Pashmina- What is it? Where does it come from?
Pashmina is the undercoat of goats which are mostly found in Tibet, Mongolia and India. In India most of it comes from the Changthang region of Ladakh, which is a high altitude cold desert at heights between 4000 and 4500 meters, extending into Tibet. The Changthang plateau is inhabited by pastoralist nomads called Changpas. In Kashmir, “Pashm” refers to the raw unspun wool of domesticated Changthangi goats. As agriculture is not possible in these harsh conditions, the Changpa economy is centered on livestock and their products. Although they also keep sheep, yaks and horses, Pashmina goats are their most important source of income. The climatic conditions in Changthang are very harsh, and the winters are particularly severe as temperatures can go down as low as -40 degrees centigrades. These conditions are ideal for the goats (and other animals in these areas) to develop very fine and soft pashmina undercoats to survive the harsh winters. It is for this reason that pashmina is one of the finest and softest materials and is ideal for making shawls and stoles.
History
In the old days (that is until the 1950s) all pashmina shawls in Kashmir were made with material from western Tibet. This was purchased and brought to Leh and Srinagar by a group of traders called Palace Traders, who had the monopoly of purchasing pashmina from Tibet. The trade in pashmina between Ladakh and Tibet was regulated by a treaty (called Treaty of Tingmosgang), according to which Tibetan nomads were required to sell pashmina only to traders from Ladakh. These traders supplied pashmina to weavers in Kashmir, who used it to make wonderful pashmina shawls.
This situation changed after the 1950s following the border conflict between India and China. As the border with Tibet closed, the supply of pashmina from Tibet stopped. The shawl makers in Kashmir had to look for alternative sources, and the demand for pashmina from Ladakh grew. Today, Ladakh provides a large proportion of the pashmina used in India.
As the demand and price of pashmina has seen a steady increase in recent years, goats have become the most important source of income for Changpas. It is estimated that the Changpas have between 150,000 and 200,000 pashmina goats, which produce between 35 to 40 tons of pashmina every year. The demand for pashmina has seen a large increase in recent years, which production from Ladakh is not sufficient to meet. The gap in supply is being met by imports from Mongolia and other places.
Yak Wool
Yak is a large bovine inhabiting high-altitude cold deserts and faces the harsh cold conditions of these windswept trans-Himalayan regions of Ladakh, Tibet, Mongolia and parts of central Asia. Like pashmina goats, they also develop an undercoat of very soft and warm fiber to survive. The fiber (called Yak wool) is almost as soft as pashmina. Its wool (the soft down) is well known for its warmth, softness, breathability and odor. Yak wool for our shawls is procured primarily from nomads in Ladakh.
Woolen Shawls and Scarves
A blend of Himalayan and Merino sheep wools are used to make handwoven woolen products. These shawls are very soft and warm. The Himalayan free range wool comes from Himachal Pradesh and Harsil Valley in Garhwal Himalayas. Merino wool comes from Australia.
Process of making the Woolen Shawls
Sheep Wool
The Changpas comb the goats to gather pashmina (along with thick goat hair) in summer, when it is not needed by the goats. On average a goat provides about 250 grams of raw pashmina. Before it can be used for spinning and weaving, it is necessary to separate the fine pashmina from the thick hair (a process called de-hairing). In the past this was done by hand. A large number of women in Srinagar and other pashmina shawl producing areas were engaged in this process. In recent years a number of mechanized dehairing plants have been set up, almost completely replacing the manual de-hairing practice.
Wool is hand washed
Wool is handspun
Wool is spun using a traditional spinning wheel. The shawls and scarves made with hand-spun wool are especially soft and warm. Hand spinning is done by Jad Bhotia people of Garhwal.
History of Jad Bhotias:
Jad Bhotias are migratory pastoralists living in the Garhwal Himalayas. Traditionally, they kept large herds of sheep and goats and moved between their summer and winter pastures. Most of them were also involved with trans-Himalayan trade with Tibet, crossing into Tibet through Himalayan passes. From India, they took cotton fabric, metal implements, copper utensils and Jaggery, and traded these in the nearest Tibetan markets. After spending two months in Tibet, they would return to India with salt, bauxite and wool. They traded these in various markets such as Rishikesh and Kotdwar. Woolen.
The trans-Himalayan trade with Tibet stopped in the early 1960s after the Indo-Chinese border conflict. Bhotias lost their centuries old pattern of life and had to look for new sources of income. Making hand-woven shawls has emerged as an important source of livelihood for many Bhotia families. Although their number has declined, many Bhotia families still keep sheep and migrate with them between their summer pastures in the Neelang valley, at a height of about 3800 meters, and winter grazing grounds near Rishikesh, in the plains. They shear the wool in their summer village Bagori, near Gangotri, in September. It is then washed, carded, and hand-spun to make hand-woven shawls (Pankhis), and also knitted into sweaters, socks and gloves.
Natural dyes
All the pashmina products are hand-woven and coloured with natural dyes.
As the color of yak wool is usually dark brown, they are not dyed but hand-woven in natural colors.
See more about the Natural dyeing process in our upcoming post.
Hand weaving
All our shawls, stoles and scarves are handmade. The weaving is done in villages around us using traditional methods and simple looms. The families of weavers who work with us are traditional weavers who have been weaving for generations. Recently, with the introduction of power looms, they have been finding it difficult to compete and are facing difficulties.
Hand trimming and Hand knotting
Bhavana Handlooms is proud to partner with "Himalayan Weavers" to provide much-needed support to Goat herders, nomad community and weavers by promoting pure Pashmina, Yak wool and pure woolen handmade shawls stoles and scarves.