India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan make up South Asia.
The terrain ranges from mountainous regions along the northern borders to desert areas, arid and semiarid zones reliant on monsoon rains for agriculture, the Deccan Plateau's uplands, tropical wetlands, and the rich valleys of the Indus and Ganges rivers, which are the birthplaces of ancient cultures.
Despite variances in physical appearance, language, and other ethnological characteristics, South Asians share a similar cultural history to a large extent.
Religious rites and classical study continue to use Sanskrit and Prakrit, the languages of the region's most ancient writings.
Great epics like as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, which date from from 500 to 300 B.C.E., establish cultural ties and a feeling of shared heritage across the area.
Draped and wrapped clothes are the most common kind of apparel in South Asia for both men and women.
The most common style of South Asian women's garment is the sari (also spelt saree), which comes in a variety of sizes and wrapping methods and is worn with a choli (blouse).
Men often wear the dhoti, a similar wrapped garment for the lower torso and legs that is wrapped and tucked to create a type of unstitched pantaloon.
The sarong (also known as a lungi) is a wraparound skirt used by both men and women in various locations.
Both men and women wear stitched clothing in the area; examples include the loose pants known as payjamas and the ensemble of salwar (pantaloons) and kamiz (long tunic) that has become Pakistan's national dress.
Wrapped and draped clothes seem to be South Asia's oldest style of clothing.
Awls discovered at Harappan civilisation archaeological sites in the Indus Valley (third millennium B.C.E.) suggest that leather sewing and embroidery were performed there.
Stitched clothes arrived in the area with ancient Central Asian migrations.
Some European academics believe that Muslims introduced tailoring to South Asia, however this is erroneous.
The terminology for the needle (suchi), thimble (pratigraha), scissors (sathaka), and even the sewingbag are preserved in early literature, indicating that tailoring was performed in ancient times.
Early Evidence
A priest's draped garment with an embroidered trefoil design is seen in an early Harappan sculpture.
Women are seen wearing extravagant headdress and a skimpy wrap around the hips and pubic region, a kind of attire that is still used by certain Central Indian tribal people today.
Shining raiments are mentioned in the early Vedas (ca. 1200–1000 B.C.E. ), implying the usage of gold thread.
Expensive clothing are described in the Mahabharata and Ramayana, but their shape is unknown.
Draped clothing were popular in post-Vedic periods, evolving into a complex costume with unique titles.
Antariya was the bottom garment, while uttariya was the top.
An intricate ribbon or a girdle of jewels kept the bottom wrapper in place, while the top wrapper was draped with several folds.
Pesas, or embroidered wrap skirts, were also worn; they are comparable to Gujarati skirts.
Another post-Vedic garment was the pratidi, a breast cloth knotted or wrapped by the hill tribes of Bangladesh till today.
Later stone sculptures depict a pleated lower wrap constructed by sliding the lower pleats around the legs and tucking them in at the back to form a pantaloon.
There were other versions of this method, with descriptive titles like "elephant's trunk" and "fish tail," and it's still used today.
Usnisa was a wrapped head covering used by both men and women that was unique from the later turban.
Cotton, along with other plant fibers and wool, was the most prevalent textile material.
Assam was the birthplace of silk. Silk fabric, as well as wool in hilly places, held connotations of purity.
Analysis of the Past.
Chandra Gupta Maurya (320–297 B.C.E.) and his grandson Ashoka (274–237) built South Asia's first significant empire.
They established ties with Central Asia, China, and Greece (which had expanded far into Asia under Alexander the Great).
Chandra Gupta had Greek woman bodyguards after marrying a Greek princess.
The presence of Greek women in the Mauryan court may have had a major impact on the history of South Asian dress; the Greek women's singlepiece draped chiton, pleated like a skirt and draped over the shoulder, might have been an ancestor of the sari.
Megastenes, a Greek diplomat, described gold-embroidered clothing, printed muslin, and a life of immense luxury in exquisite detail.
The intricate drapings of northern Greco-Asian Gandhara art resemble local dress, whereas sewn clothing are shown as being worn by warriors, presumably of Central Asian origin.
