India's recorded history of clothing goes back to the fifth millennium BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation where cotton was spun, woven and dyed. Bone needles and wooden spindles have been unearthed in excavations at the site.[2] The cotton industry in ancient India was well developed, and several of the methods survive until today. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian described Indian cotton as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep".[3] Indian cotton clothing was well adapted to the dry, hot summers of the subcontinent. The grand epic Mahabharata, composed in about 400 BC, tells of the god Krishna staving off Draupadi's disrobing by bestowing an unending cheera upon her.[4][better source needed] Most of the present knowledge of ancient Indian clothing comes from rock sculptures and paintings in cave monuments such as Ellora. These images show dancers and goddesses wearing what appears to be a dhoti wrap, a predecessor to the modern sari. The upper castes dressed in fine muslin and wore gold ornaments[5] The Indus civilisation also knew the process of silk production. An analysis of Harappan silk fibres in beads has shown that silk was made by the process of reeling, a process allegedly known only to China until the early centuries AD.[6] Kimkhwab is an Indian brocade woven of silk and gold or silver thread. The word kimkhwāb, derived from the Persian, means "a little dream", Kimkhwāb, known in India from ancient times, was called hiraṇya, or cloth of gold, in Vedic literature (c. 1500 BC). In the Gupta period (4th–6th century AD) it was known as puṣpapaṭa a, or cloth with woven flowers. During the Mughal period (1556–1707), when kimkhwāb was extremely popular with the rich, the great centres of brocade weaving were Benares (Vārānasi), Ahmādābād, Surat, and Aurangābād. Benares is now the most important centre of kimkhwāb production.[7] When Alexander invaded Gandhara in 327 BC, block-printed textiles from India were noticed.[8][9][10]
According to the Greek historian Arrian:[11]
"The Indians use linen clothing, as says Nearchus, made from the flax taken from the trees, about which I have already spoken. And this flax is either whiter in colour than any other flax, or the people being black make the flax appear whiter. They have a linen frock reaching down halfway between the knee and the ankle, and a garment which is partly thrown round the shoulders and partly rolled round the head. The Indians who are very well-off wear earrings of ivory; for they do not all wear them. Nearchus says that the Indians dye their beards various colours; some that they may appear white as the whitest, others dark blue; others have them red, others purple, and others green. Those who are of any rank have umbrellas held over them in the summer. They wear shoes of white leather, elaborately worked, and the soles of their shoes are many-coloured and raised high, in order that they may appear taller."
Evidence from the first century AD shows the Buddhas were portrayed as wearing saṃghāti that forms a part of the Kasaya of Buddhist monks.[12] During the Maurya and Gupta period, the people wore both stitched and non-stitched clothing. The main items of clothing were the Antariya made of white cotton or muslin, tied to the waist by a sash called Kayabandh and a scarf called the Uttariya used to drape the top half of the body.
New trade routes, both overland and overseas, created a cultural exchange with Central Asia and Europe. Romans bought indigo for dyeing and cotton cloth as articles of clothing. Trade with China via the Silk Road introduced silk textiles using domesticated silkworms. Chanakya's treatise on public administration, the Arthashastra written around the third century BC, briefly describes the norms followed in silk weaving.[13]
A variety of weaving techniques were employed in ancient India, many of which survive to the present day. Silk and cotton were woven into various designs and motifs, each region developing its distinct style and technique. Famous among these weaving styles were the Jamdani, Kasika vastra of Varanasi, butidar, and the Ilkal saree.[citation needed] Brocades of silk were woven with gold and silver threads. The Mughals played a vital role in the enhancement of the art, and the paisley and Latifa Buti are examples of Mughal influence.[citation needed]
Dyeing of clothes in ancient India was practised as an art form. Five primary colours (Suddha-varnas) were identified and complex colours (Misra – varnas) were categorised by their many hues. Sensitivity was shown to the most subtlest of shades; the ancient treatise, Vishnudharmottara states five tones of white, namely Ivory, Jasmine, August moon, August clouds after the rain and the conch shell.[14] The commonly used dyes were indigo(Nila), madder red and safflower.[15][a] The technique of mordant dyeing was prevalent in India since the second millennium BC.[16] Resist dyeing and Kalamkari techniques were hugely popular and such textiles were the chief exports.
