The weavers of Kashmir

Already reeling from a couple of blistering winters, the weavers of Kashmir face a bleak future. With few prospects to tempt the young and the collapse of the 2020 tourism season, the days could be numbered for this time-honoured craft. By Sugato Mukherjee

  • A goatherd returning with his herd to the plains (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    Flocks return to the lowland plains at the onset of winter: in recent years, very hard winters in the upper reaches of the Kashmir valley have led to thousands of pashmina goats perishing
  • Raw pashmina wool (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    A tuft of raw pashmina wool: one knock-on effect of the heightened death rate has been an unprecedented rise in the cost of raw wool – a problem for local weavers
  • A weaver sits behind his loom (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    A peaceable trade: violence in the Kashmir valley has been on-going since 1989, with only brief intervals of peace. Many economic activities, including the weaving industry, have almost ground to a standstill
  • Mohammed Sultan Khan, ustaad of carpet weaving (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    The master craftsman – "ustaad" – of carpet weaving: Mohammed Sultan Khan fears for the future of the Kashmir weaving industry, believing the art may disappear altogether in the coming decades
  • A Kashmir carpet (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    A thing of beauty: Kashmir carpets and shawls remain true to the tradition of intricate geometric patterns and calligraphic motifs, an artistic legacy imported some five centuries ago from Persia
  • (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    An eye for detail: taking years to master, Kashmiri needlework is famous for its intricacy
  • A weaver at work (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    The family business: in his ancestral home in Srinagar, Aslam Khan screws up his eyes to decipher the brown parchment holding the cryptic design and weaving colour codes known only to the artist. Twenty years ago, there were around one hundred weaver families in his neighbourhood. Only two remain
  • Women embroidering shawls (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    A cottage industry: Kashmiri weaving is largely based in the home, with weaving skills handed down from generation to generation. Its deregulated nature, low pay and uncertain future means few of the younger generation are interested in learning the craft
  • Yarns hung over the railings in Srinagar (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    Steeped in tradition: yarns hang over the railings of a house in an old quarter of Srinagar. The old "mahallas" (districts) have been home to the weavers for generations
  • Kani weaving needles (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    A year or so in the making: special wooden needles called "kanis" are used to make kani shawls – the weaving technique is highly specialised
  • Kani weavers at work (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    A dying art: artisans at work with kani needles. These days the Kashmir valley is home to only a handful of Kani artisans
  • A man embroidering a design(photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    In the workshop: an artisan embroiders in his premises on Lake Dal. A straightforward credit system for independent weavers and a strong wages policy for those working in carpet and shawl factories are what is needed to revive Kashmir's unique weaving industry
  • Sadiq Mohammed Wani displays a shawl made 85 years ago (photo: Sugato Mukherjee)
    What future? Sadiq Mohammed Wani, who owns one of the oldest weaving businesses in Kashmir displays a shawl made 85 years ago. With the market flooded with cheap machine-made substitutes, and inbound tourism at an all-time low in Kashmir, the future looks anything but rosy