Indian Traditional Textiles-Chanderi textiles

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    The Chanderi Handspun Cotton Muslin

    The Handspun Cotton yarn spinned by the community called Katiyas were upto 200 to 300 counts .Thefabrics were completely plain, had a very narrow border of complementary-zari warp and for the saris in addition

    TSto these borders the end pieces contained a few narrow zari bands, or one single wider band (ILL-1,2).Chanderi was also well known for weaving an extremely fine zari patti or zari band as selvedge , known as the

    SIPiping Kinar .(ILL-3)

    The sizing medium for the fine count cotton in Chanderi was prepared from a special root collected fromnearby forests, called the Kolikanda. It remained light and giving it strength as well as a round polish finish.

    s s SI

    SIThe sizing brush was dipped in coconut oil which gave it greater suppleness .

    The fabrics,saris were woven in Throw shuttle pit looms.Both the Golden borders and the Cotton body

    were woven by using the time consuming three shuttle Naal pherna technique (two shuttles for both the goldenSI

    borders and one shuttle for the cotton body) which required two weavers at a time . The saris woven with thisCN

    three shuttle weave were called Nalferwan saris . Even today in the classic Chanderi sari layout, the end piece consisted of the border elementsrepeatedtwice (as two parallel bands) often with narrow woven lines and many buttis woven in between them. Butti would

    TSalso appear in the field .

    Colour

    The Chanderi saris which were woven in the natural white cotton, and were then washed in saffron to givethem their charecteristic golden hue and fragrance. Interestingly the colour was introduced to Chanderi in

    SInineteen fifties only .

    SIThe motives were picked by hand until the Benarasi jala buti technique was introdused innineteen fourties .

    CNOne famous Chanderi Charecteristic buti is Ashrafi(means gold coin) .Kalgi is another typical Chanderi Motifthat runs along the edge of the border.Churi, Bundi, Keri, Phul-patti, Phul-Butta, Akhrot, Paan, Eeth, Suraj Buti,

    CNMeena Buti, Kirkita, Rui Phul kinar, Kalgi, Ghoongra, Khajura were some other motives used in Chanderi Saris .

    TSManyof the patterns like creeping vines, various buttis, jaldhar and meenakari were influenced by Banaras .

    Buti decoration

    I, K.Ramachandran, A Textile Designer of Weavers Service Centres, involved in a small research to collect the so farauthentic informations regarding the Chanderi Sari and Fabric. I collected facts and informations from the fewsources available to me and cross- verified them within these sources and presenting here the facts, which I felt nearto authenticity.

    Originally the Chanderi fabrics were the lightest Muslins woven in fine handspun Cotton yarn. The import ofTSmill spun 120 to 200 count Manchester yarn via Culcutta in the late 18th and the early 19th Century , wiped out

    this local strain of Chanderi Cotton. I concentrated only in this Cotton Muslin weaving, Which flourished inChanderi, till Silk was introduced in 1930s.

    Handspun

    cottonyarn

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    ct 13thenury

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    Millspuncottonyarn

    Silkyarn

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    No clear evidence is available at which period, from plain weaving the buti weaving started, to Decorate the

    fabric or the sari. According to The Saris of India ,Madhya pradesh The butis in the body of the sari wereintroduced only in the early 20th century, at first in the Odhinis or veils, means earliar to that there was no butiweaving or only the end piece had butis? At which period they started weaving the butis? In the Handspun periodor in the brief millspun cotton warp and weft period or after the silk was introduced in the warp?

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    authors note

    Chanderi Sari and fabric

    Indian Traditional Textiles

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    In the biginning, weavers were mostly muslims. In 1350, Koshti weavers from Jhansimigrated to Chanderi and settled down there. The antiquity and importance of Chanderi as aweaving centre is clearly established by the presence there, in the 17th century, of an imperialMughal Kharkhana.In 1677 however, the emperor Aurangzeb apparently ordered its closure. The Bundela Rajputrulers(1605-1818) patronised and encouraged the weaving of textile fabrics in Chanderi.

    The Chanderi kharkhana supplied high quality fabrics to the Mughal court .

    In nineteenth century Diaphanous cotton safas(turbans) and saris,edged with golden bordersand end pieces were woven mostly for the courts of central and western India such as thoseGwalior,Indore, Baroda and Nagpur, a tradition that persisted until the desolution of the princelystates.

    CNHistory of Chanderi weaving

    CNThe declain

    Over the years Chanderi saris have undergone many changes.The handspun yarn, whichgave the fabric its gossamer quality, has been replaced by imported silk in the warp and by millmade cotton thread or unboiled silk in the weft. In 1920s The British imported cheaper 120 to 200count cotton mill made yarn from Manchester via Calcutta,which greatly eroded the market forthe original handspuned cotton Chanderi fabric. It is said that around 1930 Japanese silk came toChanderi via Calcutta and was introduced in to the warp, while cotton was retained in the weft ofthe Chanderi sari. Since the single silk warp yarn is not degummed the threads tend to crack andbreak, if the fabric is kept in a folded condition for a long time.These substitutions have led todeterioration in the quality of the Chanderi sari.

    Sources

    SI ----- Saris of India,Madhyapradhesh,Wiley Eastern Ltd. & Amr Vastra KoshTS -----The Sari, Lynda Lynton, -------Thames And HudsonCN ---- www.chanderi.net.in -------- MP state government website

    Rita Kapur Chishti & Amba Sanyal,

    Chanderis history starts from the 11th century.Chanderi is mentioned by the Persian scolar Alberuni in 1030. Ghias ud din Balban captured the city in 1251for Nasir ud din Mahmud, Sultan of Delhi.Sultan Mahmud I Khilgi of Malwa captured the city in 1438 after a siege of several months.In 1520 rana sanga of mewar captured the city, and gave it to Medin rai, a rebellious minister of Sultan Mahmud II of Malwa.The Mughal Emperor Babur captured the city from Medini Rai, and in 1540 it was captured by Sher Shah Suri, and added to the governorship of Sujaat Khan.The Mughal Emperor Akbar made the city a sankar in the subah of Malwa.The Bundela Rajputs captured the city in 1586 and it was held by Ram Sab, a son of Raja Madhukar of Orchha.In 1680 Devi Singh Bundela was made Governor of the city, and Chanderi remained in the hands of his family untill it was annexed in 1811 by JeanBaptiste Filose for the Maratha ruler Daulat Rao Sindia of Gwalior. The city was transferredto the Brittish in 1844. The british lost control of the cityduring the Revolt of 1857, and the city was transferred back to the Sindhias of Gwalior in 1861, and became part of Isagarh District of Gwalior state.After Indias Independence in 1947, Gwalior became part of Madhya Bharat, which was merged into Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1956.

    CNHistory of Chanderi

    this miniature painting showsthe fineness and transparencyof the muslin fabric

    Emperor Jahangir

    Diaphanous cotton safas(turbans)Maharaja Yashwant Rao Holkar

    Fine Muslin Costume

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    Hands

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