Textiles and Fabrics in Medieval India

The history of textiles and fabrics in India has deep roots which can be traced back to the ancient period. While the ancient period offers us substantial evidence to show the production, use and trade of textiles, it was in the medieval period that significant shifts started taking shape in this sector. Court patronage to textile craft intensified to an unprecedented level which led to increased production and trade of these items. The medieval period also witnessed the arrival of persian influence in the technique, motif and technology used in making textiles and fabrics in India, especially during the Mughal period.

Textiles were produced for varied use including clothing, decorative items like wall hangings, carpets, tents etc. The rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire bestowed thousands of robes of honor to their nobles. Large scale production was required to satisfy the needs of the court itself. Thus, there were two kinds of karkhanas or workshops where textile production was carried out. First, the independent karkhanas run by artisans themselves with their own capital, fairly at a small scale. Second, the imperial karkhanas which were patronised by the court and worked specifically to meet the needs of the imperial household.

Francois Bernier, a French Traveller who visited India during the reigns of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658) and Aurangzeb (1658-1707), wrote about these workshops in his travelogue, ‘Travels in the Mughal Empire'.He described them as a combination of many large halls where artisans of different specialities worked. In one hall, you could see embroiderers under a superintendent, in another painters, then tailors, muslin weavers, brocade workers etc. Some nobles also ran their private workshops.

The most extensively produced and traded fabrics during the medieval period, especially under the Mughals was cotton. Delhi, Lahore, Agra, Patna, Banaras, Ahmedabad, Burchapur and Dacca were the major producers of cotton textile. Its production followed a definitive process. Harvested cotton was first dried in the sun for a few days, followed by ginning in which the fibre had to be separated from the cotton seeds. Ginning was done using two kinds of tools, either a roller- board in which a cylindrical roller was used manually on a flat board, worm-press (charkhi) in which was made up of two wooden rollers. Charkhi was the most common method.

After this, the cotton fibre was separated from the seed using two kinds of techniques. In the first, rather primitive method, cotton was beaten with a stick, in which the chances of breaking of fibre was quite high. So, the second method of carding was preferred in which cotton was beaten through a bow-string device. This tool came to be in use most likely in the 11th century AD in India and is in use to this day. The process of cotton carding is called dhunai and it was done specifically by a certain caste called dhuniya or cotton carderers.

The next step was spinning fibre into yarn which was also done using two kinds of tools. The first was a spindle, a simple tool which was in use from ancient times. Spinning underwent a dramatic shift in the medieval period with the introduction of the spinning wheel. Both spindle and spinning wheel continued to exist simultaneously. The former was used to spin finer yarns while the latter for the coarser. Spinning was mostly done by women.

Once yarn was spun, it was woven into the fabric. Weaving in medieval India was done mostly on horizontal throw-shuttle handlooms having two sets of yarn, the warp and the weft which were interlaced at right angles. From the 16^th century, we start getting reference to pit-loom. The first illustration comes from the Tuti-Nama or Tales of a Parrot, the most famous version of which comes from the set commissioned under Mughal Emperor Akbar in the mid 16th century.

If one were to name the signature item of the medieval period which was in great demand both within India and the outside world was muslin. It is a plain woven cotton fabric which is very fine and light-weight in nature. Under the Mughals, the muslin produced at Dacca (Present day Dhaka, in Bangladesh) was considered the best. So delicate and fine were these fabrics that it is said that once Emperor Aurangzeb rebuked his daughter for seeming naked. She replied that she is wearing seven layers of muslin!

Mughal Emperors themselves loved wearing muslin of a special kind known as malmal khas, which was finest of all. Its silky and exquisite nature earned it names like abrawan (running water), baft hawa (woven air) and shabnam (evening dew). One kind of muslin which was perfected in this period was the jamdani weave in which geometrical and floral designs were woven onto muslin fabric. The Mughal rulers encouraged muslin production. Sonargaon, Banaras, Agra, Malwa, Deccan, Gujarat, Lahore, Multan, Burhanpur and Golkonda were other centres of muslin craft, as mentioned by Abul Fazl in Ain-i-Akbari.

Silk was another fabric which was used during the medieval times. However, its production was not as high as cotton. Two important centres of sericulture and silk weaving were Kashmir and Bengal. Tarikh-i-Rashidi, a medieval text by Mirza Dughlat Baig mentions practice of sericulture in Kashmir.

Tavernier, a French merchant and traveler who visited India in the 17th century noted that Kasimbazar in Bengal was a major centre of silk production. Ahmedabad, Surat, Sindh, Delhi, Agra, and Malda were other important centres during the Mughal period.

In western India, silk was mostly mixed with cotton. One example of this is the alacha fabric which was made in Cambay, Gujarat. Alachas were striped fabric in blue, white and red color, but sometimes they were also decorated with woven flowers. Most likely, they were used to make trousers. Serbandy, Kapoornoor, gulbadans, nihal, tafsil and mushru were other mixed cotton and silk fabrics produced in the Mughal period.

The only pure silk produced here were the patolas which were made using the ikat technique. In this, the warp and the weft yarns were pre-dyed and then woven to create spectacular patterns. The main centre of patola was patan in Gujarat.

The Mughal imperial household and the aristocratic class were especially fond of velvet which were made of silk. Velvet costumes were worn for ceremonial purposes, a sign of pomp and show. The emperor also bestowed robes of honor on his acolytes made of velvet. These velvet costumes were often brocaded with gold and silver threads. During the 16^th century, velvet, both plain and brocaded were produced in Ahmedabad and Lahore and in Ghargaon and Assam in the 17th century.

