fine wool) of the kel of goats also called the Himalayan ibex or the Ladakhi goat. The best shawls are made from the very fine wool.

The best shawls are made from the very fine wool underlying the long hairs of the Tibetan goat, which are woven into a delicate material called pashmina in which the shawl patterns are worked. This finest Pashm of the best quality is also brought from Chinese Turkistan from the neighbourhood of Ush-Turfan.

According to estimated trade figures, Kashmir produces Rs. 550 crores worth of shawls every year. Out of this, Rs 150 crore worth are Kani shawls, employing 6,000 weavers, and Rs 400 crore worth are, Sozni shawls, employing as many as 83,000 artisans.

In India, the price of a Kani shawl varies from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2 lakh. Depending on the variety of the designs and material. There is so much faking of these famous shawls in the metros of India that unless you buy from a reputed dealer, you can be sold the imitation one. For international travellers, buying is easy, as duty-free shops in all major international airports sell these famous shawls with certificates of genuineness.

The price of the shawl is also higher. The cost of a shawl depends on the fineness of the shawl. The cost of quality shawls varies from the excess of Rs 50 lakh.

References:

The Kashmiri Shawl /Dr. Syed Ali Raza.

The Tribune Feb. 21, 2009.

The Excelsior-

Majallah-e-Tahqiq Vol 40, Sr. No. 114, January March 2019