Khadi (pronounced [k?a:d?i:]; IAST: Khadi) or khaddar is handspun, hand-woven natural fiber cloth from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan mainly made out of cotton..
The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk, or wool, which are all spun into yarn on a spinning wheel called a charkha. It is a versatile fabric, cool in summer and warm in winter. In order to improve the look, kh?d?/khaddar is sometimes starched to give it a stiffer feel. It is widely accepted in fashion circles. Khadi is being promoted in India by Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Ministry of MSME Govt. of India.
Video Khadi
India
In India, Khadi refers to handwoven cloth. Weavers prefer the yarn produced by Mills because it is more robust and of consistent quality. During the first two decades of the twentieth Century, Indian Mill owners backed Nationalist politicians who called for a boycott of foreign cloth. This 'Swadeshi' movement attracted Mahatma Gandhi who was opposed to industrialisation. He argued that the Mill owners would deny handloom weavers an opportunity to buy yarn because they would prefer to create a monopoly for their own cloth. However, handspun yarn was of poor quality and too costly. Thus Mahatma Gandhi started spinning himself and encouraging others to do so. He made it obligatory for all members of the Indian National Congress to spin cotton themselves and to pay their dues in yarn. He further made the 'chakri' (spinning wheel) the symbol of the Nationalist movement. Initially the Indian flag was supposed to have a chakri, not the 'Ashoka wheel' at its centre. Mahatma Gandhi collected large sums of money to create a grass-roots organisation to encourage handloom weaving. This was called 'khaddar' or 'Khadi' movement. Mohandas Gandhi. The Khadi movement promoted a socio-cultural aesthetic, an idea that Indians could be self-reliant on cotton and be free from foreign cloth and clothing.
The British were selling very high cost cloths to the Indians. The Indian Mill owners wanted to monopolise the Indian market themselves. Ever since the American Civil War had caused a shortage of American cotton, Britain would buy cotton from India at cheap prices and use the cotton to manufacture cloth. The khadi movement by Gandhi aimed at boycotting foreign cloth . Mahatma Gandhi began promoting the spinning of khadi for rural self-employment and self-reliance (instead of using cloth manufactured industrially in Britain) in the 1920s in India, thus making khadi an integral part and an icon of the Swadeshi movement. The freedom struggle revolved around the use of kh?d? fabrics and the dumping of foreign-made clothes. When some people complained about the costliness of khadi to Mahatma Gandhi, he started wearing only dhoti though, of course, he used wool shawls when it got cold. Some were able to make a reasonable living by using high quality mill yarn and catering to the luxury market. Mahatma Gandhi tried to put an end to this practice. He even threatened to give up khadi altogether if he didn't get his way. However, since the weavers would have starved if they listened to Gandhi, nothing came of this threat. After Independence, the Government reserved some types of textile production- e.g. towel manufacture- for the handloom sector. This resulted in a deskilling of traditional weavers and a boost for the power-loom sector which was supposed to be a cottage industry. Private Sector enterprises have been able to make handloom weaving somewhat remunerative. Mahatma Gandhi's khadi program- despite huge subsidies- failed to do so. This does not prevent various state governments and the Government of India periodically appealing to citizens to promote the usage of Khadi.
Maps Khadi
Bangladesh
Khadi, also known as "khaddar" has a long history in Bangladesh. In the 6th century a local variation of Khadi cloth was described by Huen Tsang of China and Marco Polo in the 12th century AD describes a fabrics, most probably khadi Muslin in the Bengal region to be as fine as the spider's web.
Romans were great aficionados of Bengal khadi Muslin and imported vast amounts of fabrics. The khadi weaves of Comilla during the Mughal period were renowned as valuable textiles with distinctive characteristics.
During the years of the Indian self-rule movement and later with the independence of Bangladesh the spirit of khadi was driven with the winds of change. In 1921, Gandhi came to Chandina Upazila in comilla to inspire the local weavers and consequently a branch of 'Nikhil Bharat Tantubai Samity' was established to self-seed and proliferate the sale of goods to other major cities in India.
In greater Comilla region, the weaving centers were particularly developed in Mainamati, Muradnagar, Gauripur and Chandina.
See also
- Kh?d? Development and Village Industries Commission (Khadi Gramodyog
References
External links
- Khadi Culture: Fabrics from the roots of a nation!
- India's Kh?d? Culture
- Khadi and Village Industries Commission (Govt of India), Official website
- More about Khadi
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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