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Textile Technology (तन्तुकार्यम्) (view source)
Revision as of 17:25, 23 April 2020
, 17:25, 23 April 2020Adding content with reference - needs editing
(20) Candolle, pp. 403-405. For the find of madder dyed cotton fibre in Mohenjodaro circa second millenium B.C. see Gulati, Turner, pp. 1,4,9; Watson, pp. 356-357, 359- 360, n.7, 363-364.<ref name=":0" />
(20) Candolle, pp. 403-405. For the find of madder dyed cotton fibre in Mohenjodaro circa second millenium B.C. see Gulati, Turner, pp. 1,4,9; Watson, pp. 356-357, 359- 360, n.7, 363-364.<ref name=":0" />
== Indian Predelictions in colour and levels attained in Dye Technology ==
By and large, pre-Islamic Indian predelictions in colour tended towards a sober palate (21).
(21) For further development of the argument see Varadarajan 1985, p.65; Varadarajan, 1984, p.234.
The range of colour in cotton dyeing was based on blue and black from Indigofera tinctoria, black from iron acetate or a ferrugenous earth from Kutch called Khayo, red from either Rubia cordifolia, Morinda citrifolia or Ventilago madraspatana, yellow from Curcuma longa (turmeric), Punica granatam (pomegranate rind) or Mangifera indica (mango bark extract). Different shades could be obtained by combining individual dyeing procedures. Tanning and mordanting were very important pre-dyeing operations for cotton (22).
(22) For the technology of cotton dyeing see Varadarajan, 1982, pp. 46-59, 75-89; Varadarajan, 1983, pp.43-65; Varadarajan 1991, pp. 210-213.
In Egypt mordanting in linen was practiced but the importance of tanning for fixing of the mordant was mastered in India (23).
(23) In Egypt textile dyeing is associated with the New Kingdom, B.C. 1570-1085. Funerary inscriptions indicate that red, blue and green were required by the gods and the deceased. However, with the exception of indigo, expertise in dye technology for linen was difficult to attain and dyes were very expensive. Upto the early 6th century A.D., therefore, clothing of the Egyptians in daily life tended to be monochrome. Carroll, p.32; Vogler, pp. 162- 163.
There is some variation in methods of dyeing and dyes used in the range of fibres such as silk and wool (24).
(24) For wool and silk dyeing see Muhammad Hadi, pp.35- 41,41-44.
In the case of silk, efficient degumming is essential for success in subsequent dyeing operations. Generally, the yarn rather than the woven fabric has been dyed.
Techniques of patterning achieved through variation in colour are associated with the practice of ikat, plangi, painting or block printing. Batik as practiced in Indonesia involving usage of cold dyes is alien to the Indian tradition. However, in Mundhra, Kutch, there is a tradition of resist dyeing in which the resist paste, minia, is made of a mixture of top soil of goats pens which includes goats droppings, gugul local incense resin, olibanum, Fuller’s earth and gum made into paste consistency which withstands hot dyeing. The colour palette comprised red, white and black. (Oral information: Shri Khodidas Parmar, Bhavnagar.) The earliest methods of dye patterning were accomplished by resisting through knotting of either the yarn as in ikat, or the finished product, as in plangi / bandhani, prior to processes of colouration. Fabrics could also be dye-patterned either by means of painting, or by stamping of mordant and resist with wooden blocks, the end product was called Kalamkari or Cit (25).
(25) A variation of block printing restricted to silk guaze was the clamp resist method practiced in Gujarat. See Buhler, and Fischer, pp.3-7.
Tie & dye may be practiced on wool, silk and cotton. In India painting and stamping has tended to predominate on cotton.<ref name=":0" />
== Indian Loom Technology ==
The loom has been defined by Dorothy Burnham as, “any device for weaving on which the warp may be arranged and openings for the passage of the weft formed through it by a shedding mechanism” (Hoffmann, p.7). The predominant loom in India has been the pitloom of the horizontal counter-balance treadle type (Fig.4,). Broadly speaking, on the basis of ethnological evidence, the evolution of the Indian loom could be postulated as follows: at the first stage the loom may have had shed sticks and heddles (Figs. 3a, 3b.). Next came the introduction of the reed (Fig.4), shaft, treadle and, perhaps, the barrell dobby (26) (Fig. 5.).
(26) Varadarajan and Patel, p.20. The reed not only maintains even spacing and tension but also serves to comb the warp ends in course of weaving.
The loin or body tension loom is used in the northeastern part of the country. It is a very early loom type used extensively in East and Southeast Asia in which the weaver regulates tension by moving backwards or forwards as required in course of weaving. This movement releases the warp threads and also facilitates the separation of the sheds (For details, see Shirali, pp. 83-87) (Figs. 6a-c).
The loom used for Patola {double ikat) weaving in Patan, Gujarat, receives support from above and the sides. It is bereft of a treadle mechanism. It is a single harness loom with provision for two sheds. Every alternative warp end is threaded through a half heddle. Thus the shedding arrangement is based upon the division of the warp ends into two units. The shed rod is used to form one shed and half heddles for the formation of the second. These groupings of odd and even ends interlace alternately in course of weaving. The weaving sword helps in extending each shed opening and is used for beating in the weft. The resultant weave is an even tabby {Figs. 7a-c,8).
Ornamentation on the loom can be achieved by introducing variations in color while maintaining a simple tabby weave {Fig.8). Similar effects can be achieved by using double cloth techniques in which warp ends are manipulated at two or more levels by relevant shafts and heddles. An example of this technique may be found in the khes (27) of Punjab {Figs.9a-b.).
