Persian Influence On Kashmiri Handicraft

Persian Influence On Kashmiri Handicraft

The Kashmiri craft not only absorbed local tradition beautifully but is also an infusion of the Persian culture. The clear visibility of its patterns and motifs of the five-pointed chinar is a tale of essential connect. The Paisley patterns on shawls in addition to the fundamentally hand-woven threads distinguished the Kashmiri shawls and stoles from the rest continent and gave it a noteworthy segment in the industry.

The mountain bounded valley of Kashmir did not deter the Muslim scholars, saints and missionaries of Persia and the Central Asia from edging into the “paradise of east” and acquainted the locals of Kashmir with new ideas. Culture is referred as the combination of human developed strategies and the aesthetic sense of surviving – therefore the effective Persian connect.  Kashmir remained rich and important trade route, so it is influenced by the routed cultures including Central Asian as well.

The deep imprints of the Persian ingenuity on the influenced cultures were so intense that every design and article has its own distinct hallmarks. They were mostly inspired from nature, and  were modified according to the  contemporary styles.

The muslim missionaries from Persia brought men with the skill set of carving onto the wood and metal, intricate mural painting and hand weaving and embroidery, this got imbibed in the local Kashmiri and he added the confluence of the flavour of Kashmir to the craft which emanated into a masterpiece every time it was curated. The floral patterns varying in colour and size can be seen in the embroidery of Kashmiri textile products.

The Kashmiri Karigars with this confluence of the foreign skillset in addition to the aesthetics imbibed into his subconscious over the period through the spectrum of the regional glossary, takes him as long as a lifetime to craft a masterpiece.

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.