Pashmina and Kashidakari : Heritage of Kashmir

Kashmiri embroidery design, with its traditional name “Kashidakari”, is one of the most popular traditional embroideries in India, which has a global reputation alike. It is as beautiful and captivating as Kashmir itself.

This craftsmanship originated during the Mughal period is hugely seen on woolen garments, especially shawls, cardigans, some cotton salwar suits, and carpets as well¹.

Kashmiri Kashida

The base cloth, whether wool or cotton is generally white or cream or a similar shade. The craftsmen use shades of threads that blend with the background. But nowadays several colors are used.

Colors used in this embroidery 

• White – safed
• Green – zingari
• Purple- uda
• Blue- ferozi
• Yellow- zard
• Black- mushki
• Crimson- gulmor
• Scarlet- kirmiz

Motifs used in Kashmiri embroidery are mostly inspired by nature –

• Bird motifs used are parrot, canary, peacocks, woodpecker, and kingfisher
• Floral motifs used are iris, lotus, lily, tulip, as well as saffron flower
• Other designs are creepers and fruits like grapes, plums, almonds, mangoes, and cherries. The Chinar leaf is an important motif.

FABRICS used for doing Kashmiri embroidery are silk, wool, cotton, while threads used are wool and silk¹.

Kashmiri stitches

Kashmiri embroidery is known for the skilled execution of a single stitch, which is often called the Kashmiri stitch, which may comprise, the satin stitch, the slanted darn stitch, the stem stitch, and the herringbone stitch¹.

Other stitches used :-

• Vata Chickan- Button Hole
• Doria- Open Work
• Talaibar- Gold Work
• Zalakdozi- Chain Stitch
• Rafooqani or Darning Stitch

Types of Kashmiri Embroidery

1. Crewel Embroidery

Crewel embroidery utilizes pointed crochet (locally called “Aari”). It uses woolen or art-silk thread to work on cotton, organza, velvet, linen, and jute ground fabrics suitable for making drapes and upholsteries. These fabrics are widely used for pillows, throws, and bedding.

Crewel embroidery is further divided into two types –

• 1-ply Embroidery: It uses 1-ply woolen yarn which is cheaper but less durable than 2-ply wool. These fabrics are therefore cheaper than 2-ply embroidered fabrics. It covers a larger surface area per stitch when compared to 2-ply embroidery
• 2-ply Embroidery: It uses 2-ply woolen yarn for embroidery, costs more than 1-ply, and is more durable. The resulting fabric is costlier in comparison to 1-ply embroidered fabrics. Also, 2-ply wool embroidery has a lower surface area per stitch, therefore, accommodating more colors in a pattern as compared to 1-ply.
  Apparel like jackets, shawls, sarees, salwar kameez, etc. comprises a finer form of crewel embroidery using cotton thread instead of wool.

2. Needlepoint Embroidery

This handcraft consists of the use of a needle of the name – “sozni”. Pashmina shawls, woolen shawls, jackets, salwar kameez, and sarees comprise this type of embroidery. Work done on pashminas is comparatively much finer as there is less distance between stitches than other fabrics such as cotton, silk, and wool.

3. Silver and Gold Embroidery

Locally called as “tilla”. It is none other than needlepoint embroidery but using gold and silver thread¹.

Distinct styles

It includes Dorukha in which the motif appears on both sides of the shawl with each side having a different color. Papier-mâché; aari (hook) embroidery; shaaldaar; chinar-kaam; samovar (the antique Kashmiri tea-pot) are also very typical and popular designs used in Kashmiri embroidery. This samovar pattern is afterward filled with intricate flowers, leaves, and twigs².

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Further styles include naala jaal which involves embroidery particularly on the neckline and chest/yoke, naala means neck in the Koshur dialect of the Kashmiri language. JAMA is a very dense embroidery. It covers the whole base fabric with a thick spread of vine/creepers and flowers. A variation of this form is neem-JAMA, where neem means demi or half, because the embroidery is less dense, allowing a view of the fabric underneath; and jaal consisting of bel-buti, a fine and sparse net of vine/creepers as well as flowers.

Kashir-jaal implies a fine network of embroidery, particularly on the neckline and sleeves of dress material².

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Carpet

Kashmiri carpets have been appreciated for a long time for their intricate work. Their uniqueness lies in their manufacturing. These carpets are purely handmade and are knotted, but surely not tufted. You can choose different carpets from a variety of silk, wool, or woolen silk. Indeed, these are designed in colorful themes which can not be found anywhere in the world. The main art of carpet manufacturing is associated with the knotting part. These knots determine the durability and value of the carpet, in addition to the design and pattern. The more knots per square inch, the greater is not only the value but also the durability of the carpet³.

