Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c6.s2.t1.54

c6.s2.t1.54

6. *Leather-work.*—A fairly large group of workers lived by leather-work and still remains as a separate caste of *Chamars* (or leather-workers).¹ The demand for leather goods, though not heavy, can be presumed to be general. For instance, of the 10,000 and odd horses which the Sultan of Delhi gave in gift to his nobles, many were accompanied by saddles and bridles of leather.² The scabbards of swords, covers of books and shoes, which were articles of common use among all upper classes, were usually made of leather. The use of leather in packing sugar parcels for export in Bengal has already been referred to. The average peasant, similarly, could not do without a water-bucket made of leather, some sort of shoes for the cold season, and several other smaller articles of agricultural use, all of which were made of leather. Besides these goods, certain articles of great excellence were made out of leather. In Gujarat, they made red and blue leather mats ‘exquisitely inlaid with figures of birds and beasts and skilfully embroidered with gold and silver wire’. They also dressed great numbers of skins of various kinds namely, goat-skins, ox-skins, buffalo and wild ox-skins as well as those of the rhinoceros and other animals. In fact, so many skins were dressed every year in Gujarat that they exported many ship-loads to Arabia and other countries.³