The Satavahana Empire in south India supported commerce with the Roman Empire, Arabia, and Southeast Asia from 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.
Unstitched clothing, as well as stitched garments such as a tunic with V-neck and sleeves, are seen in Satavahana sculptures.
Soldiers wore short-sleeved tunics and slim-fitting pants.
Between 130 B.C.E. and 185 C.E., the Kushans, also known as the YuehChi in Chinese, ruled Central Asia.
They conquered the Punjab, assassinating local princes and strengthening their power by fighting the Greeks and Scythians (Sakas) who ruled Western India.
The arrival of Greeks, Kushans, and Sakas brought with them a variety of cultural traditions.
Kanishka's monolithic statue at Mathura wears a long garment over a tunic.
The open front flaps of the coat turn outward in the same manner as Turkoman jackets from the twenty-first century do.
Women wore jackets over their sarongs, which were fastened at the back with ornamental buttons, and tunics with sleeves and rounded necks.
A dancer donned a tunic, pajama trousers, a floating scarf, and a hat, which were comparable to later Central Asian dance costumes as well as the costumes used by female Kathak dancers.
During the Gupta era (fourth to seventh centuries C.E. ), stitched clothes were popular, since the Gupta kings ruled over lands stretching from Central Asia to Gujarat.
The royals in the Gupta paintings at Ajanta, on the other hand, are shown in flowing robes, while the attendants, performers, and warriors are depicted in sewn clothing.
Women wear a variety of blouses with names that sound close to choli, the modern term for blouse.
Some nomadic peoples still wear the backless blouse with an apron worn by the dancer in the paintings.
The seventh century C.E.
Sanskrit and Prakrit lexicons include a broad variety of clothing terminology, many of which are closely comparable to words used today.
This lexical continuity demonstrates that top wraps, veils, coats, tunics, and other forms of clothes have been used since that period.
Mahmud of Ghazni's conquest of much of Central Asia and northwestern India in the eleventh century was crucial in spreading Islam to South Asia.
The Islamic influence of the Ghaznavids and their descendants had a significant impact on South Asian dress.
Between India and the Middle East, there was a thriving textile commerce; documents particularly mention materials for lining and edging, suggesting a highly developed stitched clothing design.
Costumes from Syria, Egypt, and Baghdad are also mentioned as being worn by the Sultans and their court.
Under the patronage of Muslim monarchs, textiles were also made locally.
Throughout the Islamic world, robes with woven or embroidered calligraphy were worn.
They were first created at Baghdad's Caliphate's textile factory (Dar-al-Tiraz).
They arose, however, to serve the courts across the Islamic world.
Designs and methods were passed down from one region of the Islamic world to the next, and they were incorporated into regal garments and honor robes.
The rulers of several northern Indian sultanates established their own royal textile studios, one of which was documented by the intrepid Arab traveler Ibn Batuta, and so the Indian courts started to follow the caliphate's fashion mandates.
During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the Mogul Empire consolidated, resulting in changes in government and court life across the kingdom.
The governing Mogul emperor dictated to the lesser monarchs.
Humayun developed an urbane manner of living after seeing the refined life of Shah Abbas's court in Persia.
He returned to Agra and Lahore with experts of numerous handicrafts to establish royal ateliers.
He created the groundwork for the indigenous Mogul style, which was refined by Emperor Akbar (1556–1605).
According to Akbar's historian, Abul Fazl, the emperor's wardrobe comprised clothes fashioned by the emperor himself to suit the Indian climate.
He describes an unlined cotton coat in "the Indian shape," which he says is knotted on the left side, although Hindus tie theirs on the right.
(To this day, the disparity exists.) He popularized the double shawl, a form that harkens back to the Indian heritage of flowing garments.
To improve acceptance, foreign names for newly imported clothes were replaced to indigenous or Sanskritized forms.
Clothing fashions were determined by the court, as shown by miniature paintings by Moguls.
Men wore turbans with jeweled plumes and long jackets over pantaloons.
A long coat with pointed edges was favored at Akbar's court chakdar jama, whereas Jehangir introduced a fitted Nadiri coat.
Men and women dressed similarly throughout the early Mogul Empire, but women's clothes evolved during Jehangir's rule.
