S is for ... Stunning ... n ... Sumptuous

 

All this month I am writing about sumptuous Indian handlooms, a quick but captivating dive into the saree specifically, a garment worn by Indians for five millennia. Come with me into the magnificent, complex and utterly fascinating world of fibre and yarn, of skills and techniques of dyeing and printing and embroidery, traditions unchanged for centuries. Of stunning finished fabrics that not only make a fashion statement, but also constitute our cultural heritage and political identity.

S is for Silk

Silk, like cotton, goes back a long way in India. The earliest Indian literature/text, the Rig Veda mentions 'Hiranya vastra,' or cloth of gold. Chanakya mentions silk and a silk weavers guild, also the importance of the silk trade, in his 3rd century BCE treatise on statecraft and strategy Arthashashtra. 

There are remnants of silk obtained from wild moths among the archeological artefacts found in Harappa, showing that the Indus Valley Civilisation was familiar with silk yarn, though it cannot be said with any certainty if they wove it into fabrics or not. The silks found in Harappa and Chanhudaro have been dated to 2450-2000 BCE, so silk was used in India at least four millennia ago. With the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation in 1400 BCE, the knowledge and usage of silk was lost. While many Western scholars are of the opinion that silk came back to India along the silk roads from China, some Indian historians feel the knowledge of sericulture  and silk weaving was revived in India itself, somewhere on the lower slopes of the Himalayas. 

Elephant motif on shot colour Kanchipuram silk saree.

Anyway, academic arguments aside, what we do know is that ancient Buddhist texts mention that when Prince Siddhartha renounced his princely life to become a monk, he removed his luxurious silken robes. Kashi (the older name for Varanasi/Benares) was known as a silk weaving hub according to Pali literature. And as per Jataka tales, the Kashi kingdom was famous for its fine cotton and silk weaving traditions. Therefore, Varanasi's silk weaving was thriving by Buddha's time - roughly 2500 years ago. Similarly,  evidence of silk weaving is available for Paithan in Maharashtra, part of the then Satavahana empire which lasted from 230 BCE to 220 CE.  Actual Indian silk fragments have been discovered in ancient Syrian graves. It is known that there was established silk trade with Rome with the Kushan Empire of the 1st century CE. So clearly India was exporting silks to the Middle East and West by then. So that's that - whatever may have been lost, it had been recovered as the Common Era started.  

Paithani silk with typical Narali borders and peacock pairs in

the aanchal. This was a gift from my cousin at her wedding.

Paithan is a very ancient silk weaving centre famous for these

colourful sarees with characteristic motifs and gold thread

work.

Silk hubs emerged in Ancient India around holy temple towns and capital cities, as silk was used to clothe the deities and royalty. Rich merchants also contributed to the growth of the silk industry by defraying the cost of expensive raw materials and financing the weavers. Varanasi, Malwa and Gujarat were the main centres. Silken fabrics have always been considered 'purer' and more auspicious than cottons, therefore suitable attire for any religious event. In Bengal for instance, a special red bordered undyed white/off-white silk saree called 'Garad' is worn for religious ceremonies like the Durga Puja even today.  

During medieval times, Indian silk production boomed under the Mughals. Akbar the Great (reigned 1556-1605) had a special interest in silks, he set up textile workshops in Lahore, Agra and Delhi and other cities, brought in artisans both from Persia and Gujarat to train local weavers. Akbar's son Jehangir continued his father's work and patronised the arts generally and textiles in particular. It was in his time that Bengal emerged as a major weaving centre and the already existing hubs were further strengthened.  Brocade and velvet weaving, paisleys, intricate floral motifs, delicate gold thread work and chikankari white on white shadow work are some of the techniques that developed as a result of this Persian influx and influence. The textile industry thrived. Read about the Mughal influence here. 

Bichitrapuri ikat silk from Odisha.

As of today, India is the second largest global producer (~ 40,000 MT annually) and exporter of silk after China (~150,000 MT annually). While China consumes about 50-60% of its silk domestically, in India the share of domestic consumption is much higher, pegged around 85%. India has a robust internal market for silk and it even imports a fairly large quantity of silk from China. Well, naturally. Silk is not just used in sarees, but also in dress material, made up garments and home furnishings including carpets. And even by the most conservative estimates, India has an upper middle class of around 45-50 million, greater than the entire population of say, Canada, Australia or Taiwan. Have a peek at India's sericulture statistics over here. 

India produces a variety of silks as shown in the chart below:

Image credit.

Mulberry silk has the largest share of silk production in India, as well as globally. This particular type of silk is obtained from the larvae of the cultivated silkworm species known as Bombyx mori and gives the most prized, shiniest silk. 

Woven paisleys on the aanchal of a handloom
Bishnupur silk from West Bengal.

The others make up less than a quarter of the production volume. These are from species found in the wild, they give a so-called 'poorer' quality, more uneven textured, less bright and less dyeable silk. Some silks are also obtained from 'spent' cocoons i.e. the cocoons from which the metamorphosed insect has flown out. These are called Ahimsa or peace silks, they are particularly favoured by faiths that forbid the taking of animal life e.g. Buddhism, Jainism. 

Bengal cotton handloom with plain borders of Muga silk
and narrow Muga stripes in the body. A gift from my
grandmother in the mid-70s. 

The vast majority of mulberry silk is produced in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and in the east in West Bengal. Two other varieties are produced in Assam mostly, Muga especially is GI tagged to Assam. Eri is produced in other North Eastern states also. We'll get into more details of these silks in subsequent posts.  

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Did you know that silk is basically protein? The shimmery quality of silk comes from the intrinsic properties of the filament. The silk filament is made up of two kinds of proteins - an inner core of fibroin and an outer covering of sericin which holds the filament together like glue. Fibroin is smooth, has a prism like structure and can refract light at different angles. Sericin is uneven textured. The degumming process removes the sericin and exposes the fibroin. The sheen of silk therefore depends on the extent of degumming. Read more here. 

Thank you for reading. And happy A-Zing to you for the rest of the challenge if you are participating. 

A-Z Challenge 2025