Jamdani Sarees

Jamdani is a fabric of fine cotton muslin of Bengali origin, with colored stripes and patterns. In the first half of the nineteenth century, James Taylor described the figured or flowered jamdani; in the late nineteenth century, T. N. Mukharji referred to this fabric as jamdani muslin. Whether figured or flowered, jamdani is a woven fabric in cotton, and it is undoubtedly one of the varieties of the finest muslin. It has been spoken of as the most artistic textile of the Bangladeshi weaver. Traditionally woven around Dhaka and created on the loom brocade, jamdani is fabulously rich in motifs.

The origin of the word jamdani is uncertain. One popular belief is that it came from the Persian words 'jama', which means cloth and 'dana', which means buti or diapering. Jamdani therefore could mean diapered cloth. It is probable that Muslims introduced jamdani weaving and the industry was their monopoly for long.

Though mostly used for saris, Jamdani is also used for scarves. Jamdani is believed to be a fusion of the ancient cloth-making techniques of Bengal (perhaps 2,000 years old) with the muslins produced by Bengali Muslims since the 14th century. Jamdani is the most expensive product of Dhaka looms since it requires the most lengthy and dedicated work.

Jamdani patterns are mostly of geometric, plant, and floral designs and are said to originate in Persian and Mughal fusion thousands of years ago. Due to the exquisite pain-staking methodology required, only aristocrats and royal families were able to afford such luxuries.

The main pecuiliarity of Jamdani work is the geometric design. The expert weavers do not need to draw the design on paper, but instead work from memory. Jamdanis have different names according to their design (for instance, panna hajar, dubli lala, butidar, tersa, jalar, duria, charkona & many others). Present-day Jamdani saris have on their ground designs of rose, Jasmine, lotus, bunches of bananans, bunches of ginger and sago. A Jamdani with small flowers diapered on the fabric is known as Butidar. If these flowers are arranged in reclined position it is called tersa jamdani. It is not necessary that these designs are made of flowers only. There can be designs with peacocks and leaves of creepers. If such designs cover the entire field of the sari it is called jalar naksha. If the field is covered with rows of flowers it is known as fulwar jamdani. Duria Jamdani has designs of spots all over. Belwari jamdani with colorful golden borders used to be made during the Mughal period, especially for the women of the inner court.

The early History: The earliest mention of the origin of Jamdani and its development as an industry is found in Kautilya's book of economics (about 300 AD) where it is stated that this fine cloth used to be made in Bengal and Pundra. Its mention is also found in the book of Periplus of the Eritrean Sea and in the accounts of Arab, Chinese and Italian travelers and traders. Four kinds of fine cloth used to be made in Bengal and Pundra in those days, viz khouma, dukul, pattrorna and karpasi. From various historical accounts, folklore and slokas, it may be assumed that very fine fabrics were available in Bengal as far back as the first decade before Christ. Cotton fabrics like dukul and muslin did not develop in a day. Dukul textile appears to have evolved into muslin. Jamdani designs and muslin developed simultaneously. The fine fabric that used to be made at Mosul in Iraq was called mosuli or mosulin In his 9th century book Sril Silat-ut-Tawarikh the Arab geographer Solaiman mentions the fine fabric produced in a state called Rumy, which according to many, is the old name of the territory now known as Bangladesh. In the 14th century, Ibn Batuta profusely praised the quality of cotton textiles of Sonargaon. Towards the end of the 16th century the English traveler Ralph Fitch and historian Abul Fazl also praised the muslin made at Sonargaon.

The accounts given by travelers to the Indian continent have however often given meticulous details about the people's dress. Thus if one is to go through the revealing descriptions from "Periplus of the Erhythreai Sea" and follow it by Megesthanes records of King Chandragupta's court and again read on in the travelogue of Chinese historian Hieun Tsiang in the 7th century A.D. moving on to Alberuni in the 11th century, one finds a continuity of the textiles produced and, perfected in different parts of the country through the ages. Abul Fazal's Ain-e-Akbari, is perhaps our most informative recent account of woven loom textiles developed under the Muslims and records by Abul Fazal in Ain-e-Akbari describe the intelligent patronage of Emperor Akbar. The delicate muslins of ancient Dhaka were used for both male and female attaire in the Moghul court and the province of Bengal flourished both in commercial trade and agriculture at this time. In 1628 we find the writings of Italian traveller Manrique, which describes the patronage of the court of Emperor Shahajahan, and later Emperor Aurangzeb, who received annual tributes of these fine cloths from their governors in Bengal and which were so special as to cost ten times the price of any other cloths made for Eurpeans or others in the Empire.

