History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c23.s4: Indian Loom Technology

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c23.s4

Language: English

Indian Loom Technology

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The loom has been defined by Dorothy Burnham as, “any device for weaving on which the warp may be arranged and openings for the passage of the weft formed through it by a shedding mechanism” (Hoffmann, p.7). The predominant loom in India has been the pitloom of the horizontal counter-balance treadle type (*Fig.4.*). Broadly speaking, on the basis of ethnological evidence, the evolution of the Indian loom could be postulated as follows: at the first stage the loom may have had shed sticks and heddles (*Figs. 3a, 3b.*). Next came the introduction of the reed (*Fig.4*), shaft, treadle and, perhaps, the barrell dobby²⁶ (*Fig. 5.*).

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²⁶ barrell dobby.

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The loin or body tension loom is used in the northeastern part of the country. It is a very early loom type used extensively in East and Southeast Asia in which the weaver regulates tension by moving backwards or forwards as required in course of weaving. This movement releases the warp threads and also facilitates the separation of the sheds (For details, see Shirali, pp. 83-87) (*Figs. 6a-c*).

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Fig.4. Horizontal counter balance pit loom with shafts and treadles. This loom is positioned within the living accommodation of the weaver and, therefore, allows for integration with other domestic activities and pastimes. Note the narrow reed. This loom is used for weaving tribal loin cloths. Weaver, Sri Rama Bhai Wanker, Chota Udepur, Gujarat

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Fig.5. Barrel dobby mechanism. The loom used for weaving Karvathi Kati dhoti. Photographed at Suraj Mela, 1987

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The loom used for Patola (double ikat) weaving in Patan, Gujarat, receives support from above and the sides. It is bereft of a treadle mechanism. It is a single harness loom with provision for two sheds. Every alternative warp end is threaded through a half heddle. Thus the shedding arrangement is based upon the division of the warp ends into two units. The shed rod is used to form one shed and half heddles for the formation of the second. These groupings of odd and even ends interlace alternately in course of weaving. The weaving sword helps in extending each shed opening and is used for beating in the weft. The resultant weave is an even tabby (Figs. 7a-c,8).

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Ornamentation on the loom can be achieved by introducing variations in color while maintaining a simple tabby weave (Fig.8). Similar effects can be achieved by using double cloth techniques in which warp ends are manipulated at two or more levels by relevant shafts and heddles. An example of this technique may be found in the khes²⁷ of Punjab (Figs.9a-b.). Items similar in patterning and technique and dated between the 12th and 16th centuries in the Dumbarton Oaks, collection, U.S.A., have been assigned an Egyptian provenance. This corresponds to the period between the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties thus reinforcing a Near Eastern origin for the sub- category called majñu in India (Thompson, pp. 35-36; Lamm, p.60, plate XXA, B).

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However, the double cloth technique also appears to have enjoyed an indigenous base. This is evidenced in the Deccani double coloured Pitāmbar sāri, a silken ritual (ii)

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Fig.6a. Loin loom and loom parts. (1. Bamboo which serves the same purpose as the warp beam in a horizontal loom, 2. Thin bamboo rod which acts as a lease rod, 3. Bamboo shod stick, 4. Thin bamboo heddle stick which holds the yarn heddles, 5. Wooden beater, 6. Wooden rods which serve the same purpose as the cloth beamin a horizontal loom, 7. Leather back- strap, 8. The continuous warp, 9. The woven fabric, 10. Mat spread on the floor on which the weaver sits

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Fig.6b. Change of shed in loin loom.
(i) 1. Lease rod, 2. Bamboo shod stick, 3. Heddle rod, 4. Yarn to make the heddle, 5. Weft
(ii) 1. Lease rod, 2. Bamboo shod stick, 3. New position of the heddle rod, 4. Weft. 6a,b from Aditi Shirali’s, Textile and Bamboo crafts of the Northeastern Region, Ahmedabad, 1983, pp.86-87 garment in which each side of the *sāri* presents a completely different colour field (*Fig.10*). However, the multiple cloths which evolved in the Near East have been absent in the Indian tradition.

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Fig.6c. Shrimati Lungham Chothe of Chandel, Manipur, demonstrating weaving on loin loom. Photographed at Craft

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One of the characteristics of the Indian loom has been the intensive use of shafts and treadles to achieve extra warp and weft patterning. For extra warp however, an ingenious device, the barrel dobby is much in evidence today. The dobby was patented in England but its roots may well lie in shaft and peddle devices used in extra warp ornamentation as in the *Paiṭhāni* loom, Maharashtra.

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For narrow weaving as in borders, *Pāgris*, and for cross borders, looms with multiple shafts have proved popular solutions (*Figs.11a-c*). For weaving of *newar* and *patti*, used in providing the base on bed frames and for winding around the calves of persons having to stand for long periods, variations of the fixed heddle and looms with shafts have been used (*Fig 12.*) Such looms are in operation to this day in Wadhwan, Gujarat. Tablet weaving (*Fig.13*) is used as a finishing technique for *dhablas*, used as shawls or as body garments in Gujarat. It also appears to have been utilised in the weaving of tapes (*Fig.14*) used for tying bundles of manuscripts of a religious nature.