Layers of exquisite muslin robes float above opulent brocaded tunics with gossamer tissue veils in miniatures.
Indigenous materials and abilities were used to create a variety of outfits that were influenced by local fashion trends.
The collapse of the Mogul Empire moved patronage to regional courts, resulting in local styles.
The elegant court of Oudh wore a long, trailing cloak.
Farshi payjama, or elegant slit skirts, derived from women's pajamas.
Skirts were only worn by Hindu women.
European attire had a gradual influence on India.
Many European males dressed in Indian garb and married or lived with Indian women in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
The arrival of large numbers of European women in the mid- to late-nineteenth century resulted in a shift in lifestyle.
The establishment of a formal social life and the creation of a colonial administration led to a more formal dress code.
Civil employees, military, and students in India were obliged to dress appropriately.
The Indian upper class accepted Western fashion, while the middle class adapted it to their own.
His dhoti was paired with a shirt, a coat, and an umbrella by the Bengali babu.
The coat and shirt were worn over the sarong in southern India.
Women began to wear blouses with Western-style necklines, collars, and puffed sleeves.
North Indian tunics also adopted certain European fashion trends.
Regional Styles in General.
Despite the fact that draped clothing were popular in South Asia, regional variances exist across the region.
Geo-climatic circumstances and the sociocultural milieu have an impact on them.
North India and Pakistan are two of the most populous countries in the world.
Stitched clothes resembling those of Central Asia are common in North India and Pakistan.
Both men and women wear a kamiz tunic with salwars, loose pantaloons that are narrow at the ankles and laced at the waist.
(The salwar has a different cut than the pajama.) Men's and women's salwar kamiz are similar in appearance but vary in cut and style.
Women also wear a veil and a dupatta, which is a head covering that may encompass the body, in addition to the tunic and pantaloons.
Women in Pakistan have chosen the salwar kamiz as their national garment; many women wear a burqa over the salwar kamiz, which covers them from head to toe, when they go outside.
People in Greater Punjab (which spans both India and Pakistan), Sindh, and Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province wear a longer tunic called a kurta as well as salwar.
Women in Pakistan's Sindh and Baluchistan wear embroidered tunics similar to those worn by Baluchi women in Afghanistan and Iran.
Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh peasants used a long, broad cotton sarong called lacha, which was worn long in the back and knotted in the front, with the ends tucked into the side.
A silk lacha with large borders was worn by affluent landowners.
Turbans with a crestlike fan rising from behind and a long, flowing end that fell down the wearer's back were popular among men.
A similar outfit is worn by the Jats of India's East Punjab and Haryana.
Kashmiri men and women wear a pheran, a long, loose tunic, with a salwar or pajama; the pheran is unique from the kamiz.
The neck of the women's tunic is embroidered, and it is worn with a headscarf.
History of Dress In Ladakh.
The tiny Himalayan enclave of Ladakh, sometimes known as smaller Tibet, preserves Buddhist lamaistic traditions.
A long woolen coat with side fastenings, a shirt, and a sash are worn by men.
For formal occasions, everyone wears a tall hat with an inverted rim that is elaborately embroidered.
For celebratory occasions, women wear a long velvet dress with a sheepskin lokp hung from the shoulders at the back like a short cape, which is changed by a brocade or highly embroided version.
Perak, an intricate headdress adorned in big chunks of turquoise that curls over the head like a cobra hood and drapes down the back, is also worn by women.
History of Indian Dresses And Traditional Wear by Region.
Gujarati and Rajasthani women wear a wrapped skirt, jimmi, or a wide skirt, ghagro, with a backless blouse and a veil in northern India.
According to ancient literature, the blouse comes in a variety of styles.
Men of the Kathiawari ethnic group, ancestors of the Huns, wear a pleated shirt (kedia), tight pajamas, a wide shawl around their waist, and a turban in Saurashtra and Kutch, a costume that resembles certain peasant outfits in the Balkans.
People in Pakistan's Tharparkar and Sindh provinces dress similarly.
Muslim tribal women wear a thigh-length backless shirt, an embroidered salwar, and a veil, whereas Hindu ladies wear a skirt, a backless top, and a veil.
