Pashmina (material)

{{Main|Kashmir shawl}}

Samples of wool fibres recovered from corroded copper artifacts from Harappa dating back to the Indus Valley Civilisation are believed to be Pashmina and Shahtoosh.[https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/pdf/Kenoyer2004%20IndusTextilesfinal.pdf Ancient Textiles of the Indus Valley Region By Jonathan Mark Kenoyer University of Wisconsin, Madison] The material gained prominence through its use in the Kashmir shawl. In Mughal times, this was used as an indicator of rank and nobility. In 1526, Babur (1483–1530) founded the Mughal Empire in India, and established the practice of giving khalat or "robes of honor", typically made of expensive fabric, to members of their durbar to indicate high service, great achievement, or royal favor.{{Cite journal|last=Skarratt|first=Ben|date=August 2018|title=From India to Europe: The Production of the Kashmir Shawl and the Spread of the Paisley Motif|url=https://globalcapitalism.history.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/globalcapitalism/documents/media/case_04_-_the_paisley_0.pdf|journal=Global History of Capitalism Project}} In his time, the Mughal khalat was a set of clothes, which could include a turban, long coat, gown, fitted jacket, sash, shawl, trousers, shirt, and scarf.{{Cite journal|last=Maskiell|first=Michelle|date=Spring 2002|title=Consuming Kashmir: Shawls and Empires, 1500-2000|journal=Journal of World History|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press (on behalf of World History Association)|volume=13|issue=1|pages=27–65|doi=10.1353/jwh.2002.0019|jstor=20078943|s2cid=144868279}} One or all of these could be made of pashmina and embroidered in gold cloth. In 1568, Kashmir was conquered by Babur's grandson Akbar. In Akbar's time, a pair of pashmina shawls was an expected part of khil'at ceremonies. From the 16th to the early 20th centuries, the Safavid, Zand, and Qajar emperors of Iran also wore pashmina and gifted Kashmir shawls as khilat within their political and religious practices.

Pashmina blankets were also part of a wealthy woman's dowry in India, Pakistan and Nepal.{{Cite CiteSeerX |title=Can Tourism Encourage Better Export Performance and Diversification in Nepal?|last1=Reis|first1=José|last2=Varela|first2=Gonzalo|date=October 2013|citeseerx = 10.1.1.689.7307}} In nineteenth-century English literature Kashmiri shawls were coded as women's luxuries. They acquired the status of heirlooms, worn by a girl on her marriage and coming-of-age.{{Cite book |author=Irwin, John|title=The kashmir shawl.|date=1973|publisher=H.M. Stationery Off|isbn=0-11-290164-6|location=London|oclc=3241655}} They were inherited rather than purchased.{{Cite book|last=Daly, Suzanne.|title=The empire inside: Indian commodities in Victorian domestic novels|date=2011|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-07134-0|location=Ann Arbor|oclc=617509005}} Since English law restricted women's abilities to inherit land, the Kashmir shawl served as an item of high exchange value that a woman could carry. In France, the pashmina Kashmir shawl gained status as a fashion icon through Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais' enthusiastic use.{{Cite book|title=Joséphine and the arts of the Empire|date=2005|publisher=J.P. Getty Museum|editor=DeLorme, Eleanor P. |isbn=0-89236-801-2|location=Los Angeles|page=167|oclc=57432294}} These shawls suited the French well, providing the needed warmth, while adding visual interest to white French gowns through the traditional teardrop buta pattern and discreet floral motifs. The shawl became a symbol of French bourgeois status from the Bourbon Restoration (1815–48) through the Second French Empire (1852–70). As a class marker, it fulfilled 19th century French tastes because it looked rich, had extensive ornamentation, artistic qualities, and was made of expensive raw materials.

File:Kashmiri Man 2001.jpg man sells a pashmina shawl from Kashmir in a market in Delhi, India.]]

Goats used for pashmina shed their winter coat every spring. One goat sheds approximately {{convert|80|–|170|g|oz|sigfig=1}} of the fibre. In the spring (the moulting season), the goats naturally shed their undercoat, which regrows in winter. This undercoat is collected by combing the goat, not by shearing, as in other fine wools. A traditional producer of pashmina wool in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas are a people known as the Changpa. These are a nomadic people and inhabit the Changthang plateau of Tibet, which has a minimum altitude of {{convert|13,500|ft|m}} above sea level and a winter temperature which can drop to {{convert|−40|C}} The Changpa rear sheep in these harsh climates for meat, and pashmina goats for wool.{{cite book|author=Prem Singh Jina|title=Ladakh: The Land and the People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjhcZgDy-WMC&pg=PA258|access-date=5 August 2012|year=1996|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-057-6|page=258}}

Raw pashmina is exported to Kashmir. All steps, from combing (removing impurities and guard hair, and aligning fibers) and spinning, to weaving and finishing, are traditionally carried out by hand by specialized craftsmen and women. The major center of pashmina fabric production is in the old district of the city of Srinagar. The approximate time put into producing a single traditional pashmina stole (70x200cm) is 180 hours.