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Carpet-weaving originated in Persia and traveled to Kashmir, hence the designs are local variations of Persian themes. You can get more information about the Indian carpet in my previous post here. Trellis designs are the hallmark of Mughal traditions. Horse designs, hunting, animal, and plant motifs combined with it. The carpets from Ladakh are Tibetan style known as the Khalidal and the designs woven are drawn from religious motifs inspired by the symbols of Mahayana Buddhism. They are used for sitting, sleeping, and to seat guests during feasts and ceremonies. Kalin (woolen carpet), made in Kashmir not to mention is very famous and in great demand⁴.

Namdas

It is a lighter version of the original carpets. The price of these colorful floor coverings varies with the percentage of wool. A namda containing 80% wool will definitely be more expensive than one with 20% wool. The major difference between carpets and namdas lies in the price. Carpets are quite expensive, while Namdas are available at affordable prices³.

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History of Pashmina Shawls

In the first place, Pashmina⁵ refers to a fine variant of spun cashmere, the animal-hair fiber forming the downy undercoat of the Changthangi goat, native to the high plateau of Ladakh. The word pashm means “wool” in Persian, but in Kashmir, pashm referred to the raw unspun wool of domesticated Changthangi goats. Both generic cashmere and pashmina come from the same goat, but generic cashmere ranges from 12 to 21 microns in diameter, whereas pashmina refers only to those fibers that range from 12 to 16 microns.

The shawl made up of pashmina wool was promoted as an alternative to Shahtoosh shawl. The reason being that Shahtoosh Shawl is made from the Tibetan Antelope. Earlier the demand for Shahtoosh shawl had wiped out 90% of the Tibetan Antelope, thus to preserve what population is left, other alternatives, like the pashmina shawl, are being considered. The Shahtoosh shawl is so fine that it can pass through a finger ring, hence the name is a ring shawl.

Importance of Pashmina

Pashmina blankets were also vital additions to a wealthy woman’s dowry in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. In nineteenth-century English writing, even though men also wore shawls, they became coded as women’s luxuries. Since English law restricted women’s abilities to inherit the land, the Kashmir shawl served as an item of high exchange value that a woman could carry.

Furthermore, in 2019, the Bureau of India Standards (BIS) published an Indian standard for identification, marking, and labelling the Pashmina Shawls for their purity.

Pashmina shawls gained much prominence in the days of the Mughal Empire as objects of rank and nobility. Babur first established the practice of giving khilat – giving ‘robes of honor’ – in 1526 to members of his court for their devoted service, high achievements, as well as a mark of royal favor. A khilat could be a set of clothes consisting of turban, coat, gown, trousers, shirts, scarfs, etc. all of which could be made of Pashmina wool⁵.

Global impact/occurrence

From the 16th to the early 20th centuries, the Safavid, Zand, and Qajar emperors of Iran also wore pashmina and gifted Kashmir shawls as khilat within their political and religious practices.⁵

Through the enthusiastic use by Empress Joséphine – the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte – the pashmina shawl gained status as a fashion icon. The shawls suited the French well as they provided the necessary warmth while adding the visual appeal to white French gowns. It became a class marker in the 19th century because of its rich look, artistic qualities, and expensive material⁵.

Through extensive trade with Indians, the shawls made their way to Europe where they became an almost instant hit.

Around the time the Kashmir shawl became fashionable in Britain, Euro-American women on the northeastern coast of the United States began wearing them. Shawl fashion in the United States followed western European fashion trends. Throughout the 1860s, people offered Shawls as holiday presents. By the end of the 1870s, however, imitation shawls began to eclipse the genuine Indian shawls in advertisements. Between the 1880s and World War I (1914–1918), wealthy European and Euro-American women began using Kashmir shawls as decorative pieces on pianos rather than on themselves⁶.

Recommended article

1. 15 Hand Embroidery Stitches for Beginners – Learn Step By Step Embroidery Designs (fashionlady.in)
2. Embroidery of India – Wikipedia
3. Jammu and Kashmir Handicrafts, Kashmir Handicrafts, Kashmir Art and Handicrafts (kashmir-tourism.org)v
4. Traditional crafts of Jammu and Kashmir | Crafts (hinduscriptures.com)
5. Pashmina (material) – Wikipedia
6. Kashmir shawl – Wikipedia
7. Special Hands | KashmirBox.com