Tradition · figured muslin weaving
Jamdani
Also known as Jāmdānī, Dhakai, Dhakai Jamdani, figured muslin
Jamdani is the figured muslin of the Dhaka region, now woven chiefly at Rupshi in Narayanganj on the Shitalakshya, in which each motif is inserted by hand with fine bamboo sticks as a supplementary weft, following a pattern drawn on graph paper beneath the warp. Once called simply Dhakai, it took its Persian name under the Mughals, whose imperial warrants patronised it. It declined under British rule against imported cloth and was inscribed by UNESCO as intangible heritage in 2013.
- Function
- Trade & production
- Material
- cotton, with gold and silver thread
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Worth knowing
The jamdani sari was the first Bangladeshi product to receive geographical indication status, in 2016. A piece was recorded at 56 livres in 1776.
Connections (3)
- Historical linkDhaka muslin
Jamdani belongs to the Dhaka muslin tradition: a handloom cotton historically called muslin and counted among its finest varieties, distinguished by motifs woven in as a supplementary weft. Originally known simply as Dhakai, after the city, it came to be called by the Persian name jamdani under the Mughals, most likely in the reign of Akbar or Jahangir. Both cloths declined under British rule against imported yarn and textiles, and both have been the object of modern revival.
- Craft tradition ofDhaka
Jamdani's popular name, Dhakai Jamdani, comes from Dhaka, one of the old weaving centres of Bengal, where the earliest mention of the fabric and its industry is found. Production today centres on Rupshi in Narayanganj district on the Shitalakshya, and a Jamdani Palli has been set up near Dhaka to connect weavers directly with buyers. Wikipedia's Dhaka article lists the jamdani sari, with the city's New Year parade and its rickshaw art, among its UNESCO-recognised heritage.
- Historical linkCalico and the Indian cotton trade
Jamdani's decline belongs to the wider story of the Indian cotton trade. From the middle of the nineteenth century the industry withered as cheaper yarn arrived from Europe and Bengal's jamdani and muslin could not compete with textiles manufactured in Britain, while the fall of Mughal power removed its greatest patrons. Villages once famous for it, such as Madhurapur and Jangalbari in Kishoreganj, faded into oblivion, reversing the centuries in which Bengal's fine cottons had clothed distant markets.
Sources
Wikipedia, "Jamdani". John Forbes Watson, Textile Manufactures and Costumes of the People of India, as cited there.
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