When we think of pashmina, the first and foremost thing that naturally comes into our mind is luxurious Kashmiri pashmina shawls—quite a no-brainer response! Today, these pashmina shawls stand as the quintessential piece of clothing in myriads of couture across the world. Over time, the association of pashmina shawls with heaven on earth, Kashmir has been ingrained in our minds to such an extent that now it lingers deep within our subconscious. It was a reflex action in terms of a response, which we do not even question. But why do we need to question it? Let us delve deeper.
What is Pashmina?
The word ‘pashmina’ is derived from the Persian word pashm, which means wool (Ryder: 1987). It refers to a fine undercoat of a unique breed of Himalayan goat (Capra hircus), which are particularly herded and raised in the bone-chilling region of Changthang in Eastern Ladakh, where temperatures can go as low as -30 degrees centigrade. The goats are locally known as ‘Changra,’ getting their name from the place itself, Changthang (northern plateau), a vast region stretching from Ladakh in the west, across central and northern Tibet, to the Chinese province of Qinghai in the east (Goldstein and Beall, 1990). Every spring, these goats shed about 3-8 ounces of wool. They are being reared by the Changpas, a nomadic pastoralist community who primarily live at altitudes ranging from 4,500 to 5,500 meters above sea level in Eastern Ladakh.
Pashmina Shawls: Synonymous with Royalty
For centuries, Pashmina shawls have been popularized as extremely luxurious products primarily because of their opulence, sophistication, and softness. The royal legacy of pashmina shawls has endowed it with a title called gold fiber, which is richly illustrated through remarkable instances such as the Hebers, Moravian missionary doctors in Leh (1912–24), who articulated that when Mirza Haidar visited Ladakh in the 1540s, the Ladakhi king gifted him homespun pashmina. Impressed by its quality, he promoted wool imports into Kashmir. (Heber and Heber 1978: 122). Emperor Akbar also adored the “do-shalla” pattern, featuring matching pairs often gifted or worn together, which were uniquely reversible in nature. The pashmina shawls were also presented as robes of honor in the khilat ceremony. Additionally, there was such an overwhelming craze for Kashmiri pashmina shawls globally that under the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar, Dogra ruler Gulab Singh was obligated to gift three pashmina shawls annually to the British government—showing the popularity of Kashmiri shawls and their association with royalty. In the West too, Pashmina shawls adorned the court of Roman Emperor Caesar, and later the French King Napoleon gifted sophisticated pashmina shawls to his beloved wife, Empress Josephine.
Pashmina: Kashmiri or Ladakhi?
The above examples successfully extol the rich legacy of pashmina shawls, oops! Kashmiri pashmina shawls. But the point that we need to underscore here is that how come a pashmina, originating from the Ladakh region, became renowned as “Kashmiri”? This is because although raw material such as the wool is native to Ladakh, the major manufacturing or the production process of pashmina shawls has been practiced by the skilled artisans of Kashmir. After the treaty of Tingmosgang, which concluded the Tibeto-Ladakhi-Mughal war, Ladakh successfully managed to acquire a monopoly over pashmina trade in 1684. (Ahmed: 2004). Being sandwiched between western Tibet and Kashmir, Ladakh acted as a mediator in providing the superior quality pashm from western Tibet used for facilitating the shawl-producing karkhanas of Kashmir. This age-old trade exchange continued until the Chinese army invaded Tibet in 1959. Owing to this, the shawl-making industry of Kashmir shifted its focus towards Eastern Ladakh as another viable option from which it can procure its raw materials that go into the production of Pashmina shawls.
Origin and Evolution of Shawl-making
The practice of weaving Pashmina shawls is so old that its origin cannot be stated with certainty. As earlier discussed, this fiber has always been the choice of royalty from the ancient to the medieval period. The story of pashmina in Kashmir started with the reign of Sultan Qutubuddin (r. 1373-89), who initiated the practice of providing royal patronage to Islam in Kashmir. During his rule, the Kubrawi Sufi saint Sayyid Ali Hamdani ventured into the valley from Hamdan in Persia. It is considered that he, along with 700 artisans or craftsmen, took refuge in the valley to protect themselves from Timur’s persecutions. According to popular belief, Hamdani found the pashm wool from changthangi goats extremely soft, so much so that he gifted a pair of socks to Sultan Qutubbdin. The emperor was so mesmerized with its softness and comfort that he decided to patronize the establishment of the shawl-making industry in the valley.
