A work such as this had the potential to be the definitive work on the Kashmir shawl, but sadly, it has to be seen as a lost opportunity
Swapna Liddle
The shawls of Kashmir have been written about and formed the subject of countless books, from studies of the history of the shawl and the evolution of the designs, to coffee table books providing a visual feast of beautiful images. Socio-economic studies, though not absent, are less common. It is therefore heartening to see a work that aims at looking at the evolution of shawl weaving in Kashmir with the weavers at the centre of focus.
The production quality of the book is very satisfying, with a profusion of well reproduced illustrations. There are scores of photographs of shawls of varying vintages from museum collections around the world. There are photos of sculptures and paintings relating to the historic use of the shawl, the history of the craft, as well as design inspirations. The number of photographs illustrating tools and techniques make this a valuable resource for those studying the craft. Finally, there are miscellaneous related historic images.
These together with the voluminous text, make for a rather weighty book. The scope of the book is ambitious. It seeks to situate shawl weaving and weavers within the larger context of the history of Kashmir, looking at political change, developments in economic and social relations, and also the impact of cultural and religious change. Specifically in the context of shawl making, it deals with technological developments, organizational changes, as well as stylistic evolution. Finally, the author has much to say on the condition of shawl weavers and the weaving industry today.
A work such as this had the potential to be the definitive work on the Kashmir shawl, but sadly, it has to be seen as a lost opportunity. There are several reasons why it fails in its objectives. One is simply the structuring of the book. At first glance the content is neatly organized into thematic chapters. Unfortunately the writing style obscures the picture to a great extent – with themes spilling over and overlapping for insufficiently good reason, and the introduction of a chronology that is often far from clear.
For instance, a chapter on ‘Craft Technology – Shawl Making’, opens with a section on the wool trade that could have been better placed in a another chapter, but this is a relatively small matter. There follows a description of the processes involved in making a shawl – from cleaning, sorting, combing and spinning the wool, to dyeing, setting up the loom, and putting down the design, and finally the weaving of a range of different shawls. Strangely enough this entire description is written in the past tense. The author does not clarify whether from this we are to conclude that these are not techniques that are in use today, and if so, when they were in use, or when they stopped being used. What could have been a helpful discussion on technology and technological change, thus falls regrettably short.
In general, the author lays considerable stress on the history of shawl production and of the people involved in it. This could have been the greatest strength of this book, but here too the promise is unfulfilled. The style of writing and referencing makes the arguments in the narrative far from clear. For instance, in the chapter titled ‘Condition of Workmen – Shawl Workers’, the narrative swings widely back and forth from ancient to medieval to modern times, making it difficult to discern any clear argument as to historical change and processes. Moreover, while the political and social context is important and therefore aspects like dynastic change need to be discussed, there is not enough hard evidence provided to say how specific developments in each era impacted the shawl workers in particular.
As a final comment, a few general remarks on language and style are in order. While writing a work that aims at analytical sophistication, it is not enough to simply use academic terms such as ‘production relations’, or ‘social division of labour’, as the author does. It is more important to rigorously explain the concepts through which historical change is understood, and to critically examine historical sources. The author unfortunately on many occasions uses language that takes away from the academic credentials of the work. Examples of ahistorical value judgements abound. For instance, when speaking of the coming of a Muslim-ruled state to Kashmir, the author says, “The country came to breathe some fresh air only when Crescent sparkled on the horizon of Kashmir”.
Rhetoric in general is not the best style for persuasive analytical writing. Rhetoric combined with personal attacks even less so. The author introduces his book as a much needed corrective for the lack of writing on Kashmiri shawl makers. This is entirely reasonable, and in fact every writer hopes that they are making an original and required contribution to the field in which they are writing. This can however be done without vilifying those who have come before. The author of this work however bitterly attacks several unnamed ‘historians’ who he alleges have deliberately suppressed the voice of the shawl maker. He accuses them of ‘narrow mindedness’, of ‘stifling historical facts’, ‘defiling the sanctity of people’s narrative’ and much else.
Historical or any other field of academic enterprise develops incrementally, through the work of generations of scholars. There are rare moments when pathbreaking ideas may even transform a field. Many of us when publishing a new book or article feel that we have shown a light on areas which others have missed, usually because we are introducing new perspectives, or using sources others have not used. While it may be fair to argue that those who went before could have done more, it is less than fair to accuse them of deliberate obfuscation.
Swapna Liddle is a historian and author of several books on the history of Delhi.