Men wear a dhoti with a shirt in Gujarat's cities, while women wear a fourteen-and-a-half-foot sari with a cross border worn in the front.
Unstitched clothing are worn by Hindu and tribal men and women in central India and along the western coast.
During the winter or for special events, urban males wear sewn upper clothing.
Saris ranging in length from 137 inches to 312 inches (312 meters to 8 meters) are worn by women of many ethnic groups.
Shorter saris are worn by tribal women, whereas longer saris are worn by metropolitan and wealthier ladies.
Taking the front pleats, sliding them between the legs, and tucking them into the rear, they are wrapped to produce unstitched pantaloons.
This sari wrapping method is connected with female virginity.
The sari is worn in a variety of fashions by women in south India (including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu), based on geo-climatic circumstances and cultural traditions.
Sarongs are worn by women in Kerala, in southern India, instead of saris, while males wear a white double-layered sarong with an upper-body garment and a shirt.
Stitched clothing are worn by Muslim men and women all throughout India.
A kurta (length tunic) and pajama are the most frequent outfits for guys.
An embroidered coat, angarkha, and embroidered hat are worn by the wealthy.
They dress up in a fitted long coat, sherwani, and tight pajamas for formal events.
The turban is worn differently depending on their profession, the event, and their age.
A tight pajama, a fitting shirt (sometimes with a jacket), and an embroidered veil are worn by women.
Many ladies wear the burqa when they go outside.
Farshi payjama, a trailing, broad split skirt, is worn for special occasions by the wealthy.
Stitched clothing must be removed by men and women for religious rituals or visiting a temple among non-Muslims such as Hindus and Jains.
History of Dress In Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka, a vast island off the southernmost point of India, has long been an important maritime crossroads, connecting East and West.
Taprobane was the Greek name for it, while Serendib was the Arab name for it.
Sri Lanka's history may be traced back to the first millennium B.C.E.
King Pandukabhaya started developing the arts about 400 B.C.E.
and maintained strong ties with Buddhist India.
Today, Theravada Buddhism is the largest religion of Sri Lanka's Sinhalese people.
Early sculptures exhibit strong ties to Indian culture, with people dressed in flowing draped clothes.
Throughout its history, Sri Lanka has been subjected to a considerable lot of foreign influence.
From late Roman times forward, Arab merchants interested in the spice and textile trade came to the island.
Arab merchants established colonies in Colombo and Galle, introducing Islam to Sri Lanka.
In the early sixteenth century, Portuguese merchants established themselves along the shore.
The Dutch took over the Portuguese colonies in the mid-seventeenth century, and the British, who formed a colonial rule in 1833, ousted the Dutch.
The apparel of the so-called Burghers, who are of mixed Dutch and Sinhalese descent, reflects European influence on Sri Lankan culture.
Burghers are seen in early artworks mixing native clothing with European characteristics.
Men wore a long coat with puffed sleeves and a sash, as well as a cap, over their sarongs.
Women wore sarongs and upper cloths, as well as European jackets.
Many individuals, however, remained to wear clothing that had not been influenced by European influences.
The Sinhalese and Tamils make up the majority of the Sri Lankan population, especially in the northeastern part of the island.
The latter were southeastern Indian migrants, many of whom were brought in as plantation workers by the British in the nineteenth century.
Clothing customs differ between the two cultures.
The sarong, worn with a sewn blouse and a shawl over the shoulder, is Sinhalese women's traditional attire.
The sarong may have a ruffle at the top in certain circumstances.
Some wear a silver belt with a shirt with lace inserts at the waist and sleeves.
A sarong and a kamiz are worn by men (tunic).
The fact that two female heads of state have always worn the Sinhalese national dress has influenced even the Burghers to wear it.
Tamil ladies wear saris draped in their community's customs, while males wear veshti, a white sarong.
Muslim males wear a colorful sarong with a tunic and a hat, tracing their ancestors to Arab settlers.
Traditionally, Muslim women used indigenous attire; but, since the early 2000s, many have embraced Islamic attire, including the wearing of the headscarf.
History of Dress In Nepal.
