HISTORY:

Woven shawls in South Asia have been worn as early as the Indus Valley Civilisation. A famous example is the statue of a priest-king found at Mohenjo-Daro, who is draped in a shawl decorated with trefoil patterns. Woolen shawls made in Kashmir are mentioned in Afghan texts between the 3rd century BC and the 11th century AD. However, the founder of the pashmina industry is traditionally held to be the 15th-century ruler of Kashmir, Zayn-ul-Abidin, who introduced weavers from Central Asia. Other sources consider pashmina crafts were introduced by Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani who, as tradition has it, arrived in Kashmir from Persia along with 700 craftsmen.

Pashmina shawls have been worn by the royalty and the elites in the region for centuries. Pashmina blankets were also vital additions to a wealthy women’s dowry in India, Pakistan, and Nepal. They are a sort of status symbol in these countries.

Pashmina is derived from mountain breeds of goat (Capra hircus). One distinct difference between pashmina and generic cashmere is the fiber diameter. Pashmina fibers are finer and thinner (12–15 microns) than generic cashmere fiber (15–19 microns) and therefore ideal for making lightweight apparel like fine scarves. As the fiber diameter is very low, pashmina has to be hand-processed and woven into products such as shawls, scarves, wraps, throws, stoles, etc. However, the quality of a finished shawl is not solely dependent on the fiber diameter of the wool but also on the craftsmen’s skills. Pashmina products are often made in Kashmir and Nepal.

Today, however, the word “pashmina” is used indiscriminately, and many scarves made from natural or synthetic fiber are sold under the name “pashmina”, creating confusion in the market. The exorbitant price of a real pashmina shawl is due to the amount of expert craftsmanship that goes into creating each shawl and the rarity of the pashmina wool – the wool is used in a Kashmiri pashmina shawl is often sourced from the changthangi breed of goat and this breed constitutes less than 0.1% of global cashmere production.

 ORIGIN:

The Pashmina Goat was first discovered by a prominent Muslim scholar, Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani in Ladakh in the 1300s. Earlier, the fiber was also known as pashm. The first mention of Kashmiri woolen shawls was found in the Afghan texts between the 4th century BC and the 10th century AD. However, it was the 15th-century ruler of Kashmir, Zayn-ul-Abidin, who started the Cashmere wool industry in India by introducing weavers from Central Asian countries.

THE MAKING:

The Changpa tribe, from the Changthang region, are known to be the traditional producers of Pashmina Wool in the Ladakh region. These tribal people rear sheep in the harsh and chilly winter climate and lead a nomadic life to produce Pashmina wool. The Cashmere wool is collected every spring from the goats shedding their winter coat. Approximately 80–170 grams of the fiber is collected from each goat and spun to produce Cashmere. Throughout the winter season, the inner coat of the goat’s wool re-grows and becomes ready for extraction of wool in the next Spring. The quality of the cashmere produced in the Gobi Desert is regarded better than the Himalayas variant, because of its consistent manufacturing process and modern machinery.