Spinners, Weavers and Needle workers
The distinctive technical feature of the classic Kashmiri shawl is the weave, known to textile scholars as twill-tapestry. Tapestry is the technique of weaving design into the very structure of the fabric. Tapestry is one of the most ancient textile techniques, perhaps as much as 4000 years old. It seems to have originated independently in widely scattered region of the world; there were tapestry weavers among the ancient Egyptians and their descendants the Copts, among the Chinese, among the Incas of Peru, and in tribal groups from Central Asia to New Mexico, Coptic and Hellenistic tapestry of the 3rd to 6th centuries CE, in wool, linen and silk, show elaborated figurative scenes. Indian Durries and some Central Asian Kilims- both type of flat- weave floor covering- are tapestry- woven in coarse cotton or wool. The Incas wove tapestry clothes and wrapping for their illustrious dead from animal fibres- alpaca, guanaco and Vicuna- that rivaled Tibetan goat –pashm in fineness
Tapestry- weaving is a laborious process, in which weft is inserted between the warp threads, not by a shuttle, but by a series of small bobbins loaded with yarn of the various colors needed to create the design. One line of the weft, depending on the complexity of the design, can involve scores or hundreds of insertions. Within the broad technique of tapestry- weaving several methods are used to manage the junction of the differently colored threads in a single line of the weft.
In the simplest, the two adjacent different-colored weft-threads turn back on themselves, leaving a tiny opening in the weave which, if repeated at the same warp- point in successive lines of the waft, creates a gap in the fabric. This technique is accordingly called slit tapestry. To avoid the formation of such gaps, slit- tapestry textiles often have a design based on diagonal lines. A continuous surface without slits is created by either looping the two weft-threads round a single warp-thread at the point of intersection, a technique used in Kashmir shawl- weaving is known as double-interlock, meaning that where the weft-thread of different colors meet, they loop round each other in successive rows, thus creating a firm and permanent join. It provides demarcation of the colors – change on the ‘right’ side of the material; but leaves on the ‘wrong’ side a minute nub in each weft- line, which, as the design is built, develops into a tiny ridge with the two, colors interchanged.
The yarn for plain pashmina- known as alwan, the base for embroidery shawls- goes undyed to the weaver; the woven fabric is dyed later on if needed. As regards the classic shawls, the specialized skill of the dyer was no less a sine qua non for the production of these marvelous patterned textiles than that of the designer, the spinner, the weaver, or the rafugar. The dyestuff for all colors except black were organic, the chief ones being indigo for shades of blue, lac and kermes both derived from insects, for the red; while duller shades of red were achieved using logwood. Later in the 19th century, some shawl manufacturers took to using the newly invented aniline (chemical) dyes, whose colors lacked the detached from the loom for the purpose, and wounds tightly around it. This is then suspended from the ceiling, the loose ends of the warp are cut and the individual threads inserted into the heddles. Finally each individual thread in its proper position, the warp- beam and the heedless are fitted to the loom and the warp is pulled onto the cloth-beam, right in front of the weaver’s bench and given a few turns around it
Identity of Kashmiri Pure pashmina shawl and its texture
For a typical Kashmir shawl, the thread count varies between 30 and 36 warp and 30 and 48 weft-threads per centimeter, but many be as high as 42 warp and exceptionally astounding 87 weft-threads12 . These figures are comparable to those for god quality silk or the finest plain woven cotton muslins, but are extraordinary for a woolen textile. The astonished fineness apart, the remarkable feature of the tapestry weave used for Kashmiri shawls is its basic structure, which is 2×2 twill. This may be understood in contrast to a plain ( tabby) weave, in which the weft goes alternately over and under only one warp thread at a time. In twill, the threads of the warp are arranged on the loom in such a way that the weft thread passes over two, under two, the pairing of the warp threads changing by one unit from line to adjacent line of the weft. Twill, which drapes more softly than a plain- woven fabric, is recognized by the fine diagonal rib on the surface; this adds its own charm to the pattern woven into it- though the diagonal progression also creates technical issues in interpreting the pattern, which the designer and weaver have to take into account. There are sound technical reasons why the Kashmiri weavers preferred twill to a plain weave for their patterned shawl goods. Working with pairs rather than single threads reduces the strain on each of the delicate warp threads. Working on such a microscopic scale in a medium where a single mistake has a knock-on effect on the entire piece, it would be easier to count the threads for each insertion in pairs rather than single threads.
The spinning wheel as Moorcroft points out is basically the same as that used all over north India and the use of it to spin pashmina yarn of extraordinary fineness is a skill which has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Finer than any other hand-spun woolen yarn in the world, it was related by Moorcroft to the cotton spun in Bengal for the legendary Dhaka muslins.
The Business perspective
About the structure of the industry that produced these remarkable textiles there is little or no record till the later part of the 18th century. It seems clear; however, that right from the start, the Kashmir shawl industry was a commercial and export-oriented operation. As for statistics, there are no reliable figures before 19th century and precious few that can be taken literally even then. The earliest estimate seems to be that of George Forster who passed through Kashmir in 1783. According to his local informants, whereas “ during their subjection to the Mogul dominion, the province contained forty thousand shawl looms…… at this day, there are not sixteen thousand” . the figure of 16,000 seems a constant estimate for the period, being quoted by different sources for 1815 and 1821; though in the later year Moorcroft was told that a mere two years earlier, in 1819, the year of the Sikh conquest, famine and emigration had caused the number of fall to 6000. In 1831 Jacquemont gave a figure of 9000 looms, up from 5000 under the oppressive regime of the previous governor, but yet recovered to the earlier level which he put at 15, 000.