We are further informed that Muslim merchants in 1887 protested against the monopoly of the East India Company's hold on weaver's throughout East Bengal (48, 000 persons), which was done by issuing permits which prevented the weavers from taking on work from private traders. The entry of Muslim immigrant-travelers and traders proceeded the of Islam (11th century AD) to the subcontinent by at least a hundred years. Even though it was not till the early 1200s AD that Muslim conquerors settled in Bengal, contact with Arab traders, and Persian and Turkish religious mendicants had already taken place via the coastal ports in the Bay of Bengal and through the northern western land route.

Muslim rule which commenced in Bengal in 1268 with the reign of the Tughlaks, the area of western Bengal then called Lakhnauti, and in the eastern part called Bangalas was receptive to the message of Islam which spoke of social equality. By the time of the first independent Sultan Shams-uddin Ilyas Shah in 1342 an area considered to be a Sultanate was declared, although it did not constitute the entire region of Bengal as we know it after the British held their sway. The excellence of cotton mulmul or muslin produced on the Dhaka loom was raised to an art par excellence by Moghul patronage, and achieved a uniqueness which has remained unparelled among handloom cloth all over the world. When woven for royalty the muslin was called Mulmal Khas (king's special) and the viceroys who placed orders for the Emperor gave it poetic names such as Ab-e-rawan (running water), Shabnam (evening dew) and Sharbati (winelike). The pinnacle of perfection came in the evolution of a special weave with motifs 'embroidered' along the weft and this fabric was named 'jamdani' which became renowned as the figured or flowered muslins. Dhaka jamdani, more than any other woven craft, became synonymous with Muslim weaving skills. The origin of the word Jamdani has no substantiated etymological explanation, but it is a Indo-Persian word and in its strictest meaning describes 'jama' or clothing.

The Mughal Era: Without any shadow of doubt, it can be said that the jamdani industry of East Bengla reached its zenith during the Moghul era. The art of making jamdani designs on fine fabric reached its zenith during Mughal rule. There were handlooms in almost all villages of the Dhaka district. Dhaka, Sonargaon, Dhamrai, Titabari, Jangalbari and Bajitpur were famous for making superior quality jamdani and muslin. Traders from Europe, Iran, Armenia, as well as Mughal-Pathan traders used to deal in these fabrics. The Mughal Emperor, the Nawab of Bengal and other aristocrats used to engage agents at Dhaka to buy high quality muslin and jamdani for their masters' use. The golden age of Dhaka muslin began with Mughal rule. Since then the demand for jamdani and muslin fabrics at home and abroad grew and this prompted further improvement in their manufacture. According to 18th century documents of the East India Company, a high official of the company was posted at Dhaka to buy mulmul khas and sarkar-i-ali. He had the designation of Daroga-i-mulmul. Every weaving factory had an office, which maintained records of the best weavers and other exports. Weavers had no fixed salary. They used to be paid the market value of the jamdani or muslin they produced. It was the duty of the Daroga to keep a sharp eye at every stage of production. Mulmul khas worth about Re. 100,000 collected from Dhaka, Sonargaon and Jangalbari used to be sent to the Mughal court every year. According to a 1747 account of muslin export, fabrics worth Re 550,000 were bought for the Emperor of Delhi, the Nawab of Bengal and the famous trader Jagath Sheth. The same year European traders and companies bought muslin worth Re 950,000. Towards the end of the 18th century, the export of muslin suffered a decline. After the English gained Diwani in Bengal in 1765, Company agents resorted to oppressing the weavers for their own gains. They used to dictate prices. If weavers refused to sell their cloth at a lower price they were subjected to repression. To stop this repression the East India Company started buying the textiles directly from the weavers. According to James Wise, Dhaka muslin worth Re 5 million was exported to England in 1787. James Taylor put the figure at Re 3 million. In 1807, the export came down to Re 850,000 and the export completely stopped in 1817. Thereafter muslin used to go to Europe as personal imports.
Manufacturing technique: The fineness of muslin cloth used to depend usually on the art of making yarns. The most appropriate time for making yarns was early morning as the air then carried the highest moisture. For making yarns weavers needed taku, a bamboo basket, a shell and a stone cup. They used popcorn, rice or barley for starch. Before making jamdani designs they used to dye their yarn and starch it. For dye they used flowers and leaves of creepers. For quality jamdani they used yarn of 200 to 250 counts. These days weavers buy fine yarn from the market and use chemical dyes instead of herbal dyes. For making jamdani two weavers sit side by side at a loom to work on the delicate designs. Jamdani designs are made while the fabric is still on the loom. Coarse yarns are used for designs to make the motifs rise above the fabric. Originally, the motifs used to be made on gray fabric. Later on fabrics of other colours were also used. In the 1960s, jamdani work on red fabric became very popular. The Victoria and Albert Museum of London has a fine collection of jamdani with work in white on white fabric.