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Fabrics can also be ornamented by the *jāmdāni* (*Fig.15a,b*), slit, single and double interlock as also the dovetail tapestry techniques (*Figs.16a-d,17a-b*). None of these methods of weaving involve usage of elaborate loom procedures. The investment is in terms of manual skill. *Jāmdāni* and tapestry both pre-date the introduction of the Islamic repertoire in weaves. In *Jāmdāni*, which falls under the category of Supplementary weft inlaid, pattern ends are manually lifted with the pattern weft and ground weft positioned within the same shed (*Fig. 15a-b*). Major centres of *Jamdani* have been Dhaka, Tanda, Uppada and Paithan.

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Slit tapestry, an early technique associated with Coptic tapestry, is found in the *pānjā dari* (*Fig.18*); single and double interlock (*Fig.16 b.c*), occur in Kani Pashmina, to mention one example; the prime example of dovetail tapestry is the Kulu and Kinnaur body wrapper of Himachal Pradesh (Fig.19.).

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Fig.7a. Pāṭolā Loom and parts. (1. Pole for fastening the loom, 2. Warp beam, 3. Ditto, 4. Stick, 5,6,7 Cross mechanism with indented stick, 8. Shed rod, 9. Pressure bar with handle, 10. Heddle rod mechanism and heddles, 11. Sword, 12. Breast beam, 13. Shuttle)

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Fig.7b (i). Pāṭolā Loom, cross section of shedding mechanism, shed. 1. Warp beam, 2. Stick, 3. Ditto, 4.5,6. Cross mechanism with indented stick, 7. Shed rod, 8. Pressure bar with handle, 9. Heddle rod mechanism and heddles, 10. Sword, 11. Cloth bea

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Fig.7b (ii). Pāṭolā Loom, cross section of shedding mechanism, counter shed. 1. Warp beam, 2. Stick, 3. Ditto, 4,5,6. Cross mechanism with indented stick, 7. Shed rod, 8. Pressure bar with handle, 9. Heddle rod mechanism and heddles, 10. Sword, 11. Cloth bea

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Fig.7c. Pāṭolā loom and work area. Operated by family of Sri Chotulal Salvi, Patan, Gujarat. Photographed in September, 1977

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Fig.8. Structure of tabby weave

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Fig.9a. Sample of khes. Courtesy, Pānipat Textiles and Handicrafts Pānipat

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Fig.9b. Samples of majnu. Courtesy, Pānipat Textiles and Handicrafts, Pānipat

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Fig.10. Structure of two faced Pitāmbar

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Fig.11a. Multi shaft and peddle loom used for weaving sāri borders

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Fig. 11b. Shaft and peddle attachments. Note narrow width of border, geometrical mirror image motifs and bobbin used

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Fig. 11c. Manipulation of peddles with the big toe of each foot. Figures 11a-c were photographed in August, 1981, at the loom operated by Sri Mani Lal Somnath Sakdi at his home/workplace, Serima Jeevan Pole, Ahmedabad

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Fig. 12. Newar shaft loom. From sample Book dated circa A.D. 1880 Courtesy, Kutch Museum, Bhuj

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Fig.13. Tablet weaving apparatus

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In South India where garments follow the mode of the ground fabric being fashioned in one colour with borders of another, the interlock is found at junctions where two opposing weft coloured picks are united. Since three separate shuttles are used in this category of weaving, this is also called the three shuttle technique (Fig.20).

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Fig.14. Tapes for tyeing manuscripts, possibly made in Varanasi, acquired in A.D.1885. It is double faced in reversible colour. Courtesy, Museum of Ethnography, Department of Southeast Asia, Berlin

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Fig.15a. Structure of Jāmdānī fabric. (1. Warp, 2. Weft, 3. Supplementary weft)

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The major differentiation between the North and South Indian schema in ornamentation is that in the former there is greater reliance on weft patterning whereas in the latter there has been a greater orientation to warp ornamentation. This is reflected in loom typology. The ability to experiment with weft structures is associated with the development of the reed which ensures a more even separation of ends and maintenance of tension. The reed number is related to the count of the yarn, and this in turn, conforms to the structure of the fabric. Its presence on the loom would also facilitate the working of loom attachments such as multiple shafts and harnesses.

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The level at which major innovations to the loom begin to taper off is marked at the point when the harness attachment, associated with the drawloom, comes into existence. Functionally, the mechanism of the North, simplistically called the Banaras jala, and that of the South identified through the terms, jhungu and adai, are similar.

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Fig. 15b. Lifting of warp ends for design area in Moirangphee fabric done through the Jamdani technique. Srimath Lungham Chothe, Chandel, Manipur, Photographed at Craft Museum, New Delhi, 1990

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Fig. 16a. Structure of slit tapestry as in pānja dari

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However, there is a wide disparity if these are viewed from the points of view of origin and chronology. The Banaras jala is derived from the Persian drawloom which achieved its specific identity under the Seljuks, A.D. 1038-1194 (Wulff, p. 176; Varadarajan. 1991, pp. 208, 217, 4.5). This would place the Banaras jala well within the medieval period. The lineage of the ādāi and jhuṅgu (Fig.21) on the other hand, can be traced to the Malay Kota Bahru and the Chinese Han dynasty derived Kuala Trengganu loom of Thailand²⁸. In ādāi, the weaver manipulates the extra warp ends by pulling jhurigu, tassels attached to these ends above the loom (Fig.22a.). For elaborate weft ornamentation a helper standing to the side of the loom operates the harness (Fig.22 b).