Woven Wonders of the Deccan

Woven Wonders

of the Deccan

Moin Qazi

Notion Press

5 Muthu Kalathy Street, Triplicane,

Chennai - 600 005

First Published by Notion Press 2014

Copyright © Moin Qazi 2014

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-93-83808-62-5

This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However, the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

In loving memory of my

uncle Qazi Syed Shahabuddin

Contents

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Arts and Crafts

Silks of the Deccan

Himroo

Paithani: Poem in Silk and Gold

Production Process

The Technique of Dyeing

Appendix I - The Future of Paithani

Appendix II - Individual Contributions

Appendix III - Contemporaray Scene

Appendix IV - A Companion on Paithani

Glossary

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Fine, finely woven is this spread,

Tell of which warp, and tell what fills,

Of which thread woven, is this spread?

With nerve threads of the sun and moon,

With pure-thread that seeks its end.

Eight maidens spin and this wheel swings.

With the five elements the warp is laid,

Ten months to ready it, the Maker takes.

Close, closely woven is this spread.

This, men, the gods and sages wear,

And in the wearing, some they soil.

Kabir, Truth-Server, wove from birth

This spread; now homing, leaves it as it is;

Fine, finely woven is this spread.

The above bhajan (hymn), along with the one below, were composed by Kabir, who was a mystic-poet, a non-conformist social thinker, a weaver, and an integrator. Many of his compositions carry metaphors of the weaver and his craft. Here is another poignant verse from him extolling the weaver:

How many know,

the world-weaver,

Who spread the warp?

Earth and Sky,

The two beams of his loom.

Sun and Moon,

Two shuttles filled and ready.

He takes a thousand threads,

and spreads them lengthwise;

Watch him as he weaves today.

The cir: The length end

is still far away,

Most difficult to reach.

Says Kabir: Karma with Karma

Woven with unwoven threads.

How well,

This weaver weaves.

When we look at an old sari, a hundred stories come to life, shimmering from its motifs in jewelled colours, from its worn pile, its subtle weaves. Stories of who made it, and how; of the matchless skills that went into its making, and its countless months and years on the loom. Beyond those first perceptions, there are the questions of why it was made, and for whom; the legends it depicts and their meaning; and the saga of its passage through the centuries; in all these lie the very breath of romance.

Braving the elements, sun, rain, or wind, as well as the travails of the journey, the weavers come to the workshops to make a living. Well before the big blurred silhouette of the morning starts its lazy climb the weavers are seated at their looms, beginning a new poem of fantasy each day.

If you believe in the simple poetry of hands, watch the hands of a weaver. Slender, almost thread-like, the hands have fingers that have nimble grace, from years of matching warp to weft. Watch the hands of a weaver, working colours of delicate hues — creating symphonies of sight, to the click-clack rhythm of a modern loom.

The floral designs, the intricate and complicated weaving, and the variegated hues and colours are all brilliantly executed, to make the fabrics very attractive and highly prized. In order to celebrate a craftsman’s perception of design, one must view some of our indigenous craft traditions, which have evolved through an instinctive knowledge of the functional needs of a community. It is a challenge today to use traditional skills, techniques, resources, and personal imagination, without retarding the creative processes involved.

Emergence of Crafts

Several millennia back, a man stepped out of a cave in a valley and groped his way in the forest until he came across a creature similar to him. He was wonderstruck and happy at heart. He was aware of not being alone on earth. In the absence of an articulate language he communicated by using gestures. Familiarity eventually led to the two families joining to form a clan. As this clan explored the wild, and its knowledge and experience grew, it was seized by a curiosity to cross rivers. Experience had taught the clan that wood floats and soon a canoe was carved out and the clan rowed to the other shore. There, too, creatures resembling them were discovered and they merged to form a tribe, which later coalesced into a larger groups. This larger group eventually split and individual groups moved to different parts of the globe taking with them their commonly shaped inheritance, but moulding and patterning it according to new experiences, skills, and technologies.

While the origin of handicrafts is rooted in history, it is important to link up their future with the dual realities of culture and economy as these handicrafts are not only the interpreters of art and cultural ethos, but are also valuable earners of foreign exchange. Unfortunately, the handicrafts are being pushed to the background, with the rising forces of modern industrialization. The real significance of handicrafts is based on the newness and innovativeness of each object. The new vision in design should not become the obsessive pre-occupation of the most talented designers, and they have to guard and maintain their basic role in the overall perspective from the onslaught of modern mechanization.

Among the countless expressions that form the grand repository of Indian crafts are textiles -- a tradition that is a very important element reflecting the heart and soul of the Indian psyche. The quiet sensitivity of the weaver, rooted in customs and rituals, had its origins in religious fervour – creating a relationship between him and the cloth that he wove. The cosmos, the ordered universe, was considered to be one continuous fabric with its grid pattern of warp and woof over which is painted life in all its cycles – both illusions and dreams.

The Vedas, far from being merely antiquated, enunciate a period in the intellectual life of man which has no parallel in human history .The Atharva Veda, in one of its passages, personifies day and night as two sisters weaving, with the warp symbolizing darkness and the woof the light of the day.