China accounts for 70% of the world's cashmere production, Mongolia 20%, and the remaining 10% of production is in Afghanistan, Australia, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, the United States, the Central Asian republics and elsewhere. Only a small percentage of this production is the ultra-fine cashmere known as pashmina.{{cite web|last1=Shakyawar|first1=D B|last2=Raja|first2=A S M|last3=Ajay|first3=Kumar|last4=Pareek|first4=P K|last5=Wani|first5=S A|title=Pashmina Fibre – Production, Characteristics and Utilization|url=http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/19255/1/IJFTR%2038(2)%20207-214.pdf|website=Indian Journal of Fibre and Textile Research|access-date=11 May 2015 |quote=Note this work uses the word pashmina to refer to cashmere in general.}}

Pashmina accessories are renowned for their softness and warmth. They are produced in a range of sizes, from "scarf" 30 in x 80 in (70 cm x 200 cm)File:Cashmere12.8micronJos&fine.jpg

to full- sized shawl measuring 40 in x 80 in (100 cm x 200 cm), large shawls measuring 45 in x 90 in (114 cm x 228 cm), and XL shawls measuring 54 in x 108 in (137 cm x 274 cm).{{Cite web |date=2023-05-29 |title=Unlocking Pashmina's Dimensions: Exploring the Common Sizes of a Timeless Accessory |url=https://shahkaar.in/blogs/articles/unlocking-pashminas-dimensions-exploring-the-common-sizes-of-a-timeless-accessory |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=Shahkaar |language=en}}

A craze for pashmina shawls, known as shahmina in Kashmir, in the mid-1990s resulted in high demand for the raw material, so demand exceeded supply. When these shawls rose into fashion prominence during the era, they were marketed dubiously. In the consumer markets, pashmina shawls have been redefined as a shawl/wrap with cashmere and cashmere/silk, notwithstanding the actual meaning of pashmina. Some shawls marketed as pashmina shawls contain (sheep) wool,{{cite book|last=Franck|first=Robert R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-om7HI3rwcC&pg=PA142|title=Silk, Mohair, Cashmere and Other Luxury Fibres|date=October 2001|publisher=Woodhead Publishing|isbn=1-85573-540-7|page=142|access-date=2008-07-08}} while other unscrupulous companies marketed artificial fabrics such as viscose and others as "pashmina" with deceptive marketing statements such as "authentic viscose pashmina".

The word "pashmina" is not a labelling term recognized by law in the United States where it is considered another term for cashmere. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission:

Some manufacturers use the term pashmina to describe an ultra fine cashmere fiber; others use the term to describe a blend of cashmere and silk. The FTC encourages manufacturers and sellers of products described as pashmina to explain to consumers, on a hangtag, for example, what they mean by the term.

As with all other wool products, the fiber content of a shawl, scarf or other item marketed as pashmina must be accurately disclosed. For example, a blend of cashmere and silk might be labeled 50% Cashmere, 50% Silk or 70% Cashmere, 30% Silk, depending upon the actual cashmere and silk content. If the item contains only cashmere, it should be labeled 100% Pashmina or All Cashmere by the Wool Act or regulations.{{Cite web |url=http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus48-cachet-cashmere-complying-wwool-products-labeling-act |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409031155/http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus48-cachet-cashmere-complying-wwool-products-labeling-act |archive-date=9 April 2014 |title=Cachet of Cashmere: Complying with the Wool Products Labeling Act |publisher=Bureau of Consumer Protection, Trade Commission |access-date=11 May 2014}}

The earliest shawls had no particular motifs but they had striped in various colours. As time passed, the weavers derived inspiration from nature. Many floral motifs emerged. There is a strong Persian influence in the designs. There are few remnants of the mid 19th century European influence as well.  Chand-dar or Moon shawl had a medallion in the center and quarters in the corner. The patterns almost covered the ground colour.   Various butis and badam shapes are the popular motifs.{{Cite web |date=2017-06-25 |title=Pashmina Shawls Srinagar - Archive & Research on Kashmir Handloom Weaving |url=https://gaatha.org/Craft-of-India/craft-documentation-pashmina-shawls/ |access-date=2025-01-21 |language=en-US}}

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Category:Culture of Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Economy of Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Indian clothing

Category:Knitted fabrics

Category:Knitted garments

Category:Scarves

Category:Geographical indications in Jammu and Kashmir

Category:Indian shawls and wraps

Category:Joséphine de Beauharnais