The base fabric for Jamdani is unbleached cotton yarn and the design is woven using bleached cotton yarns so that a light-and-dark effect is created. Alexander the Great in 327 B.C mentions “beautiful printed cottons” in India. It is believed that the erstwhile Roman emperors paid fabulous sums for the prized Indian cotton.

Design: The method of weaving resembles tapestry work in which small shuttles of coloured, gold or silver threads, are passed through the weft. The jamdani dexterously combines intricate surface designs with delicate floral sprays. When the surface is covered with superb diagonally striped floral sprays, the sari is called terchha. The pallow is often decorated with dangling, tassel like corner motifs, known as jhalar.

The most coveted design is known as the panna hazaar (literally: a thousand emeralds) in which the floral pattern is highlighted with flowers interlaced like jewels by means of gold and silver thread. The kalka (paisley), whose origin may be traced to the painted manuscripts of the Mughal period, has emerged as a highly popular pattern. Yet another popular pattern in jamdani is the phulwar, usually worked on pure black, blue black, grey or off-white background colours.

Colors: The traditional nilambari, dyed with indigo, or designs such as toradar (literally: a bunch or bouquet) preserved in weaving families over generations are now being reproduced. Other jamdani patterns are known as phulwar, usually worked on pure black, blue black, grey or off-white background colours.
Weave: For traditional jamdani weaving, a very elementary pit loom is used and the work is carried on by the weaver and his apprentice. The latter works under instruction for each pick, weaving his needle made from, buffalo horn or tamarind wood to embroider the floral sequence. With a remarkable deftness, the weft yarn is woven into the warp in the background colour from one weaver to the other. The butis (motifs) across the warp, the paar (border) and anchal (the portion that goes over and beyond the shoulder) are woven by using separate bobbins of yarn for each colour. The fine bobbins are made from tamarind wood or bamboo. After completion the cloth is washed and starched.

Varieties of jamdani work: The main peculiarity of jamdani work is the geometric design. The expert weavers do not need to draw the design on paper. They do it from their memory. Jamdanis have different names according to their design. For instance, panna hajar, dubli jal, butidar, tersa, jalar, duria, charkona, mayur pyanch, kalmilata, puilata, kachupata, katihar, kalka pad, angurlata, sandesh pad, prajapati pad, durba pad shaplaful, baghnali, juibuti, shal pad, chandra pad, chandrahar, hansa, jhumka, kauar thyanga pad chalta pad, inchi pad, bilai adakul naksha, kachupata pad, badghat pad, karlapad, gila pad, kalasful, murali jal, kachi pad, mihin pad, kankra pad, shamukbuti, prajapati buti, belpata pad, jabaful and badur pakhi pad. Present day jamdani saris have on their ground designs of rose, jasmine, lotus, bunch of bananas, bunch of ginger and sago. Efforts are underway to revive traditional jamdani designs. A jamdani with small flowers diapered on the fabric is known as butidar. If these flowers are arranged in reclined position it is called tersa jamdani. It is not necessary that these designs are made of flowers only. There can be designs with peacocks and leaves of creepers. If such designs cover the entire field of the sari it is called jalar naksha. If the field is covered with rows of flowers it is known as fulwar jamdani. Duria jamdani has designs of spots all over. Belwari jamdani with colourful golden borders used to be made during the Mughal period, especially for the women of the inner court.