(27) The item categorised as khes in Pakistan corresponds to the article in Fig. 9b. In India, however, there appears to have been two categories, khes and majnu. Khes is a rough quality off-white or checked handloom material used as wrapper in Punjab. According to Sri D.N. Vij, Panipat Textile Handicrafts, Panipat, majnu is a double cloth with a patterning as shown in Fig. 9h. The technique was ascribed by him to Multan.
Items similar in patterning and technique and dated between the 12th and 16th centuries in the Dumbarton Oaks, collection, U.S.A., have been assigned an Egyptian provenance. This corresponds to the period between the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties thus reinforcing a Near Eastern origin for the sub- category called majnu in India (Thompson, pp. 35-36; Lamm, p.60, plate XXA, B).
However, the double cloth technique also appears to have enjoyed an indigenous base. This is evidenced in the Deccani double coloured Pitambar sari, a silken ritual garment in which each side of the sari presents a completely different colour field (Fig. 10). However, the multiple cloths which evolved in the Near East have been absent in the Indian tradition.
One of the characteristics of the Indian loom has been the intensive use of shafts and treadles to achieve extra warp and weft patterning. For extra warp however, an ingenious device, the barrel dobby is much in evidence today. The dobby was patented in England but its roots may well lie in shaft and peddle devices used in extra warp ornamentation as in the Paithani loom, Maharashtra.
For narrow weaving as in borders, Pagris, and for cross borders, looms with multiple shafts have proved popular solutions (Figs.11a-c). For weaving of newar and patti, used in providing the base on bed frames and for winding around the calves of persons having to stand for long periods, variations of the fixed heddle and looms with shafts have been used (Fig 12.) Such looms are in operation to this day in Wadhwan, Gujarat. Tablet weaving (Fig.13) is used as a finishing technique for dhablas, used as shawls or as body garments in Gujarat. It also appears to have been utilised in the weaving of tapes (Fig. 14) used for tying bundles of manuscripts of a religious nature.
Fabrics can also be ornamented by the jamdani (Fig.l5a,b), slit, single and double interlock as also the dovetail tapestry techniques (Figs.l6a-d, 17a-b.). None of these methods of weaving involve usage of elaborate loom procedures. The investment is in terms of manual skill. Jamdani and tapestry both pre-date the introduction of the Islamic repertoire in weaves. In Jamdani, which falls under the category' of Supplementary weft inlaid, pattern ends are manually lifted with the pattern weft and ground weft positioned within the same shed (Fig. 15a-b). Major centres of Jamdani have been Dhaka, Tanda, Uppada and Paithan.
Slit tapestry, an early technique associated with Coptic tapestry, is found in the panja dari (Fig. 18); single and double interlock (Fig.16 b.c), occur in Kani Pashmina, to mention one example; the prime example of dovetail tapestry is the Kulu and Kinnaur body wrapper of Himachal Pradesh (Fig. 19.).
In South India where garments follow the mode of the ground fabric being fashioned in one colour with borders of another, the interlock is found at junctions where two opposing weft coloured picks are united. Since three separate shuttles are used in this category of weaving, this is also called the three shuttle technique (Fig.20).
The major differentiation between the North and South Indian schema in ornamentation is that in the former there is greater reliance on weft patterning whereas in the latter there has been a greater orientation to warp ornamentation. This is reflected in loom typology. The ability to experiment with weft structures is associated with the development of the reed which ensures a more even separation of ends and maintenance of tension. The reed number is related to the count of the yarn, and this in turn, conforms to the structure of the fabric. Its presence on the loom would also facilitate the working of loom attachments such as multiple shafts and harnesses.
The level at which major innovations to the loom begin to taper off is marked at the point when the harness attachment, associated with the drawloom, comes into existence. Functionally, the mechanism of the North, simplistically called the Banaras jala, and that of the South identified through the terms, jhungu and adai, are similar.
However, there is a wide disparity if these are viewed from the points of view of origin and chronology. The Banaras Jala is derived from the Persian drawloom which achieved its specific identity under the Seljuks, A.D. 1038-1194 (Wulff, p.l76; Varadarajan, 1991, pp. 208, 217, 4.5). This would place the Banaras jala well within the medieval period. The lineage of the adai and jhungu (Fig.21) on the other hand, can be traced to the Malay Kota Bahru and the Chinese Han dynasty derived Kuala Trengganu loom of Thailand (28).
(28) This problem has been discussed in greater depth in Varadarajan and Patel, pp.8-11.
In adai, the weaver manipulates the extra warp ends by pulling jhungu, tassels attached to these ends above the loom (Fig.22a.). For elaborate weft ornamentation a helper standing to the side of the loom operates the harness (Fig.22 b).<ref name=":0" />
== Conclusion ==
In the absence of archaeological evidence and written records pertaining to textile technology, any attempt to trace the evolution of this technology during the ancient period has to be based on ethnographic evidence and craft tradition. Methodological problems arise which can be traced to the implicit dichotomy between historical evidence for which an established time frame and chronology are of prime importance, and ethnological evidence which cuts through the barrier of time and finds its anchorage in cultural modes. However, there is an innate logic in the latter which facilitates identification of false presumptions, bringing inferences made in this sphere into line with hard historical evidence. It is this methodology which has been adopted in this review aimed at tracing textile technology of the ancient period in India.<ref name=":0" />
== References ==
== References ==
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