From the Gangetic plains to the Himalayas, the Royal Kingdom of Nepal is a landlocked country with the world's highest mountains.
The climate of the nation varies greatly, from alpine cold to scorching and desert to hot and humid.
There are various ethnic groups in the nation, however they are divided into two categories.
Tibetans reside in the highlands, whereas Indo-Aryans inhabit mostly at lower altitudes.
Early references to dress in historical literature reveal that the different peoples of Nepal had distinct clothing customs in ancient times, some of which still exist now.
The first mention of Nepalese textiles may be found in Kautalya's Arthashastra (250 B.C.E.).
It refers to eight-piece black blankets sewed together.
People continue to wrap themselves in these.
Sculptures, murals, and book pictures may all be used to research historic garment trends.
Draped and wrapped clothing, as well as stitched coats, are the most popular.
The king defined the clothing of sixty-five sub-castes in the early fifteenth century; for example, some were forbidden from wearing coats, hats, or shoes, while others were forbidden from wearing sleeves on their jackets.
Women in the central valleys and lower mountain ranges wear a pleated wraparound skirt with a heavy shawl at the waist, while men wear a long shirt, nivasa, pleated up to the waist and reaching to the ankles, with a waist cloth.
The costume is completed with a jacket and a topi, or conical hat.
Gurkha men wear plain pants with a blouse that reaches below the hips and is tied with a thick cummerbund with a kukri traditional knife tucked inside.
One of the bigger ethnic groups, the Kirant, wears a unique garment known as choubandi, which means "four knots." The blouse is cross-over and ties at the armpit and waist.
The women's version is waist-length, while the men's version is hip-length.
A wraparound skirt with a sash is also worn by women.
Terrai's Tharus wore appliqué tops and wraparound skirts composed of colourful panels.
Tibetan ethnic groups, such as the Sherpas and Dolpos, wear attire that is comparable to that of Tibet.
A silk blouse and a wrapped skirt, paired with a small apron of brilliantly colored stripes sewn together from three parts, are among the options for ladies.
Men wore woollen coats and slacks or sported bare legs.
The Dolpo's woolen coat, chuba, had a particular design and came with many panels.
To keep warm in the high mountains, both cultures wear long sheepskin or goatskin fleece jackets.
The longer the fabric, the more wealthier the person, was a distinguishing feature of Nepali attire.
For their gathered skirts, royal ladies utilized 80 to 90 yards of fabric.
To guard against back strain, these thick and heavy skirts were worn with a thick sash.
History of Dress In Bhutan.
Bhutan is located east of Nepal, halfway between northeastern India and Tibet.
The majority of the nation is mountainous.
The bulk of Tibetans dwell in the main valleys amid the high mountains, where they practice Tibetan culture and ethnicity.
Many Nepalese immigrants live in a hot and humid lowland region on the country's southern edge.
The highlands create finely woven woolen textiles, while the lowlands produce and weave cotton and silk.
Bhutanese people are required to wear traditional clothing.
Men wear gho, Tibetan-type tunics with a belt; nonetheless, the design is extremely unique.
For more movement, it is lifted and secured at the waist, with the legs left naked.
The tunic is distinguished by its rich woven patterns.
Ceremonial scarves are required for all rites and ceremonies, and the color of the scarf indicates the wearer's position.
Even their char-khab raincoats, which are made from yak wool and colored with vegetable dyes, are intricately designed.
Monks wear burgundy or orange woolen wrapping robes woven together from several pieces of material in Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Women wear kiru, a wraparound wool or silk dress with a sash.
The wrapped clothing is held in place by silver brooches with a pin, koma.
They add a toego jacket over this, giving the outfit a really sophisticated look.
For admittance to the Dzong or while in the presence of royalty or senior officials, a shoulder shawl, rachu, is required.
The best kiru, known as kushutharas, is a complex weave used mostly by royalty.
History of Dress In Bangladesh.
The Vanga or Banga Kingdom was one of the first Indian kingdoms to accept Buddhism, according to early Sanskrit literature (1000 B.C.E.).
Bengal has a long history of cultural exchange with Southeast Asia and the West, facilitated by Arab merchants.
The first European country to make direct touch with Bengal was Portugal.