Integral to the history of Indian clothing is the Kashmiri shawl. Kashmiri shawl varieties include the Shahtoosh, popularly known as the 'ring shawl' and the pashmina wool shawls, historically called pashm. Textiles of wool find mention as long back as the Vedic times in association with Kashmir; the Rig Veda refers to the Valley of Sindh as being abundant in sheep,[citation needed][b] and the god Pushan has been addressed as the 'weaver of garments',[17] which evolved into the term pashm for the wool of the area. Woolen shawls have been mentioned in Afghan texts of the third century BC, but reference to the Kashmir work is done in the 16th century AD. The sultan of Kashmir, Zain-ul-Abidin is generally credited with the founding of the industry.[18] A story says that the Roman emperor Aurelian received a purple pallium from a Persian king, made of Asian wool of the finest quality.[citation needed] The shawls were dyed red or purple, red dye procured from cochineal insects and purple obtained by a mixture of red and blue from indigo[19] The most prized Kashmiri shawls were the Jamavar and the Kanika Jamavar, woven using weaving spools with coloured thread called kani and a single shawl taking more than a year for completion and requiring 100 to 1500 kanis depending on the degree of elaboration.[17]
Indian textiles were traded from ancient times with China, Southeast Asia, and the Roman Empire. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions mallow cloth, muslins and coarse cottons.[20][c] Port towns like Masulipatnam and Barygaza won fame for its production of muslins and fine cloth. Trade with the Arabs who were middlemen in the spice trade between India and Europe brought Indian textiles into Europe, where it was favored by royalty in the 17th–18th century.[21] The Dutch, French and British East India Companies competed for monopoly of the spice trade in the Indian Ocean but were posed with the problem of payment for spices, which was in gold or silver. To counter this problem, bullion was sent to India to trade for the textiles, a major portion of which were subsequently traded for spices in other trade posts, which then were traded along with the remaining textiles in London. Printed Indian calicos, chintz, muslins and patterned silk flooded the British market and in time the designs were copied onto imitation prints by textile manufacturers in Britain, reducing the dependence on India.[22]
Opposition to British rule in India, in particular the 1905 partition of Bengal, sparked the nationwide Swadeshi movement. One of the integral aims of the movement was to attain self-sufficiency, and to promote Indian goods while boycotting British goods in the market.[23] This was idealised in the production of Khadi. Khadi and its products were encouraged by the nationalist leaders over British goods, while also being seen as a means to empower the rural artisans.[24]
Female clothing
[edit]In India, women's clothing varies widely and is closely associated with the local culture, religion and climate.
Traditional Indian clothing for women across the country in Indian includes saris worn with choli tops; a skirt called a lehenga or chaniya worn with choli and a dupatta scarf to create an ensemble called a ghagra choli; while many south Indian children traditionally wear Langa voni.[citation needed]. Across India, saris are traditionally worn by married women although in areas such as Rajasthan and Gujarat, for example, the chaniya choli (as it is called there) is worn by all ages. In many rural parts of India, traditional clothing is still worn today due to ease of materials, comfort and accessibility. Jewellery is hugely significant for Indian men and women. Men traditionally wear rings with stones or necklaces, and for women, there is an assortment of jewellery that includes maang-tikka, earrings, nose rings, necklaces, bangles, waist chains, anklets and toe-rings - these all form part of the traditional Solah Shringaar for married Hindu women. A Hindu religious mark called a tilak is usually applied with sandalwood or vermillion between the eyebrows - and as such the modern iteration of the tilak known as a bindi is also worn.[citation needed] Indo-Western clothing is the fusion of Western and Subcontinental fashion. Other clothing includes the churidar, gamucha, kurti and kurta, dhoti, lungi and sherwani.
The traditional style of clothing in India varies with male or female distinctions. This is still followed in rural areas, though is changing in the urban areas.