Later, the Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin (r. 1420-70) invited many artisans or weavers from Central Asia to Kashmir, who eventually played a pioneering role in the development of the craft, spearheading the production of pashmina shawls. As earlier discussed, pashmina-making karkhanas thrived extensively during the Mughal rule (1526-1857), so much so that Great Mughal ruler Akbar coined a unique name for pashmina, i.e., Paremnarm (extremely soft). After the demise of Mughal rule, it caught the attention of Britishers who couldn’t remain untouched by its sheer softness and elegance. They called pashmina cashmere because it is considered that Europeans first encountered this rich fiber not in Ladakh but in the heavenly valleys of Kashmir. Till today, Kashmir continues to be the epicentre of the manufacturing of Pashmina shawls in order to meet global consumer demand. While, in Ladakh small scale production of pashmina shawls is being carried out to meet the local demand.
The Process of Crafting
The production of pashmina is a work that demands both the things in excess, which are time and skill. Its production begins with the collection of pashm from the undercoat of the Changthangi goats who shed their winter coat during the spring. It is basically their body’s intelligence adapting to the natural environment, as through shedding their fur, they are making themselves ready to bear the growing heat of the coming summer season. This raw wool is known as “asli tus,” which is then combed, cleaned, spun, and woven by the craftsman. All these processes, including the weaving of wool, are done by hand because of its extremely delicate nature. Power looms are out of the option mainly because of the fact that mechanical vibrations emanating from them harm the delicate fibers. Thus, for the purpose of hand weaving, yarn is stretched, and then it is woven on a traditional handloom to manufacture a variety of products such as scarves, wraps, and shawls.
In today’s time, when every seller claims that their pashmina is one hundred percent authentic, there is a smart test that consumers can perform themselves, which is the ring test. If a pashmina scarf or shawl gets crossed through a ring, then that is considered an authentic piece. However, this test is not applicable in the case when pashmina shawls are heavily loaded with intricate embroidery. However, the most authentic ones are the shahtoosh shawls, which are known as the ring shawls for pretty much the same reason that is being discussed. Shahtoosh shawls, made of the throat hair of Tibetan antelope, are far more soft and very costly mainly because of their less availability and the laborious effort that went into their collection. To cater to all kinds of consumers, viscous Pashmina, which has a blend of artificial silk called viscous, is also being sold in the market. Owing to substandard quality, these viscous shawls do not give as much warmth as authentic ones do.
Designs and Ingenious Craftmanship
The highly embellished embroidery is usually done in Kashmir, as the pashmina shawls available in Ladakh have a plain, simple, and sophisticated look. Mostly, they have one base color and usually do not have highly elaborated motifs or symbols. The minimalism and simplicity in their look reflect their ultimate sophistication. The Ladakhi artisans loosely weave the pashmina shawls, creating a distinct variety of twill weaves such as pointed, herringbone, plain, and basket twill. Beside the minimalist sophistication, there is one pragmatic reason behind not performing embroidery on these shawls, especially the ones that are purely made of shahtoosh: the extreme soft and flimsy nature of the shawls that do not allow any heavy embroidery work to be done on their surface. Thus, it can be said that Ladakhi shawls are embodiments of royal elegance that might not even need elaborate designs or motifs to exude their beauty and sophistication.
Different kinds of minimalist patterns on Ladakhi pashmina shawls (Images Courtesy: gaatha)
Conclusion
It is quite noticeable that the Kashmiri pashmina industry has been catering to popular interests in the market. In this context, to protect the unique cultural identity of Kashmir, the GI tag was also given to Kashmir Pashmina in 2008. But what about Ladakh? This same question was there in the hearts of the Ladakhis. So, to address this, Ladakhi Pashmina also got a separate GI tag in 2019, giving it a unique and independent identity of Kashmir. This recognition was imperative as it officially acknowledges the authentic raw wool and unique production process undertaken by Ladakhi skilled artisans to make these royal pashmina shawls, preserving this unique localized cultural craft of Ladakh for the generations to come to cherish and take pride in.
References:
Ahmed, M. (2004). The Politics of Pashmina: The Changpas of Eastern Ladakh. Nomadic Peoples, 8(2), pp.89–106.
Craft Archive | Research on Indian Handicrafts & Handloom – Indian Craft online. (2018). Pashmina Weaving Leh – Archive & Research on Laddakh Handloom. [online] Available at: https://gaatha.org/Craft-of-India/research-leh-pashmina-shawls/.
Goldstein, M.C. and C.M. Beall 1990, Nomads of Western Tibet-The Survival of a Way of Life. London.
Ryder, M.L. 1987. Cashmere, Mohair and other Luxury Animal Fibres for the Breeder and Spinner. Southampton
Heber, A.R and K.M. Heber 1978 [1903]. In Ilimalayan Tibet and Ladakh. New Delhi.