Vedic literature refers to several varieties of cloths, such as durga, kusum, and tarpya. Among these some are obviously silk. Shining gold cloths (hiranya drapi) also find mention, and in the epic Mahabharata there is a reference to manichura – probably a fabric with a woven pearl fringe.

Five thousand years ago, the people of Mohenjodaro not only grew cotton, but they also knew that this innocuous looking fluff could be magically transformed into cloth that covered their bodies. Excavations from Harappan sites revealed a scrap of coarse madder dyed cloth. Subsequently, in the ancient Sind deserts terracotta spindle whorls were unearthed that proved beyond doubt that the early inhabitants of the Indus Valley knew how to spin and weave. This is the earliest evidence of textiles.

In the Arthashastra of Kautilya (2nd century BCE), there is a mention of the Mauryan Period (3rd Century BCE) when workshops were established for the production of designer textiles. Harsha-charitram (7th century CE) mentions a cloth of Indra yudharambara meaning rainbow which is also referred to in the Kadambari of Bana. Bana records that Harsha’s robes were ornamented with wonderful designs and rows of flamingoes. India’s textile history has been layered and enriched by subtle nuances of religious beliefs from – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. Subsequently, Western influences were also integrated into Indian weaving skills such that they became a part of the local/ethnic design vocabulary.

In parts of the ancient world, Indian textiles were proverbial, and as early as 200BCE, Roman ships docked at ports on the south-west coast of India to pick up Indian fabrics from which their coveted togas were fashioned.

It was from the 12th century onwards that Islamic influences prevailed in the patterns and textures. An infinite variety of tones, colours and hues formed a vibrant and new colour palette. A new aesthetic sensitivity was born, and delicacy in tonal expression transformed Indian textiles into world class fabrics.

As with metalwork, Sassanian influence can be clearly seen in textiles also. A fine example of mid-10th century silk textile from St. Josse-sur-Mer has distinctly Sassanian characteristics. The degree of finesse of Seljuk textiles has never been surpassed, but the impact of the design is not as great as their Sassanian prototypes. By the 11th century, the new style of the Seljuks had firmly established itself. Another centre of the Persian textile industry known to have been producing textiles in the 12th century was Saghdia. Silks, with pairs of facing stylized birds and animals, are known to have been made there. The transition from one style to another can clearly be seen in a collection of silks found at Ravy. The change is distinct but subtle. During the 14th and 15th centuries, a new style developed with the old orderly pattern being discarded in favour of a scrolling design. The same style is also found in Egypt and Mesopotamia and has a distinct Chinese influence. It is difficult to ascribe with certainty any surviving textiles of this kind to Persia, although the motifs are also seen on ceramics and manuscripts. Textiles of this type had a great influence on the early European fabrics, especially Italian.

India is traditionally recognized as the homeland of a myriad arts, crafts, and textiles. The magical, nimble fingers of her innumerable artists, craftsmen, and master-craftsmen have given birth to breathtaking designs, motifs, and textures. Though some of these arts and crafts are centuries old, even today they retain their original charm and grace and continue to draw and hold the attention of genuine art lovers and connoisseurs.

In the Buddhist Jatakas, mention is often made of Benaras cloth. According to a legend, when the Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana, in c.646 BCE, his mortal remains were wrapped in Benares fabrics radiating dazzling rays of yellow, red, and blue. Ancient Sanskrit texts speak of four kinds of textiles from different fibres; flax, jute and hemp from bark fibres; cotton from seed fibres; silk from cocoon fibres and wool from animal hair fibres. Without doubt cotton and silk were the pre-eminent fabrics of the subcontinent, surpassing even the fine woollens for which areas like Kashmir were renowned.

The Mughal emperor Akbar once asked his courtiers which was the most beautiful flower. Some said the rose, from whose petals was distilled the precious attar; others, the lotus, glory of every Indian village. But Birbal said, The cotton boll. There was scornful laughter, and Akbar sought clarification. Unfazed, Birbal exclaimed, Your Majesty, from the cotton boll comes the fine fabric prized by merchants across the seas that has made your empire famous throughout the world. The perfume of your fame far exceeds the scent of roses or jasmine. That is why I say the cotton boll is the most beautiful flower.

It is believed that the first — and, for many years, exclusive — use of cotton, the natural fibre found around the seed of the cotton plant, was confined to India during the period of the Indus Valley civilisation, around the 3rd millennium BC. Called karpasa in Sanskrit, this shrub flourished on heat and moisture and was to be the prime material of the Indian artisan. In fact, wrote Pupul Jayakar, It was in cotton that the genius of the Indian weaver, printer and embroiderer was to find its richest and boldest expression. Harvested cotton was left in the sun for a few days to make it easier to separate the floss from the seed. It was then ginned and cleaned and carded before being hand spun into yarn. Some baked clay tools, spindles among them, have been found at Lothal, another Indus valley site, testifying to the antiquity of the tradition. Indian agriculturists and craftsmen thus have thousands of years of experience in cultivating, handling and processing the cotton plant.

It is a little more difficult to date silk, kauseya in Sanskrit. Sericulture was a Chinese art centred around the mulberry worm, and a closely-guarded secret; an old name for silk was chinansukh after the country of its origin. However, silk was also native to eastern India and came from three indigenous sources, the so-called wild skills of tussar, eri and muga. The finest of the wild