Changes with time: We do not know exactly when jamdani came to be adorned with floral patterns of the loom. It is, however, certain that in the Mughal period, most likely during the reign of either Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) or Emperor Jahangir (1605-1627), the figured or flowered muslin came to be known as the jamdani. Forbes Watson in his most valuable work titled Textile Manufactures and Costumes of the people of India holds that the figured muslins, because of their complicated designs, were always condidered the most expensive productions of the Dhaka looms.

The designs and colors also changed with time. Originally, the motifs used to be made on gray fabric. Later on fabrics of other colours were also used. In the 1960s, jamdani work on red fabric became very popular. The Victoria and Albert Museum of London has a fine collection of jamdani with work in white on white fabric. The production methods have also changed. Previously, popcorn, rice or barley was used for starch. Before making jamdani, the designers used to dye their yarn and starch it. For dye they used flowers and leaves of creepers. For quality jamdani they used yarn of 200 to 250 counts. These days weavers buy fine yarn from the market and use chemical dyes instead of herbal dyes. Finally, time has also influenced the designs. Keeping up the modern demand, present day jamdani saris have on their ground designs of rose, jasmine, lotus, bunches of bananas, bunches of ginger and sago. Recently, there is a trend of embroidering Jamdanis or putting ‘’paars’’ on saris. However, many traditionalists are vehemently against this trend, claiming this is destroying a tradition.

The decline and Fall: From the middle of the 19th century, there was a gradual decline in the jamdani industry. A number of factors contributed to this decline. Use of machinery in the English textile industry, and the subsequent import of lower quality, but cheaper yarn from Europe, started the decline. Most importantly, the decline of Mughal power in India, deprived the producers of jamdani of their most influential patrons.

Ghanshyam Sarode

Ghanshyam Sarode is a textile designer with a difference and only designers who have chosen to work with handloom textiles. He creates contemporary fashion using intricate weaves, and allows his creations to be sold by boutiques with their tag. He is most established designer in India in terms of infrastructure and distribution; He holds the status of a revivalist in the Indian ethnic fashion industry. His designed sarees are well known to the personalities in India and abroad. He had four extremely successful exhibitions in USA. Sarode traveled all over the world on several occasions like textile fairs mainly to UK, Europe, Korea, Hong Kong, Dubai and East Asian countries.

Inspiring Fashion enthusiasts over a period of two decades; he has woven his way through an enriching experience of textiles and varied surface treatments. He travels extensively in his search for the skilled weavers and having worked with the artisans and weavers all over the country, he has unmatched knowledge of the traditional craft forms in weaving patterns. His stand apart quality lies in modifying these traditional crafts for the modern consumer yet preserving the richness of the craft and tradition.

His aesthetics lie in treating silhouettes with subtle fabrics, passionate colors and the richness created with zari. His creations include Pure Jari Uppada sarees,brocaded Paithani sarees, cotton Jamdani sarees ,finest kalamkaris , natural dyed fabrics and dupttas and exclusive Khadis sarees. Since 2003 Mrs.Gandhi using the white khadi sarees with interlock border with intricate Jamdani buties. These khadis are marketed by Govt. emporia -Central Cottages Industries, Janpath, New Delhi.

During the year 1988 he re-introduced an age old weaving technique called jamdani in a tiny village named Uppada in Andhra Pradesh and thus a new brand has been emerged as "Uppada Sarees" which took almost a decade of its soaring popularity. Today, his masterpieces are sold upto $10,000.

In traditional jamdani weaving, no mechanical aids had been used to create the pattern. Reproducing a jamdani proved exceptionally difficult because of the great distance of time that separated the weavers from the skill and intricacy of the purely hand-manipulated process. In the end, they took recourse to the sophisticated naqsha-jala mechanism used in for patterning silk. The density of the brocading is such that even with the assistance of this mechanical device. The warp and weft of this sari were vat-dyed in a deep blue that the closely approximated the natural indigo of the historic examples. The gold and silver zaris used for the jamdani patterns are distributed, as in the historic pieces, with great discrimination.
He is manufacturinging the most intricate weaves.

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UPPADA SAREES Pvt. Ltd

B-63, 1st Floor,
Durgabai Deshmukh Colony,
Shivam Cross Road,
Hyderabad - 500 007.

Tel : 040- 27425666
Mobile : 9440051735

Email: sarode1@gmail.com
Website: www.uppada.com

Director: Ghanshyan Sarode, Textile Designer