As far as wool is concerned, it was not a predominant fiber in medieval India. This was partly because of the climate which was not very cold and partly because woollen stuff was very expensive and could be afforded only by the royalty. The common populace used woollen cloth very minimally as it does not surface in the sources. People rather used cotton padded garments and cotton quilts.

Nonetheless, woollen clothes were manufactured in India, primarily in Kashmir where wool was also brought from Tibet, Kabul and Sindh. Alwar and Merta in Rajasthan, Punjab, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh in Ellur in Coastal Andhra were other centres.

One woollen item which was in high demand by the royalty was the Kashmiri Shawl. Shawl industry expanded in an unprecedented manner under the Mughals. Bernier noted in his work that shawls manufactured in Kashmir derived much wealth from this industry. It is said that King Zain al-Abidin (1420-70) brought Persian craftsmen in Kashmir to teach them twill tapestry technique (kani weave), the blush and a new type of loom. But the needle work embroidery was developed during the Mughal period. Abul Fazl tells us that Akbar encouraged the production of shawls as it was loved by the imperials and was also an item of gift to nobles and foreign rulers. Jahangir mentioned in his memoir that Kashmiri shawl is his favourite piece of clothing. Shah Jahan sent these in large numbers to the rulers of Golconda and Bijapur.

Abul Fazl informs that the state had a monopoly over Kashmiri shawl. The wool or pashm for shawl weaving was brought from the Chinese provinces of Turfan, Chahtaan and Tibet, through a network of merchants and labourers. First the naqqash or the pattern maker drew the design, then the superintendent wrote directions and gave the copies to the weavers, who then used to weave the desired design in the shawl. The most exquisite variety of shawl was the one made from the wool of tus or the Tibetan Antelope.

Similarly, carpet weaving also became an evolved craft during the medieval period. In fact, references to carpet weaving in India before the Mughals are rather rare. The chief centres of carpet manufacture were Agra, Fatehpur, Jaunpur, Zafarabad, Alvar, Kashmir, Ahmedabad and Lahore. Pile carpets were also woven during this time, on a vertical loom which most probably was introduced from Persia. It is described in Bahar-i-Ajam, an 18^th century lexicon by Lala Tik Chand as nice, soft, plush like velvet, multicolored and that pillows and floorcoverings are made of it.

A discussion on the techniques of decorating textiles and fabrics during medieval India is very important to highlight the spectacular craftsmanship and the finesse with which artisans worked. The first method is dyeing of fabrics in beautiful colors and patterns. A fabric needed to be bleached before dyeing. Tavernier informs us that lemon was used to bleach cotton. Lime, soap, sulphur and rice starch were materials used to boil and bleach fabrics. Done by people of a specific caste, bleaching and washing was done near a river or a pond.

The dyeing process was quite ordinary and inexpensive. It required simple tools like a copper container to boil the cloth, an earthen vat in which the dye was liquefied and the fabric was dipped to absorb the color. It was stirred using a stick. Once the color was imported, the fabric was beaten with a wooden club for smooth texture. After this, it was dried in the sun.

Natural colors were used for dyeing. Most prominent is the indigo dye which is derived from indigo plants to get shades of blue. The best indigo crop was found in the Bayana tract near Agra and in Sarkhej near Ahmedabad. Cambay and Baroda were also important centres.

For red shade, dye was derived from lac which is a secretion of lac insects on bark trees. It was found in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bengal and Deccan. It was expensive and generally applied on silk fabric. Red color was also extracted from al (Morinda Citrifolia) plant and chayroot in Deccan and South Indian region. Similarly, yellow color was obtained from harsingar plants and marigold flowers. Brown shades were procured by boiling the bark of a babul tree in water. All these colors were set with mordants like iron sulphate, lime, sugar, soda carbonate etc.

Tie and dye method of decorating fabric was also prevalent during this period. Abul Fazl mentions that bandhani cloth makers flourished during Akbar’s reign. Another method was painting the fabric with a pen brush or kalamkari. Bernier mentions that Masulipatnam was the most important centre of painted fabrics. It’s most important use was for decoration, for instance painted wall hangings.

Textiles were also printed too, primarily using the wood-block technique. A block printer was called chippa. Saint Namdev recognises himself as a chippa. Printed calicoes or chintz were in great demand in Europe. Gujarat was a very important centre of chintz production and export. Lahore and later Lucknow and Farrukhabad also garnered popularity for their chintz.

Under Mughals, motifs were inspired from the natural world, especially floral motifs. Early floral designs depicted single plants with large flowers but by the 17^th century, they became quite intricate and detailed. Iris, lilies, opium flower surface not only on textiles but architecture too. During Mughals, the paisley motif became the dominant design which can be found on garments, tents, shawls, carpets etc.

Embroidery method was prevalent to embellish textiles in medieval India. Gold and silver wire embroidery was done on wooden frames, known as zardozi work. In this, wires were embroidered on silk, satin and velvet fabric to beautify it with shimmering threads. Embroiderers of medieval India mostly used pure gold and silver threads. Indians did not know the art of gilding as late as the 17^th century. This is noted by Tavernier in his work. The art of gilding came later in the 19^th century.

Bahar-i-Ajam mentions two other forms of embroidery, Kashida and Chikin. Both of these are thread embroideries. In the former, pattern is created on fabric using thick colored threads while in the latter, white colored threads are used on light colored fabric. Chand wrote, “the cloth on which chikan is embroidered, is called chikan-dozi and the person who embroiders on the cloth is called chikan-doz."

Textile Industry grew substantially during the medieval period and became the largest industry under the Mughals with a huge European market. It was only post the arrival of the British that this industry underwent decline as Indian hand-crafted textiles could not compete with the cheap items manufactured in newly established industries of Britain.