Mashru is a traditional hand-woven textile from India that uses a silk warp and cotton weft. The fabric has origins in Persian weaving traditions that were introduced to India in the 16th century. Mashru is known for its vibrant striped patterns created using tie-dye techniques with colors like red, green, and yellow. The unique weave allows the silk warp threads to float on top of the cotton weft. The fabric was originally developed to comply with Islamic traditions that prohibited silk fabrics. It continues to be made through complex multi-step process involving spinners, dyers, weavers and other craftspeople in communities like Patan, India. Well-known regional varieties of Mash

1. history of fashion

2. topic

3. Geographical Location
• Patan
kacch

4. history
• The tradition of mashru in India is old and may
be influenced by weaving traditions prevalent
in Iraq and the Arab countries.
• . It is believed that these thicker and more
luxuriant textiles were brought to India from
the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century
onwards and formed the basis of Indian
mashru production.

5. About
• Mashru, is an old and venerable hand woven
textile craft form. The word Mashru has its
origins in ancient Persian and can be roughly
translated as permitted or allowed.

6. • Mashru is the most simple yet striking of
Indian Fabrics. The shiny, satiny surface is
woven in a combination of a pleasurable
linear design imagery of waves overlapping in
a tapestry of bright blossoming colors.

7. • Mashru has a specialized style of weaving
developed keeping in mind the religious
sentiments of its clients. Later, this unique
technique dove-tailed this soft, sinewy hand
woven satin within the annals of a prized
fabric not only for garments but
also a wide range of home
furnishings.

8. • The uniqueness of this fabric is that it has a
silk warp with a cotton weft and traditional
designs use a tie and dyed yarn generating a
vibrant striped patterning on the fabric.

9. • Due to the satin weave technique, threads of
flowing silk literally float on the cotton weft;
almost akin to a preening beauteous silk lying
unfurled over a bed of cotton.
• traditionally use seven/ eight silk taana
(warp) and one cotton baana (weft),”

10. • In a Mashru garment it is the delicacy of
cotton that tantalizes the skin while the
vibrancy of silk tantalizes the viewer.

11. •
Mashru uses striped linear patterns of
vibrantly bright colors ranging from greens,
reds and a pre-dominance of golden yellows.

13. motifs
the striped pattern has small
flower motifs or some
geometrical patterns in
alternate stripes.

14. Traditional Trivia
• Mashru as a fabric was created to confirm to
the tenets of Islam which forbade the use of
silk generated out of insect cocoons as
wearable material.

15. • an elegant mix in the annals of historical
weaving was contrived were it was the thread
of cotton which touched the skin while the silk
floated on top. This enabled the ruling Islamic
nobility to flaunt and wear this wondrous
garment.

16. • Though an ancient tradition, the look of
mashru has a contemporaneous quality. The
designs consist of length-stripes in different
colours, sometimes enriched by small stripes
with very simple woven patterns or with
equally simple ikat patterns in block or arrow-
head form. Sometimes the ikat patterns may
cover the whole surface of the fabric.

18. • In Patan wealthy Hindu merchants and traders
also took a liking to this fabric thus increasing
its intrinsic value and the inclusion of certain
typical motifs. The colloquil Gujarati term for
this fabric was mishru meaning a blend of silk
and cotton.

19. • The Bohras of Sidhpur and Patan also favor
Mashru as a fabric to design their traditional
garments

20. • Wankar communities are known to be the
creators of this craft form.

21. Raw Materials Used
• Silk and Cotton yarns
• Natural Dyes
• Chemical Dyes

22. Making in a loom

23. • . Two communities in Patan - the Hindu
Khatris and the Shaikh Muslims, share the
weaving of mashru.

24. • Starting with the supplier of the yarn, the
professions occupied with the craft include the
tania or the warp maker, the pavat wali who
stretches and starches the warp, the saini wali
who attaches the new warp threads to the old
ones, the weaver, the dyer, the raach maker who
constructs the raach which is an arrangement of
the heddles and the reed that holds the warp
threads in a particular order, kundi wala who
calenders the fabric to the final vyapari or the
trader who forms the link with the market.

25. varieties
• Mashru has different names based on their
pattern, colour, weave, or place of
manufacture. Well known varieties are alacha,
qatni, gulbadan, susi, galta and sangi. Gujarat
is famous for its alacha and qatni variety.