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Crafts / Pashmina

Pashmina

State
Jammu & Kashmir
Material
Pashm wool · Hand loom
Rarity
Rare

Wool combed from goats on the roof of the world

About

Impossibly soft, light and warm shawls from the undercoat of Ladakh's Changthangi goats, spun and woven by hand in Kashmir.

Pashmina is the name for the very fine undercoat wool of the Changthangi goat, and for the shawls and stoles made from it. The word pashm means wool in Persian; in Kashmir it came to mean the raw wool of this goat. Pashmina fibre is far finer than ordinary sheep wool, which is why a pashmina shawl is light, soft and warm.

The work is divided among many hands. The Changpa nomads of the Changthang plateau in Ladakh rear the goats and collect the wool; in Kashmir, mostly around Srinagar, the wool is cleaned, spun, dyed, woven and finished by specialist craftspeople and craftswomen, traditionally entirely by hand.

Pashmina shawls are plain, woven in a twill, or decorated, either by needle embroidery called sozni or by weaving the pattern into the cloth in the kani technique. Today the word is also used loosely in shops for many blends and imitations, so what is called pashmina varies widely.

How it’s made

The raw material is collected in spring, when the goats naturally shed their undercoat. It is combed from the goat rather than sheared, with the longest and coarsest hairs removed later. The wool is then sent to Kashmir for cleaning, where dirt and coarse guard hair are picked out by hand, a patient job that determines how fine the final yarn will be.

The cleaned fibre is hand-spun into a very fine yarn on a spinning wheel. The yarn is then dyed if colour is needed, and the warp is prepared for weaving. Weavers work on a wooden hand loom, usually making a plain or twill weave. For shawls with a woven pattern, kani weavers use small wooden spools called kanis, one for each colour of weft thread, and follow a coded colour chart called talim. A single woven pattern shawl can take months.

After weaving, the shawl is washed and finished, and any loose hairs or knots are carefully removed. Many shawls are then embroidered by hand with needle work called sozni, with fine, dense stitches that can take a very long time to complete on a large shawl. Finally the shawl is checked and often given a label or a registration mark so that buyers can know it is genuine.

Key features

  • Wool is the undercoat of the Changthangi goat, combed in spring
  • Raw wool gathered by the Changpa nomads of Ladakh
  • Spun by hand into very fine yarn in Kashmir
  • Hand-woven on a wooden loom, plain, twill or patterned
  • Sozni needle embroidery and kani woven patterns
  • Teardrop buta motif is a classic design
  • Lightweight, soft and very warm

History

Wool fibre found on corroded copper objects from Harappa has been thought to be pashmina or a similar fine wool, which suggests very old use of fine goat fibre in the region; this is a scientific suggestion and not proof of a continuous shawl tradition. What is well documented is that Kashmir shawls were prized under the Mughals. Emperors gave robes of honour, khilat, as marks of favour, and a pair of shawls was a regular part of that ceremony in Akbar's time.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Kashmir shawl became a fashion item in Europe, famously in France, where the teardrop pattern known as buta became linked to European paisley. Kashmir weavers produced large numbers of shawls for export, and in the nineteenth century the trade was a big employer in the valley.

Today pashmina's importance is partly as a heritage craft and partly as a luxury product. Weavers face competition from machine-made and blended products sold under the same name, and the Changpa herders live in a harsh high-altitude climate that is under pressure. Efforts such as registration and labelling are meant to help buyers tell the real thing from imitations.

Facts

  • Combed Combed, not sheared. The goats shed their winter undercoat each spring and it is collected by combing rather than shearing.
  • Changpa From the Changthang plateau. The Changpa, a nomadic herding people of the high-altitude Changthang plateau, rear the goats whose wool becomes pashmina.
  • Many hands A craft in stages. Cleaning, spinning, dyeing, warping, weaving and finishing are done by different specialists, which is why a pashmina shawl takes so long to make.
  • Sozni & kani Two ways to decorate. Sozni is needle embroidery on a finished shawl. Kani is a woven pattern made with small wooden spools, one for each colour of weft thread.

Market

Luxury shawls, and many imitations

Pashmina is sold as shawls, stoles, scarves and wraps. Genuine hand-spun, hand-woven pashmina is expensive because of the hours of labour and scarce fibre; blends with silk or viscose, machine-spun fabrics and dyed acrylic are also sold as pashmina and cost far less. Look for certified labels and buy from reputable emporia and weavers rather than judging by feel alone.

Sustainability

Combing, not killing, but a fragile supply

Pashmina wool is collected from living goats by combing, and the herders' way of life is closely tied to the high-altitude grasslands. Do not confuse it with shahtoosh, which comes from the endangered Tibetan antelope and whose trade is banned. A hand-made pashmina can last for generations if cared for.

Products

  • Plain pashmina shawls and stoles: Woven in plain or twill, in natural or dyed colours
  • Sozni embroidered shawls: Fine needle embroidery on a finished shawl
  • Kani shawls: Patterned shawls woven with kanis
  • Scarves and wraps: Lighter, smaller pieces for everyday wear

Words to know

  • Pashm: Fine wool; in Kashmir the raw undercoat wool of the Changthangi goat.
  • Changthangi: The goat breed of the Ladakh plateau that grows pashmina fibre.
  • Changpa: The nomadic herders of the Changthang region.
  • Sozni: Fine needle embroidery on a shawl.
  • Kani: A small wooden spool; also the woven-pattern shawl technique.
  • Buta: The teardrop or paisley motif.

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