The complexity of the manufacturing process and the number of specialist workers involved in it imply a high level of organization, both logistical and financial, right from the early days. Barely twenty years after Moorcroft, the loom owners had morphed from being ustads- a term implying a high degree of technical expertise—into Kharkhanadars, simply workshop owners. Around 1870, their number was about 23,000. All the Kharkhanadars lived in either Srinagar or Islamabad (Anantanag) but their weaving establishments were at different places in the Valley mainly Pampur and Sopore. The commission broker (Mokim) used to play to monitor the price and to manage the supplies.
In the late 19th century, a fair proportion of “Kashmir” shawl were actually woven in the Punjab. Towards the end of 17th century attempts were made to establish shawl industry in Agra and Patna as well as Lahore, but their products came nowhere near the excellence of the Kashmir ones.
The Shawl industry as a whole survived the Kani recession of the late 19th century. It’s true that export overseas, reduced by 1890 to a trickle for the Iranian market, dried up by about 1920 and Kani work died out almost completely. At the same time, the manufacture of embroidered shawls with its less elaboration cycle and its less regimented workforce—managed to weather the end century slump and adapt itself t meet reduced demand. Documentation of the industry in the 20th century is spare—as though, with the disappearance of Kani, the world had simply lost interest in Kashmir and its shawls. It’s clear that the elaborate commercial arrangements of the 19th century crumbled. Karkhanadars no longer were willing to share the profit of a shrunken market with middlemen and brokers. Yet embroidered shawls found their way to customers in Bengal and north India, anecdotal evidence suggesting that, before Partition, many of them were bought during the long summer holidays that well-to-do families often spent in Kashmir. When customers didn’t go to shawl, the shawl came to the customers. For most of the century, the Kashmiri shawl-wala also known as Pheri-wala or itinerant trade—was a familiar winter visitor to affluent homes in the cities of north India. The Pheri-wala covered the same areas in their chosen cities every year and had their regular clientele, often taking commissions from shawls to be delivered the following year.
In 2004 one estimate was that there were 50—60 workshops in Srinagar doing fine Kani work, employing something like 500—600 weavers and producing perhaps 125 to 150 shawls a year16. The Kani revival however, exciting and heartening it may be, still represents only a tiny fraction of the shawl industry, whose backbone remains the embroidered shawl. Reliable statistics indicating the scale of the industry seem to be lacking. A calculation on the bases of amount of Pashmina coming from Ladakh indicates an animal production of around 65,000 pure pashmina shawls, rather more if proportions are in semi- pashmina. A Govt. survey in 2003 to 2004 put the number of weavers at 2200, in Srinagar alone. On this basis of this estimate 3000 to 3500 weavers of alwan in the Valley may not be too far out. “It takes me anything from a week to a fortnight to weave a shawl- length depending upon my output” says Aijaz a weaver from Zoonimar.
The independent family concerns which produces the bulk of alwan may deal directly with the embroiders or they may have links, perhaps of generations standing with a particular dealer, who picks up all or much of their production. In the latter case, it is he, the dealer, who masterminds the embroidery processes. He may buy the designs, either leasing them for one time use or if there is one that particularly takes his fancy, purchasing it outright for his own exclusive use. Alternately, since the designs are block- printed onto fibre, he may go straight to the printing establishment which will have in ready stock a large number of beautifully carved wooden blocks, for the use of which they charge a fee. For a new design, he has to get a new block carved out of walnut, the preferred wood; it may cost him up to Rs 6000. It is the dealer who decides on the colour combination in which each design is to be worked.
The work of embroidery is also decentralized, being outsourced to professionals working either in their homes, or in Karkhanas under the eye of an ustad who deals with the client. An increasing number of young women are now taking up the craft, a few even opening their own workshops. Sozani , the fine work, using the delicate sozani stitch, on pure pashmina. It is a highly developed craft conversant with its technical vocabulary, relating to both technique and design. Sozani design has come a long way since the days of Ali Baba when the embroiderer’s primary aim was to mimic Kani. The influence of Kani design of course lingers and there are all- over buta- based designs that are known as Shaldar Mohammad Sultan Dar, gold medalist reveals: Sozani stitch is a hectic work, it requires lot of patience and technique, and it requires training and one must have lot of designs in his mind to put them on shawls.
As with Kani weaver, an embroiderer employed on a costly time-consuming project involving dorukha embroidery, or a shawl with dense all- over design, can’t wait for payment till the work is finished. The dealer, having agreed to a price for the entire work and a time frame, pays a monthly advance, adjusting the balance when the shawl is complete.
According to recent survey there are almost 40,000 embroiderers in the Valley, the majority are doing relatively simple work on raffle and semi- pashmina shawls and cotton garments; no more than 4000 to 5000 are doing the really fine work.
After Partition in 1947, Kashmir, inspite of its disputed status, gradually became one of the India’s most important tourist destinations, attracting foreigners and Indians alike. The Pheri-wala might still make his annual winter visits to his regular clientele in the cities of the plans, but in the summer months, with or without an outlet in Srinagar, he enables himself to earn .By doing good business among tourists, skimming from one house boat to the next in his shikaras.
From 1990 to 2003, the tourist industry, on which the Valley’s economy had come largely to depend, collapsed. There was no way to reach to house boats but for the handicrafts entrepreneurs, the state government arranged temporary sales venue in Delhi and many other metro cities of India.
But now a few Kashmiri companies have expanded, branching out into wholesale and bulk marketing and advertising on their websites a range of products in Pashmina.
The export of genius shawl- goods from Kashmir is not in pleasant records. Abdul Rashid recons that he gets 500 to 600 embroidered shawls and about 80 kani shawls manufactured every year and he may purchase another 75 kani pieces. The Kashmir Loom Company a small-scale business makes high-end goods primarily for export to Japan, US, Australia and Europe.
Concluded