The area is ethnically varied, with a Bengali-speaking majority in the vast river valleys and plains, as well as hill tribes, particularly in the east, with ties to Myanmar's inhabitants (Burma).
Bengal was invaded by the Moguls in 1576 C.E., and it became part of the Mogul Empire.
In 1651, the British East India Company built a trade post.
Bengal was absorbed into the British Empire, and Calcutta became the imperial capital as well as a major trade hub.
East Bengal, which had a Muslim majority, became East Pakistan in 1947, while West Bengal, which had a Hindu majority, remained part of India.
East Pakistan became Bangladesh's autonomous state in December 1971.
Bengal was known for its gossamer Dacca muslin, which was in high demand all over the world, since ancient times.
Cotton thread was spun to a fineness of 400 count by women.
The Roman senators grumbled about having to spend their coffers to pay for this beautiful muslin.
Caesar protested that his wife seemed to be nude in public, to which she replied that she was dressed in seven layers of Indian fabric.
Women in West Bengal and Bangladesh wear cotton saris folded upon fold in the traditional Bangla way.
Hindu women drape the long end of the sari over their heads as a veil; Muslim women wear the sari in the same way at home but cover it with a burqa outside the house.
A colorful lungi (sarong) with a short vest is worn by Muslim rural men.
A dhoti (unstitched pantaloon), a vest, and a shoulder cloth are worn by Hindu males.
Muslim males in the city dress in baggy pajamas and a tunic known as a Punjabi.
Hindus wear cotton or silk dhotis with Punjabi and a shawl for formal events, while men wear fitted, long coats, sherwani, with tight pajamas.
Sarongs and breast cloths with complex designs woven on backstrap looms are worn by tribal women.
The beautifully woven sarong was formerly worn from the breast to the calf by certain native women.
Much later, the custom of wearing blouses with sarongs or saris was established.
The salwar kamiz has become popular among the younger generation.
Conclusion.
South Asia is distinguished by the fact that women have kept their traditional clothing styles.
The elite younger generation does dress in Western attire and universal jeans, but they also dress in their native attire for important events and when they settle into domesticity.
The many forms of wearing the sari in different places, which were governed by geo-climatic factors and local culture, are gradually vanishing.
The eighteen-foot sari with the cross border flung over the left shoulder has become popular in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka; upper-class Nepalese women also wear it.
The use of khadi, handspun handwoven cotton, and the Gandhi topi (cap), which became identified with the liberation fight, had led to the use of khadi, handspun handwoven cotton, and the Gandhi topi (cap).
The Jawahar jacket, a sleeveless fitting jacket worn with Indian clothes made fashionable by the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as the Jodhpur coat, a close necked full-sleeved short coat worn with trousers as semiformal dress and the sherwani or achkan, a long coat worn with tight churidar pajama and formal dress, were introduced after independence and the need to create a national identity Pakistani ladies wear the salwar kamiz, a traditional Pakistani dress that has migrated to Bangladesh and southern India.
Women's publications and Bollywood films have had a significant impact on encouraging women to be more creative in their attire.
This started even before the establishment of India's National Institute of Fashion Technology in the 1980s, as well as the development of boutique culture in the hands of young fashion designers who are defining new trends in South Asian clothing designs.
~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan
Find Jai on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
See also:
Colonialism and Imperialism; Cotton; Religion and Dress; Sari; Silk; Textiles, South Asian; Traditional Dress.
References And Further Reading:
- Abul-Fazl. ‘Allami, The A’in-I-Akbari. Translated by H. Blochmann. 3rd ed. New Delhi: South Asia books, 1977.
- Agrawala, V. S. “References to Textiles in Bana’s Harshacharita.” Journal of Indian Textile History (1959).
- Ali, A. Yusuf. Monograph on Silk Fabrics Produced in the North Western Provinces and Oudh. Allahabad, 1900; reprint Ahmedabad, 1974.
- Alkazi, Roshen. Ancient Indian Costume. New Delhi: Art Heritage, 1983.
- Askari, Nasreen, and Rosemary Crill. Colours of the Indus. London: Merrill Holberton and the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1997.
