Textiles of India in Antiquity
Older than the elaboration of ceramics in the production of utilitarian objects is the activity of textile production. The primitive man intertwined fibers; Even in their rigid state with what I made of baskets, there were also pieces of animal skins together with what they prepared rudimentary clothing using needles made with pointed bones of animals in the period of the Paleolithic.
At the end of the stone age, accessories were already produced using a kind of loom, very primitive of course. Horizontally placing the branch of a tree to which the plot of the fibers tensioned with stones fastened in one of its extreme tips was held, it was tensioning and intertwining even making the textile. Already in the Neolithic man had at his disposal more accessible; plants and animals that his new sedentary state provided him and with which he obtained the raw material for the elaboration of textiles. New tools facilitate the realization of more efficient and complex looms.
It is known from textiles in ancient India Especially dare of references made in the literature and clothing of the figures in the sculptures. In Mohenjo-Daro in the Indo Valley around 3000 BC there was a cotton textile industry and they last fragments and impressions of tissue footprints that appeared in archaeological excavations that demonstrate it and that correspond to this period and later times. Unfortunately the humid climate in the times of Monzones contributed to the deterioration of the tissues that made with organic materials suffered the decomposition and alteration of their primary characteristics and therefore its destruction.
In writings left by the Greeks that correspond to the time of the military bells of Alexander the Great, the tissues made, adorned with fine flowers and embroidered bats using gold filaments that had been seen in India are mentioned. They are also mentioned in these and subsequent writings about the fibers collected from plants; specifically the cotton that was already wove in India around 1750 AC
In an administration manual, the arthasastra that apparently dates from the third century AC, ordinances are mentioned to distribute materials to spinning and weavers. At that time almost none of the occupations was open to women. In fact, women who had decided not to marry had access to jobs occupations. However, they were allowed to weave. Widows and retired prostitutes could exercise this trade. In the Arthasastra document, which were the penalties for fraudulent practices and also the list of taxes to be paid for the weavers were written.
Among the aforementioned textiles were the white cortex fabric of Bengal, the linen of the Banaras area, cotton from South India, and various types of blankets, whose texture were described as (soft and slippery).
In ancient India there was differentiation between the tissues made in the rural areas for the humble masses and those carried out in state workshops for royalty and the wealthy people. The best quality in the termination of these fabrics was found in the ritual curtain for temples. Some written references of the medieval era (900-1200 BC) survive where terms that were used referred to the elaboration of textiles, names of fabrics alluding to the places where the details about the tissue technique were scarce are mentioned.
In the Muslim period in India that extended from around 1200 AD to 1760; In which the British assumed control, a succession of sultans who controlled most of India for a long period, led to the introduction of eastern styles and techniques in the textile industry that raised the quality and price of the textiles produced in this period becoming of great quality and much demand. During the period of Government of Akbar the art of textile in India reached very high levels of quality, variety and exquisite beauty and flourished in this form until the end of the 17th century.
The tissues produced with Persian influence, specifically the Sasanid styles were sumptuous and elegant and were characterized by the decoration of the drawings arranged in rows, to the three -bolt or included in designs with circular medallions with symmetrical motifs arranged around the tree of life. Fantastic animals, mixed with elements of the culture of India represented with a lot of color and level of detail in the drawings of these fabrics had a striking beauty and coveted by merchants who saw in these textiles an immense opportunity of enrichment. Such is the case of English merchants.
The Eastern Indies Company around 1600 sent their ships to India with gold linges to exchange for fine cotton textiles. The English decided that for the quality of the textiles produced in India they would settle there to establish commercial stations known as “factories.” Dyed silk scarves from Bengal, sold in thousands as cloths to use in the neck by sailors, agricultural workers and other workers. There are many Indian words still in use in the English language that come from this period of mass marketing in the textile sector of India.
The wealthiest sectors as rich merchants and high personalities; attracted by colorful fabrics with great quality drawings and designs they longed to possess the most expensive fabrics. They were made of golden filaments in some cases or registration of golden tissues in others, tissues from India reached great renown and demand and possessing them was a symbol of great status and purchasing power. Ancient textiles are still preserved in which it is observed that the space dedicated to the decoration and representation of the design occupies practically all the available space and nevertheless to this apparent groceries the images are placed in perfect harmony in relation to the set and in the interrelation between them; so that they do not interfere with the message that you want to express or the story of the story; Although the same as in the case of India painting, it was better understood by the connoisseurs of the legends and traditions of this nation.
India became the greater textile exporter That the world had known, printed silk cloths, cotton and cotton and silk mixtures, scarves, neck scarves and table napkins were sent by thousands to England.