Consuming Kashmir: Shawls and Empires, 1500-2000

Abstract

Kashmiri shawls serve as a material vector to trace how European assumptions of geographical determinism, racial hierarchy, and gender essentialism underpinned the seemingly disparate nineteenth-century narratives about design history and various theories about an "Asiatic mode of production" in labor history. The continuing strength of these assumptions is demonstrated by the contemporary marketing in 2001 of pashmina ("woven goat hair" or cashmere) shawls, using the recycled tropes of exoticism and fantasy ethnography crafted during the heyday of British colonialism.

Cashmere Shawl as Metaphor and Matterfold

“…Presented as gifts for aristocratic ladies after their soldiers’ return, cashmere shawls soon became all the rage in Paris because of the Empress Josephine's passion for shawls, and her flowing style of drapery became a representative fashion trend among upper‐class Parisian ladies. Likewise, as Michelle Maskiell convincingly demonstrates, across the Channel the fashion of shawls prevalent among prosperous Englishwomen at the turn of the nineteenth century was inextricably linked with Britain's imperial rule in India and its monopoly of maritime transportation in the eighteenth century (Maskiell , 36). When merchants and officials of the East India Company returned to Britain, cashmere shawls were not only souvenirs for their relatives and friends but became a “must‐have” for those returning men to restore their status in Britain.…”

Impact of the International Crises on the External Trade of Kashmir (1870-1947 A.D)

“…Persia was another important country which exercised considerable demand of Kashmir shawls. While visiting Persia Mohan Lal Kashmiri found the ruler of Persia desirous to conquer Kashmir simply because he was overwhelmed by the gracious art of its embroidered shawls (Maskiell, 2002). Andelphinstone, says "the king of Persia forbade the use of Kashmir shawls with a view to promote the shawl industry of his own country".…”

“Designed for eternity”: Kashmiri Shawls, Empire, and Cultures of Production and Consumption in Mid-Victorian Britain

“…They were coveted articles of clothing and gift exchange in Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and even Russia long before they became fashionable as women's drapery in Western Europe and eventually North America in the nineteenth century. 11 Agents of merchants from around the world were stationed in Srinagar-the primary center of shawl production in the Kashmir Valley-to commission and directly purchase shawls to meet demands of particular home markets. In fact, an Armenian merchant sent to Kashmir from the Ottoman court in the late eighteenth century is credited with having introduced the idea of embroidering plain woven shawls to make their production less time consuming and more cost effective.…”