- Baker, Patricia L. Islamic Textiles. London: British Museum Press, 1995.
- Bartholomew, Mark. Thunder Dragons Textiles from Bhutan. Kyoto, Japan: Bartholomew Collection, 1985.
- Beer, Alice Baldwin. Trade Goods: A Study of Indian Chintz. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970.
- Bhushan, Jarmila Brij. The Costumes and Textiles of India. Taraporevala, Bombay, 1959.
- Chandra, Moti. Costumes, Textiles, Cosmetics and Coiffure in Ancient and Mediæval India. Delhi: Oriental Publishers on behalf of the Indian Archaeological Society, 1973.
- “Indian Costumes and Textiles from 8th to 12th Century.” Journal of Indian Textile History 5 (November 1960): 1–41.
- Chopra, P. N. “Dress, Textiles and Ornaments during the Mughal Period.” Proceedings of Indian History Congress, 15th Session. Calcutta, 1954. Pp. 210–228.
- Dar, S. N. Costumes of India and Pakistan. Bombay, India: D. B. Taraporevala Sons and Company, 1982.
- “Survey of Embroidery Traditions.” In Textiles and Embroideries of India. Bombay: Mark Publications, 1965.
- Folk Arts and Crafts of India. New Delhi, India: NBT, 1970.
- Dhamija, Jasleen. Crafts of Gujarat. New York: Mapin, 1985.
- “Telia rumals, Asia rumal, Real Madras Handkerchief (RMH): Footnote to Global Textile Trade.” Paper presented to the conference Cloth, the World Economy and the Artisan, Dartmouth, N.H., 1993.
- The Woven Silks of India. Bombay, India: Mark Publications, 1995.
- Woven Magic. Jakarta, Indonesia: Dian Rakyat, 2002.
- Dhamija, Jasleen, and Jyotindra Jain. Handwoven Fabrics of India. New York: Mapin, 1981.
- Elson, Vickie G. Dowries from Kutch. Los Angeles: UCLA Museum of Cultural History, 1979.
- Frater, Judy. Threads of Identity. New York: Mapin Publishing 1995.
- Gajurela, Chavilala. Traditional Arts and Crafts of Nepal. New Delhi, India, 1984.
- Gelfer, Agnes. A History of Textile Art. London, 1979.
- “Some Evidence of Indo-European Cotton Trade in Pre-Mughal Times.” Journal of Indian Textile History 1 (1955).
- Guy, John. “Sarasa and Patola: Indian Textiles in Indonesia.” Orientations 20, no. 1 (1989).
- Woven Cargoes: Indian Textiles in the East. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1998.
- Hitkari, S. S. Phulkari: The Folk Art of Punjab. New Delhi, India: Phulkari Publications, 1980.
- Jain, Jyotindra, and Aarti Aggarwala. National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum. New Delhi, India, 1989.
- Krishna, Rai Anand. Banaras Brocades. New Delhi, India, 1966.
- Maxwell, Robyn. Textiles of South East Asia. Melbourne, Australia: Australian National Gallery; Oxford University Press, 1990.
- Mayors, Diana K. From the Land of the Thunder Dragons: Textile Arts of Bhutan. New Delhi, India: Timeless Books, 1994.
- Nambiar, Balan, and Eberhard Fischer. “Patola/Viralu Pattu— from Gujarat to Kerala. New Information on Double Ikat Textiles in South India.” Asiasche Studien: Etudes Asiatiques 41, no. 2 (1987).
- Pavinskaya, Larisa R. “The Scythians and Sakians: Eighth to Third Centuries B.C.” Nomads of Eurasia. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 1989.
- Religious & Cultural Traditions of Bhutan. Catalog of Exhibition. Department of Culture. India & National Commission for Cultural Affairs. Bhutan. October 2001.
- Scott, Philippa. The Book of Silk. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1993.
- Tucci, Giuseppe. Transhimalaya. Translated by James Hogarth. London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1974.
- Vogelsang-Eastwood, Gillian. Resist Dyed Textiles from Quseir al Qadim. Egypt, Paris, 1990.
- Wilson, Kax. A History of Textiles. Boulder, Colo.: WestviewPress, 1979.
