A history review of Jamdani Saree

There is at least one Jamdani saree in the collection of Bangladeshi women. Due to its aesthetic design and high price, Jamdani is associated with nobility and comfortability.

History of ancient Jamdani sarees: The history of Jamdani in Bengal is more than one hundred years old. This saree came to Bengal at one time holding the traditional muslin hand of the Mughals.
Jamdani saree is well known to Bengali women as the inheritor of ancient fine muslin cloth. Jamdani cloth is made by designing on muslin. However, nakshi orna, kurta, turban, handkerchief, curtain, etc. were also made with jamdani. 

Sherwani designs with jamdani were in vogue in the 1800s. 

In addition, Jamdani cloth was also used for dyeing the regional costumes of Mughals and Nepal. Jhumka, Butidar, Jhalar, Mayurpakha, Puilta, Kalkapar, Kachupata, Prajapati, Jasmine, Hansbalaka, Shabnam, Jhumka, Jabaful, etc.
European, Iranian, Armenian, Mughal, Pathan, etc. merchants were involved in the muslin and jamdani trade. For this reason, the then heads of state also played a role in the development of this industry.
According to the 1846 census, jamdani worth about five and a half lakh rupees was bought for the King of Delhi, Nawab of Bengal, and Jagat Seth. Used by the Nawabs of the area.

There were some reasons behind the shrinking and later extinction of this industry, the main reason being the Industrial Revolution in England. This led to the advent of machinery in the textile industry and the production of printing cloth at a low cost.
Besides, the price of British yarn was less than that of domestic yarn. The then Mughal emperors and their royal staff became inattentive to this industry. As a result, the muslin and jamdani industries gradually disappeared into the abyss of time.

The story of the Jamdani Saree at the present time: 

One by one the Jamdani is made by the skillful weaving of the hands of the weavers.
Jamdani sari is very difficult and time-consuming as weavers weave it by hand. So these are also more expensive than other sarees.
If two artisans work 12 to 14 hours a day to make a Jamdani sari, it can take seven days to six months to make a complete sari depending on the design.
Usually, when making a sari, the price of a jamdani can range from Rs 4,000 to Rs 120,000 or more, depending on the quality of the yarn and the fineness of the work.
But machine-woven sarees do not require much time or effort. Therefore, the price is relatively low.
Since the Jamdani saree is handwoven, the design of the sari is very delicate and perfect. The designs are smooth.

The artisan weaves each yarn by hand. No part of the yarn comes out. For this reason, it is very difficult to differentiate between the front part of the Jamdani saree and the inner part.
The machine-woven sari is simply embroidered with an exact design imitating Jamdani. The reverse threads of these saris are cut out.

Another way to recognize Jamdani sari is to check its yarn and smoothness. Cotton and silk yarn are used in weaving Jamdani saree.

In terms of the use of yarn, there are three common types of jamdani: 

1. Flower Cotton Jamdani - which is made with cotton yarn. 

2. Half-silk jamdani - where the horizontal yarns are silk and the longitudinal yarns are cotton. 

3. Flower-silk jamdani - where the yarn on both ends is made of silk. 

It is important to be sure about this yarn before buying a saree, as a fake Jamdani saree uses synthetic yarns like polyester or nylon instead of silk. 

To check the quality of the yarn, some of the yarn that comes out at the end of the saree area should be looked at carefully. Nylon yarn is smooth, And since the silk thread of Jamdani has starch, it will be relatively uneven. Ordinary pure silk yarn is torn when pulled and when this yarn is burnt in the fire, it smells like hair. Jamdani yarn is starched. Jamdani yarn is starched. If the yarns are twisted after twisting the yarns at the ends of the area with the fingers, it is made of silk yarn, and if the yarns are equal in any case, it is nylon.

The count also refers to the value of the yarn. The higher the yarn count, the thinner the yarn. And the thinner the yarn, the finer the work will be - which is the main feature of a good quality jamdani saree. The threads of Jamdani sari are usually 32-250 counts. The quality of jamdani largely depends on this subtlety of the work. And how delicate the sari will depend on the skill of this yarn and weaver. Usually, the finer the work, the higher the price. 

Again, the thinner the yarn, the longer it takes to weave a saree - so the price goes down.

On the other hand, the yarn of machine woven sari is 24-40 counts. However, the weaving of machine-woven saree is very dense. It is no longer possible to weave as densely as a machine. The part of the jamdani sari that is kept at the waist is not woven up to five and a half hands. But the whole part of the machine woven saree has fringes all over.

Hand-knitted jamdani is light in weight and comfortable to wear. However, the jamdani has to be very careful, otherwise, it will not last long. On the other hand, without any hand touch, imitating the design of Jamdani, a machine-woven sari is made of synthetic yarn, so these saree are heavy and rough. However, these saris can be worn for years. Jamdani sari Due to its long time and hard work, the price of Jamdani sari is higher than other saree. Some information about the traditional Jamdani saree - * More than 6 thousand people are involved in the Jamdani industry. * Every year more than 2 lakh Jamdani saris are being produced in the country.

Jamdani worth Tk 50-60 crore is being exported from Sonargaon and Rupganj alone every year. * Due to the lack of skilled craftsmen and capital, this industry is going through hardships now.

 Reference: www.bbc.com/bengali


Shourav Dey
Department of Apparel Engineering, 44th Batch
Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX)