History of Indian Costume

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History of Indian Costumes

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INDEX
Unit I .................................................................. 4
Lesson 1: Ancient India Civilizations ..................... 5

Unit - II ............................................................... 27
Lesson 2: Mauryan and Sunga Periods (321-72
B.C) ..................................................................... 28

Unit -III .............................................................. 58
Lesson 3: Satavahana (Andhra) Period (200 B.C-
A.D 250) .............................................................. 59

Unit-IV ................................................................ 99
Lesson 4: Kushan Period ................................... 100

Unit - V .............................................................. 130
Lesson 5: Gupta Period (Early Fourth to Mid-Eight
Century Ad) ....................................................... 131
Lesson 6: Medieval Period, Mughal Period ......... 182

Books for Further Reference ............................. 212

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Unit I

Lesson 1: Ancient India Civilizations

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Lesson 1: Ancient India
Civilizations
Structure
1.1 Indus Valley Civilization Daily Life 3000-1500
BC
1.2 Aryan Civilization Daily Life, the Vedic and
Epic Periods (1500 500 BC)

1.1 Indus Valley Civilization Daily Life
3000-1500 BC

We know very little about this civilization, but what
we know is fascinating! Over 4,000 years ago, in the
Indus Valley, people built huge, planned cities, with
straight streets, and brick homes with private baths!
Kids played with toys and women wore lipstick!
How do we know this? In 1922, archaeologists
found something exciting! They found the remains
of an ancient city called Harappa. They found
another city, located 400 miles southwest of
Harappa, called Mohenjo-Daro. Other ancient cities
from the same period, arranged in the same way,
have been found since. Collectively, this civilization
is referred to as the Indus Valley Civilization
(sometimes, the Harappan civilization). This
civilization existed from about 3000-2,500 BC to
about 1500 BC, which means it existed at about the
same time as the Egyptian and Sumerian
civilizations. What was life like, over 4,000 years
ago, in Harappa and in Mohenjo-Daro, two busy
cities of about?

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35,000 people each? Would you have wanted to
live in one of these flourishing ancient cities? (I
think they sound neat!) Let's see what you think!

Homes: Houses were one or two stories high made
of baked brick, with flat roofs, and were just about
identical. Each was built around a courtyard, with
windows overlooking the courtyard. The outside
walls had no windows. Each home had its own
private drinking well and its own private bathroom.
Clay pipes led from the bathrooms to sewers located
under the streets. These sewers drained into nearly
rivers and streams. This was a very advanced
civilization!

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Mohenjo-Daro, the great bath harappan
culture 2300-1750 BC
Clothing: Men and women dressed in colorful
robes. Women wore jewelry of gold and precious
stone, and even wore lipstick! Among the treasures
found was a statue of a woman wearing a bracelet.
(Bracelets with similar designs are worn today in
India.)
Entertainment: A beautiful small bronze statue of
a dancer was found, which tells us that they
enjoyed dance and had great skill working with
metals. In the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro,
scientists have found the remains of a large central
pool, with steps leading down at both ends. This
could have been a public swimming pool, or
perhaps have been used for religious ceremonies.
Around this large central pool were smaller rooms,
that might have dressing rooms, and smaller pools
that might have been private baths.

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Food: Dinner might have been warm tasty wheat
bread served with barley or rice. It would appear
they were very good farmers. They grew barley,
peas, melons, wheat, and dates. Farms raised
cotton and kept herds of sheep, pigs, zebus (a kind
of cow), and water buffalo. Fish were caught in the
river with fishhooks! Each town had a large central
storage building for grain. Crops were grown, and
the harvest stored centrally, for all in the town to
enjoy.

Cooking bowls

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Toys: Some of the toys found were small carts,
whistles shaped like birds, and toy monkeys which
could slide down a string!

Art: This ancient civilization must have had
marvelous craftsmen, skilled in pottery, weaving,
and metalworking. The pottery that has been found
is of very high quality, with unusually beautiful
designs. Several small figures of animals, such as
monkeys, have been found. These small figures
Toys

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could be objects of art or toys. There are also small
statues of what they think are female gods. So far,
scientists have found no large statues. They have
found bowls made of bronze and silver, and many
beads and ornaments. The metals used to make
these things are not found in the Indus Valley. So,
either the people who lived in this ancient
civilization had to import all of these items from
some other place, or more probably, had to import
the metals they used to make these beautiful things
from somewhere else.

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Impression and seal from Mohenjo-Daro
showing a seated yogi figure surrounded by
animals, harappan culture,c.2300-1750 BC.
National museum of Pakistan, karachi

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Sculptures: One of the great civilizations of the
ancient world, the Indus valley civilization flourished
5,000 years ago in the valley of the river Indus.
Twice as extensive as its contemporary civilizations-
-the Old Kingdom of Egypt and the Sumerian city-
states of Ur and Lagash--it was a culture of great
sophistication and power. Its people built hundreds
of planned cities, the first in the world, and had
trade links with Mesopotamia and Oman. For seven
hundred years the civilization flourished; then for
unknown reasons it disintegrated and was
forgotten.in the 19th century by archaeologists, this
great civilization has remained virtually unknown to
American audiences.
This spring, the Asia Society brings together more
than a hundred ancient artifacts from Pakistan in
Great Cities, Small Treasures: The Ancient World of

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the Indus Valley. On view from February 11 to May
3, this exhibition will be the first opportunity for
U.S. audiences to see works in terra cotta, bronze,
gold, semi-precious stone, and shell produced in the
Indus region in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE.
The exhibition is part of Pakistan 1997-98, events
celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pakistan's
founding. Related events at the Asia Society include
performances, lectures, readings, film screenings,
and a symposium

Most striking in the Indus valley civilization was its
emphasis on the organization of everyday civic life.
Cities located thousands of miles apart were laid out
according to similar plans. Most cities of the river
plain were built on man-made mud platforms to
raise them above yearly floods. The settlements
were organized along a grid pattern of broad
avenues and narrower streets. Unprecedented in the
ancient world was the complex and sophisticated
drainage system of the Indus cities, which carried
wastewater from each house and street. There must
have been a strong centralized authority that
planned and maintained these civic amenities. While
Egyptians built pyramids to their Pharaohs, and
Mesopotamians built ziggurats to their Gods, the
Indus valley people built solid homes and
symmetrical roads. Other civilizations had
monuments to their leaders, but the Indus valley
city was a monument to its citizens.

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(Priest-king) Seated male sculpture, or Priest-
King, Mohenjo-daro
low-fired white steatite, National Museum,
Karachi, Courtesy of the Department of
Archaeology and Museums, Ministry of Culture,
Government of Pakistan

Carnelian and copper alloy necklace or belt,
Mohenjo-daro
Carnelian and copper alloy, Mohenjo-daro
Museum, Courtesy of the Department of
Archaeology and Museums, Ministry of Culture,
Government of Pakistan Discovery

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The minuscule and finely carved seals and tiny
polished gemstones with perfectly-centered drill-
holes are among the small treasures on show. These
artifacts reveal something about the exquisite ability
of the Indus craftsmen. Jewelry made in by Indus
craftsmen has even been found in the royal burials
at Ur. Other objects offer tantalizing if partial
glimpses into the daily life and religion and beliefs of
the Indus people. There are seals depicting
mysterious rites; shell vessels that may have been
for ritual libation, and the famous "Priest-King"
sculpture which may depict a person of sacred and
secular authority.

Humped bull seal, Mohenjo-daro
unfired tan steatite, Islamabad Museum,
Courtesy of the Department of Archaeology
and Museums, Ministry of Culture, Government
of Pakistan

The conditions that led to the rise and decline of the
Indus valley civilization remain obscure, in part
because linguists and archaeologists have been
unable to decipher its writing system. The ancient

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writings of Egypt and Mesopotamia have been
deciphered; they provide scholars with unique
perspectives on the history of these peoples. In
contrast, the language of the Indus valley
civilization remains a mystery. What we do know is
learned chiefly through the interpretation of the its
ancient artifacts. These small treasures provide us
with tantalizing glimpses into the life and culture of
the peoples of the ancient cities of the Indus Valley.

Ornaments

This head ornament was made of steatite micro
beads, each measuring only one millimeter in
diameter. It was found on the head of a male buried
in a cemetery at Harappa and probably served as a
hair decoration.
Micro beads

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Manufacture of micro beads
The manufacture of these incredibly tiny micro
beads involved drilling each rough-cut piece of
steatite carefully while holding it on the palm of the
hand, stringing them together and polishing them
into the characteristic disc shape on a flat stone.
The beads were then hardened by carefully
controlled heat. This is but one technological
process that demonstrates the skill and versatility of
the Indus craftspeople.
Different types of beads
The ancient Harappans went to great efforts to
obtain exotic colored stones for making beads of
different shapes and sizes.

Figurine
Female figurine with three sets of chokers and
necklaces. This is one of the largest female figurines
found at Harappa and it has the common fan shaped
headdress with cups on either side of the head.

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Traces of black pigment or soot have been found
inside the cups, and suggest that they were filled
with oil and used as a sacred lamp. On the other
hand, a sooty black pigment may have been applied
to depict black hair. The forward projecting face is
made separately and attached to the body after all
of the ornaments had been applied.
Transportation: The people used camels, oxen
and elephants to travel over land. They had carts
with wooden wheels. They had ships, with one
mast, probably used to sail around the Arabian Sea.
Seals with a pictographic script, which has not as
yet been deciphered, were found at the Indus Valley
sites. Similar seals were found in Mesopotamia,
which seems to indicate possible trade between
these two civilizations.

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The Riddle of the Indus: What does it take to
build a city with straight streets and well-designed
sewers? It takes smart engineers and a lot of
planning! These well organized cities suggest a well
organized government and probably a well-
developed social life.

What is amazing is that it appears the Harappan
cities did not develop slowly, which suggests that
whoever built these cities learned to do so in
another place. As the Indus flooded, cities were
rebuilt on top of each other. Archaeologists have
discovered several different cities, one built over the
other, each built a little less skillfully. The most
skillful was on bottom. It would appear that builders
grew less able or less interested in perfection over
time. Still, each city is a marvel, and each greatly
advanced for its time.

So far, scientists have found no wall carvings
or tomb paintings to tell us about their life. We
do know they had a written language, but only a
few sentences, on pottery and amulets, have been
found. We dont know what it says. Scholars have
quite a few mysteries to solve about the ancient
Indus civilization. For one thing, the people who
lived in these marvelous cities disappeared around
1500 BC. Perhaps they ran out of wood to hold back
flooding, or perhaps their soil gave out and no
longer would grow crops. No one knows what
happened these people, or where they went.
Historians are very curious. It will be interesting to
see what archaeologists "dig up" next!

UPDATE ON THE INDUS VALLEY! (Spring,
1998) Thanks to modern technology and
international rivalry, nearly 1,400 Indus sites

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(towns!) have now been discovered. That is a very
big civilization, large enough to be called an empire,
only there is no evidence that these people
were governed by emperors who lived in palaces
or large estates. Rather, the opposite has been
discovered. Some homes are a bit larger than
others, but that might be due to a larger family unit.

What else have scientists discovered about this
fascinating culture? LOTS! Their towns were laid out
in grids everywhere (straight streets, well built
homes!) These people were incredible builders!
Scientists have found what they think are giant
reservoirs for fresh water. They have also found that
even the smallest house at the edge of each town
was linked to that town's central drainage system.
(Is it possible that they not only drained waste
water out, but also had a system to pump fresh
water into their homes, similar to modern plumbing?
What a neat thought! Who were these people?
Remember-these systems were built over 3,500
years ago!)

Although scientists cannot yet read the language,
they are beginning to believe these people had a
common language! That's incredible! As well,
scientists have found artifacts at different sites
(Towns) with the same or similar picture of a
unicorn on them. India Today suggested
humorously that perhaps it was a logo - like Pepsi
and Coke, only this one was Unicorn!

What next? Scientists remain very curious about
these people, who lived about the same time in
History as the ancient Mesopotamians and the
ancient Egyptians. Did these ancient civilizations

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Know each other in ancient times? My personal
opinion is - yes! As scientists continue to unravel
The riddle of the Indus, we may find we will have to
rewrite history! Was it the ancient Mesopotamians
who first invented the sailboat and the wheel, or
was it perhaps the people in the Indus Valley?
Where did these people come from, and where did
they go? It's a fascinating riddle.

1.2 Aryan Civilization Daily Life, the Vedic
& Epics Periods (1500-500 BC)
The Red Dot on Foreheads: Have you ever
wondered why Indian women place a red dot on
their foreheads, between their eyes? We did, so we
asked a few people what the red dot meant. Here
are two replies!

"This goes back to Aryan days! In ancient times, a
groom used to apply a spot of his blood on his
bride's forehead, in recognition of wedlock! Today,
married Indian women may choose to wear this
mark. A married woman does not have to do this,
but she can if she wants. However, if a woman is
single, divorced or a widow, she cannot wear this
mark. It's a sign of marriage!"

"At one time, the tilak or bindi as it is called, was a
sign of a happily married woman. Today, it is much
more a fashion accessory--it can be any colour, any
shape or size, and women often wear more than
one." (Gerald L Harrison; Adult educator: Asian
Studies Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Canada)

Things do change over time. Things certainly
changed in the Indus Valley when a new group

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arrived, called the Aryans. The Aryans came from
Central Asia (modern day Russia). They entered
the Indus Valley through the fabled Khyber Pass.
The Aryans were nomads. They raised livestock,
rode chariots, and loved to gamble. They had no
sophisticated government. They grouped in clans,
and were ruled by warrior chiefs called rajas. Their
history is one of constant war amongst themselves,
between the various clans. We have little
archaeological evidence, but have something else
we can use to learn about them. The Aryans
created marvellous stories, stories they told or
sang for centuries.

The VEDAS:
The Aryan beliefs and daily life are described in the
four Vedas, a collection of poems and sacred
hymns, composed in about 1500 BC. Veda means
knowledge. The Vedas are composed of the Rig,
Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. This is why the
period from roughly 1500 BC to 1000 BC is called
the Vedic Period. It is named after the Vedas.
The Ramayana & the Mahabharata
Around 1000 BC, the Aryans started to create two
marvelous epics. We know about daily life
during this period from these famous epics,
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These
epics are stories about Aryans life, wars, and
accomplishments. School kids in India, today, know
these stories very well. They're great stories! The
Ramayana tells a story in which the (good) aryan
king Rama destroys the (evil) pre-aryan king
Ravana. The other epic, Mahabharata, talks of Aryan
wars amongst themselves, where two clans, the
Pandavas and the Kauravas, battle it out, and the
Pandavas emerge victorious. This is why the period
from roughly 1000 BC to 500 BC is called the Epics

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Period. It is named after these two great epics, the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

How did the Aryans live?
The Aryans clans, or tribes, settled in different
regions of north-western India. The tribes were
called Gana (literally a "collection" - of people). The
chief of each tribe was an hereditary job. If your
father was the chief, someday, you would be chief.
It was the only way to become a chief. The chief
made decisions, after listening to a committee, or
perhaps even to the entire tribe. People had a voice,
but the chief was the boss.

Aryan Houses: The people in the Vedic period
lived in straw and wooden huts. Some homes were
made of wood, but not until later, during the Epics
Period.
Yagna (central fire-place)
The life of the tribal Aryans was focused around the
central fireplace called the Yagna. Dinner time was
social time. The tribe would gather around the
central fireplace, and share news, and the days

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openings. Those who tended the central fireplace
also cooked for the rest of the tribe. This was a very
special job. The fire tenders were the go-between
between the fire god and the people. These fire
tenders, later on, formed the caste of priests. The
Aryans ate meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, milk, and
fish. The word for guest was Go-Ghna or eater of
beef. What did they do when they were not
working or fighting each other? The Aryans
loved to gamble. They introduced the horse to
ancient India and raced chariots. They played
fighting games. They loved to tell stories. The
ancient Aryans were proud and fierce, and deeply
religious. They had many gods and goddesses.
Jobs
As the Aryans settled in and began to grow crops,
people started to have occupations. In each
tribe, people began to belong to one of four groups:
the Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors),
Vaishya (traders and agriculturists), and Shudra
(workers). In the beginning, these were just
occupations. You could move from group to group.
This changed over time, until a person's occupation
or group depended upon birth. If your father was a
farmer, you had to be farmer. Change from one
group to another became very difficult.

Education
Kids were taught by a guru (a teacher).Even chiefs
sons had to obey the guru. All students followed a
rigorous course of studies which were imparted
orally. Writing was done on bark and leaves, and
hence was perishable, so we have very few rock
edicts to tell us what they studied or what they
wrote.

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Clothing
Clothing was initially made of animal skins. As the
Aryans settled down, clothing began to be made of
cotton.

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Intext Questions:
1. Make a project on Ancient Indian civilization.
2. Vividly illustrate the main feature exhibited by
them.

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Unit - II

Lesson 2: Mauryan and Sunga Period

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Lesson 2: Mauryan and
Sunga Periods (321-72
B.C)
Structure
2.1 History and Social Life
2.2 Costume Men and Women
2.3 Headgear and Hairstyles
2.4 Jewellery
2.5 Military Costume
2.6 Religious Persons
2.7 Textiles and Dyes
2.8 Style
2.9 Illustration of Men and Women Costumes

Chandragupta Maurya lived in considerable state. In
the processions held on festive occasions, elephants
decked in gold and silver, four horsed chariots and
yokes of oxen took part...

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This age witnessed the emergence of Indias first
great empire. When Alexander entered the Punjab
just before the establishment of the Mauryan
Empire, it was with the view to develop its immense
commercial resources. Trade with Babylon had long
been established. As such, there were man cultural
crosscurrents between China, Persia, and India.
Alexander founded trading posts all along his
course, and left behind Greek colonists who finally
intermarried with the Indians. Chandragupta Maurya
himself married a princess from the Greek Seleucid
Court.
Chandragupta Maurya lived in considerable state. In
the processions held on festive occasions, elephants
decked in gold and silver, four horsed chariots and
yokes of oxen took part. In the towns people
dressed in flowered muslin embroidered with jewels.
The palaces are said to have been truly luxurious,
with great-pillared rooms of state, like those in Iran,
the golden pillars decorated with embossed vine
leaves and silver birds. These palaces were set in
lovely parks full of shady trees, many of which had
been imported to give variety, and boating as a
sport was popular on artificial lakes full of fish.
This was an age of plenty, even for the poor, as the
fields were fertile, the basic crops being rice, barley,
wheat, millet, and sugarcane. Metals including gold
and silver were mined. The state gave the people
security and protection, maintained roads, and
provided reservoirs and wells. All this helped to
create a sense of well being in the populace. A cattle
breeding was as important during the Vedic Age as
it is now, and in addition to milk products provided
skin, leather, horn, hair and wool, which were used
in various crafts

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Lauriya nandangarh, edict pillar, erected by
Ashoka mauryan.c.242/241 BC

Trade was carried on by ships through the ports
along the coastline of Maharashtra, the Malabar
Coast, the Tamil country, and Bengal. Land routes
were expanded to join the Ancient Silk route
through Central Asia to China, and large caravans
undertook hazardous journeys for the sake of the
profits that were to be made by the adventurous.

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Lion capital, Sarnath (ASI Museum, Sarnath). This
was the capital of the Asoka pillar at Sarnath. The
four lions face the cardinal directions to indicate the
spread of "dharma". They are stylised, indicating the
influence of Persian art. Originally, the lions
supported a "chakra" above them

Chaitya hall

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2.2 Costume
Men and women continued to wear three unstitched
garments, as in Vedic times. The main garment was
the antariya of white cotton, linen or flowered
muslin, sometimes embroidered in gold and
precious stones. For men it was an unstitched
length of cloth draped around the hips and between
the legs in the kachcha style, extending from the
waist to the calf or ankles or worn even shorter by
peasants and commoners. The antariya was secured
at the waist by a sash or kayabandh, often tied in a
looped knot at the center front of the waist. The
kayabandh could be simple sash, vethaka; one with
drum-headed knot at the ends, muraja; a very
elaborate band of embroidery, flat and ribbon-
shaped, pattika; or a many-stringed one, kalabuka.
The third item of clothing called uttariya was
another length of material, usually fine cotton, very

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rarely silk, whichwas utilized as a long scarf to
drape the top half of the body.
The uttariya was worn in several ways to suit the
comforts of the wearer: very elegantly by those at
court, who drape it on both shoulders or one
shoulder, or diagonally across the chest and casually
knotted at the waist, or it could even be worn
loosely across the back and supported by the elbows
or wrist, and in many other ways according to the
whims of the weather. But for the labourer and the
craftsman, it was more a practical garment to be
tied around the head as protection from sun, or
tightly around the waist leaving the hands free for
work, or again as a towel to mop the face when
sweating. Its uses were endless for the poor
sections of the society and for them it would be
made of coarse cotton.
Women tied their antariya in different ways.
Originally opaque, it later became more and more

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transparent. A simple small antariya or strip of
cloth, langoti was attached to the kayabandh at the
center front, and then passed between the legs and
tucked in at the back. A longer version of the
antariya was the knee-length one, being first
wrapped around and secured at the waist, the
longer end then pleated and tucked in at the front,
and the shorter end finally drawn between the legs,
Kachcha style, and tucked in at the waist at the
back. Another version, the lehnga style, was a
length of cloth wrapped around the hips tightly to
form a tabular type of skirt. This was notdrawn
between the legs in the kachcha style.
The uttariyas of upper-class women were generally
of thin material decorated with elaborated borders
and quite often worn as a head covering. Their
kayabandhs were very similar to those of the men.
In addition, they sometimes wore a patka, a
decorative piece of cloth attached to the kayabandh
in front by tucking in one end at the waist. The
patka was made from plaited wool or cotton, twisted
yarn or leather, and at times it was also woven.
Although, footwear is often mentioned in Vedic
literature there is no sculptural evidence for this
period, except in the case of soldiers who wear the
Persian boot. It may be because shoes could not be
taken inside a stupa or Buddhist temple, that they
were not depicted on the sculptures on stupas.
In the more remote villages and jungles, shepherds,
hunters and people of similar occupations were
mostly aboriginal or belonged to the lowest caste.
They generally wore simple unbleached coarse
varieties of the cotton antariya and turbans, much
the same as we find today, and the practice of
tattooing was fairly common. The more primitive
tribes who lived in the forest wore garments made
from grass (Kusa), skin, and fur.

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Women generally covered their heads with the
uttariya, worn straight or crosswise, often
resplendent with be beautiful borders. The hair,
centrally parted, was made into one or two plaits or
in a large knot at the back. The uttariya could be
worn simply hanging down at the back or secured to
the head with a headband, or with one end arranged

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in a fan at the top of the head. Skullcaps were
sometimes worn under or over the uttariya to keep
it in place, or at times it could be decorated with a
fringe or pendants. Helmets too are seen as
headgear for phrygian women who probably wore
long-sleeved tunic with tight fitting trousers and a
phrygian cap which was conical and had ear flaps.
In India, the Amazons wore in addition, the crossed-
at-chest belt vaikaksha, with metal buckles, shield,
and sword. Women sometimes used turbans of
decorated cloth.

As regards male headgear, in the early Maureen
period there is no trace of the turban mauli, but in
the Sunga period we find great emphasis on this
form of male head dress. These were remarkable
headdresses in which the hair itself was often
twisted into a braid along with the turban cloth. This
twisted braid was then arranged to form a
protuberance at the front or the side of the head but
never at the center top, as only priests could use
this style. Over the turban a band was sometimes
used to hold it in place. In addition, decorative
elements like a jewelled brooch or a jhalar (fringe)
could be attached to the turban, or one end folded
in pleats and tucked in like a fan.

2.4 Jewellery
From the sculptures we find there was a richness
and profusion in the jewellery worn by both men
and women. Earlier, it had a massive quality to it
and the workmanship was coarse. A little later, with
the Sungas, the jewellery became somewhat
refined. In the Arthashastra attributed to Kautilya,
and in the sculptures of the period we find
references, which show us that the material used
most frequently, were gold and precious stones like

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corals, rubies, sapphires, agates, and crystals.
Pearls too were used and beads of all kinds were
plentiful including those made of glass. Certain
ornaments were common to both sexes, like
earrings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets and
embroidered belts. Earring or karnika were of three
types-a simple ring or circle called Kundala, a
circular disc earring known as dehri and earrings
with a flower-like shape known as Karnaphul.
Necklaces of two kinds were worn. A short one
called Kantha which was broad and flat, usually
gold, inlaid with precious stones, and a long one,
the lambanam. These chain or bead necklaces were
sometimes three-to-seven stringed and were named
after the number of strings of which they were
composed. At the centre of each string of beads was
an amulet for warding off evil forces. Baju band or
armlets of gold and silver beads were worn on the
upper arm, and were occasionally studded with
precious stones. Bracelets called Kangan, very often
made of square or round beads of gold, and richly
embroidered cloth belts completed the male
ensemble. Women, in addition, wore girdle called
mekhala, a hip belt of multi-stringed beads,
originally made from the red seed kaksha but now
made of gold and silver beads, with shapes ranging
from round to square and oval. Dancing girls added
on to these, chains of gold and silver to which bells
were attached. All women wore anklets and thumb
and finger rings. The rings were plain and crowded
together on the middle joints of the fingers. Anklets
were often of gold in this period, though silver was
more common. They could be in the form of a
simple ring, Kara, a thick chain, sankla, oran
ornamental circle with small bells called ghungru.
There is no evidence of nose-rings in the period.
Forehead ornaments for women were quite common
and worn below the parting of the hair and at the
center of the fore-head. These consisted of thin

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plate of gold or silver stamped in various patterns,
as well as a star-shaped sitara and bina. And a tiny
ornament called bindi. The only material evidence
we have of a piece of Mauryan jewellery is a single
earring found at Taxila dated second century BC
which similar to Graeco-Roman and Etruscan
Jewellery.

Sewn garments, which had been used by the
Persian soldiers, were sometimes utilized for
military dress by the Mauryans. This consisted of a
sleeved tunic with cross straps across the chest to
carry the quiver, and a leather belt with sword. The
lower garment was more often the Indian antariya
rather than the Persian trousers. The headgear was
usually the turban or headband, whereas the
Persians had worn the pointed cap. The mixture of
foreign and indigenous garments is interesting as it
shows one of the early phases of evolution in the
costumes of Indians. This came about in the colder
north, where the Persian garments were more
suitable, climatically and functionally, in case of
soldiers. Although, coats of mail are mentioned in
the Arthshastra there is no visual evidence of it in
this period.


Of the three religions- Hinduism, Buddhism and
Jainism, it was Hinduism which evolved from early
Vedic sources with sacrifice as its main ritual and
had as its keepers of religion the Brahmin priests,
who belonged to what later came to be the highest
category in the caste system as practiced in India.

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Later in life, a Brahmin man or woman became a
sadhu or sanyasin, seeking detachment.
The Brahmanical Sadhu (Sanyasin) was an ascetic
who lived either in a hermitage or visited holy
places. He wore a shaped kilt-like garment made of
strips sewn together, which was tied at the waist
with a cord. A short rectangular cloak covered the
left shoulder and breast, leaving the right side
exposed. The hair and beard were allowed to grow,
the former being plaited and arranged in a spiral at
the top of the head. He sometimes wore a
headdress in the shape of a cap. Women ascetics
too wore this cloak and what appeared to be a cap.
These garments, often made from leaves or the
complete bark of tree, were tied with a cord. Such a
bark garment is still worn by the Kumbipatta sect in
Orissa. Skins of antelope and goat called ajina were
used by anchorites and wild ascetics, muni, as a
covering for the chest. Men ascetics did not cut their
nails, hair and beard and carried there few
possessions on a yoke balanced on the shoulders.
Buddhism, founded by Gautam Buddha, b.fifth
century BC, had no caste division. It had a religious
order of monks, bhikshu, and nuns, bhikshuni, who
set up monasteries where they studied their
religion, later leaving to preach and collect alms.

Buddhist monks normally shaved their heads and
beards but kept the head covered with a headdress.
If unshaven, the hair was worn in a knot on top of
the head. Lay brothers wore theirs on the right side
of the head. Their dress was the common antariya
with an uttariya and a larger chadder, all dyed
saffron. Buddhist monks, bhikshu, had few
possessions and their clothes were made of rags
patched together and dyed red or yellow. These
consisted of a lower garment antaravasaka, an

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upper garment uttarasanga, a cloak samghati, a
waist clothe kushalaka, and buckled belt
samakaksika. Worn-out leather soles strapped to
their feet completed their attire. Their possessions
consisted of a patra or begging bowl, a razor,
tweezers for removing hair, clippers for cutting toe
and finger nails, an ear pick, a tooth pick, gauze for
filtering drinking water, a needle, a walking stick, an
umbrella, a fan and a bag of medicines.
The third religion Jainsim was propagated by
Mahavira, b. fifth century BC and its main doctrine
was ahinsa, non-violence. Later two sects
developed-the sky clad (naked) Digamber sect and
the white clad Svetamber sect. Both had nuns and
monks who functioned as missionaries.
In the Jain monastic order, monks and nuns wore a
white costume consisting of a robe and cloak. They
covered their nose and mouth with a piece of gauze
to ensure they would not inhale even the smallest
living organism and so cause its death. Their hair
and beard were shaven and most lived the life of
missionaries continuously travelling on foot. The
Jain ascetics smeared their bodies with mud, took
the vow of silence, clothed themselves in skirts
made of bark, and carried a stick made of three
rods bound together, and an umbrella. They wore
brassring and brass bangles. Their other
possessions included a water jug, clay bowl, and pot
with spout, broom,hook, portable stool, rosary, and
an alms bowl.

Weaving of fine and coarse varieties of cloth was
well established. Cotton, silk, wool, linen and
jutefabrics were readily available. Furs and the
better varieties of wool and silk like tussar, called
kausheya like Eri or Muga silk of Assam, yellowish in

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its natural color but when bleached called patrona,
were used. Kaseyyaka (High quality cotton or silk)
and the bright red woolen blankets of Gandhara
were worth a small fortune each. A rainproof woolen
cloth was available in Nepal. Resist dyeing and hand
printing in a pattern on cloth has been mentioned by
Greek visitors to the court of Chandragupta Maurya,
as is the Indian glazed cotton cloth, which was in
common use by 400 BC. Material similar to the
khinkhwab (which is the interweaving of silk and
gold or silver wires beautiful floral pattern) was in
great demand and even exported to Babylon long
before the Mauryas. Cotton, wool and a fabric called
karpasa were available in the north in both coarse
and fine varieties. There were also fine muslins
often embroidered in purple and gold and
transparent like later-day material, which came to
be called shabnam (morning dew). The coarse
varieties were used by the populace. Woolen cloth,
avika, from the sheeps wool was either pure white
(bleached) or dyed pure red, rose, or black.
Blankets or kambala were either made by
completing the edges with borders or braids, or
woven wool strips were joined together. The process
of felting (pressing the fibers together, instead of
weaving) was also making known. All varieties of
wool were available, coarse for making head-
dresses, trappings and blankets for richer class.
Washermen were also dyers, rajaka, and they
perfumed garments after washing them. Four
primary color were recognized in the dyeing of
textiles: red (dyed with safflower and madder),
white (through bleaching), yellow (natural color of
yarn and saffron), and blue (indigo leaves). Fabrics
were also woven in patterns and printed for use as
carpets, bedcovers, blankets, and clothes.

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2.8 Style
Forceful sculptures carved during the Mauryan-
Sunga period in the first century BC in the north at
Bharut and Sanchi give us a feeling of superhuman
power. The drapery hangs heavy folds and the
jewellery is massive and somewhat coarse. Turbans
coil and twist with the hair to form protuberances,
with serpentine armlets and anklets closing in on
strong limbs. The head veils of the woven are
voluminous; long-beaded aprons and crossed
scarves at he chest suggest fruitful abundance, and
necklaces and strings with amulet boxes suspended
on the breasts indicate a fear of evil and dark forces
around. With the coming of the Sunga dynasty there
is greater emphasis on detail in the elaborate
jewellery of the women, which is more elegant and
finer and adorns the figures seen in soft relaxed
postures.

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Yakshi

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2.9 Illustration of men and women
costumes:
Donor Figure [Bharut]
Antariya : Lower cloth, calf length, of fine cotton
with fluted ends in front, worn in kachcha style, that
is between the legs.
Uttariya : Upper cloth of printed cotton worn
crosswise on the head.
Kayabandh : Embroidered flat cloth band, pattika
style, worn in a looped knot with Fringed ends.

Mekhala : Six-stringed hip belt of gold or silver
beads.
Lambanam : long necklace made of chains held at
intervals by flat bands, phalakahara style.

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Kantha : Short necklace of five strings of beads in
gold or silver.

Karnika: Trumpet-shaped earrings.

Kangan : Ten bracelets adorning each hand.

Baju Band : Decorative armlets worn on upper
arms.

Kara : Anklets of twisted wire worn on both ankles.

Sitara : Star shaped forehead ornament of gold or
silver with a stamped pattern.
YAKSHI [Baranmara]
Antariya : langoti style small strips of cloth drawn
between the legs and attached to a cord at the
waist.

Uttariya : There are two: one has an embroidered

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border and is worn crosswise over the head with a
jhalar (networking fringe) at the forehead; the other
is draped across the back and over both arms.

Kayabandh : Flat cloth band, pattika style, worn in
a looped knot.

Mekhala : Four stringed beads hip belt.

Patka : A strip of woven beads tucked in at the
front of the waist reaching the ankles

Atkan : bead necklace worn aslanr over the left
shoulder and under the right arm.

Kangan : five bead bracelets on each wrist

Baju Band : three row of beads on the upper arms

Karnika : trumpet shaped earring

Lambanam : long necklace of beads

Kantha : Short necklace of beads

Sankla : anklets made of thick chains

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Kuvera Yaksha [Bharut]
Antariya:Kachcha style, both equal ends being taken
between the legs after knotting the front; these
ends are then held diagonally, fluted and tucked
into the waist at the back to hang between the legs
up to the ground.
Uttariya : upavita fashion, worn
across the chest and over the left shoulder

Kayalbandh : muraja style, drum-headed knobs at
the ends, tied in a looped knot

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Baju Band : armlets with elaborate incised pattern

Kangan : several bracelets on each wrist

Karnika : trumpet-shaped earring or karnaphul
Mauli : turban of printed cloth held by decorative
bands wound over the top knot of hair and at the
side of the head
Antariya : worn in same style as in the Kuvera
Yaksha except that only one long end is tucked in at
the back, the other is a finely pleated apron tucked
into the centre front of The antariya.

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Uttariya : looped at the chest and thrown back
over both shoulders.

Kayabandh : embroidered flat
cloth band, Pattika style.

Lambanam : phalakahara style necklace.

Baju Band : simple leaf-patterned armlet.

Kangan : three bracelets of beads on each wrist

Karnika : trumpet-shaped earrings, Karnaphu

Mauli : turban in which the long hair and cloth are
twisted together, wound around the head and made
into a top knot in front, the cloth then continues to
be wound around the head and fixed with a
separate band

Uttariya : printed or woven in a lozenge design in
stripes, with a border; it is worn crosswise on the
head and thrown back hanging to the waist like
pouch.

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Warrior [Bharut]
Antariya : knee-length, worn in kachcha style with
fluted end tucked in at centre front

Tunic : one of the earliest depictions of the cut and
sewn garment; it has short sleeves and a round
neck, full front opening with ties at the neck and
waist, and is hip length.
Boots: fitting to the knees

Head band : tied at the back over short hair A
broad flat sword with cross straps on the sheath is
suspended from the left shoulder.

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COURTIER [Bharut]
turban is wound around the long hair tied in a top
knot; to fix the turban in place a decorative band
has been used; large disc-type earrings and two
strings of beads adorn the neck.
Kantha : short necklace with granulated design

lambanam : in phalakahar a style

Hair ornament : jewelled and worn below centre
parting of the hair

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COURTIER [Bharut]
long hair is twisted into a top knot at the left around
which the turban is wound so as to completely
cover it, an ornament heart shaped brooch is fixed
on the right front and a decorative band visible at
the forehead is tied under the turban
Girdle [Bharut]
Mekhala : elaborate seven-stringed saptaki, the
two outer strands are square, interspersed with
rows of beads across and aslant the hips in gold or
hard stone, and are early mitations of the strings of
red rati seeds that were originally worn; the pattika,
a flat ribbon-shaped embroidered gridle of cloth of
gold is also worn

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Necklace [Bharut]
Kantha : short neckalce called tilari (three-
stringed); each string consists of graduated peaarls
and a central gem four-stringed : chaulari

five-stringed : paklari

seven-stringed : satlari

Armlets [Patna]
serpentine armlets are of the Achaemenid type and
depict the Iranian influence on Indian jewellery of
this period; he wears an antariya in the lehnga
style, an uttariya and a thick many-stringed
kayabandh with knotted ends-kalabuka.

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Earring [Bharut]
Karnika: this style of earring in the form of a
triratna or triple gem of Buddhist triad, was peculiar
to the Buddhist; this symbol was used on necklaces
and to decorate soldiers, scabbards and the top of
standards

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Intext Questions:
1. Make project documentation on Mauryan &
Sunga period.
2. Illustrate their main stylization in design &
clothing.

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Unit -III
Lesson 3: Satavahana Period

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Lesson 3: Satavahana
(Andhra) Period (200 B.C-
A.D 250)
Structure
3.2 The Royal Way of Life
3.3 Early Satavahana (Detailed Study)
3.4 Late Satavahana (100 B.C A.D 250)
3.5 Illustration of Men and Women Costumes

Main archaeological sites of interest for costumes
Sanchi Gateways
Ajanta Carves IX, X
Amaravati 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th period
Goli
Nagarjunakonda

The Satavahana or Andhra Empire was next great
empire after the Mauryan, and was established in
the Deccan just as the Mauryan, and was coming to
an end. It endured for 460 years in unbroken
continuity and ran parallel, for a while to the Kushan
empire with which it struggled for almost a century.
On the whole it was peaceful and economically
prosperous period and trade and industry increased

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tremendously, especially with Rome. The Romans
brought in a continuous flow of Roman gold which
helped to raise the level of economic life a great
deal.
Racially, the early people of the Deccan were a
hybrid race, a mixture of abdoriginal Dravidians and
Scythians, Parthians, Greeks, Buddhism and Muryan
culture had built up a civilized structure even before
the satavahanas established were ousted by the
Ikshvakus, who were themselves from the Deccan.

3.2 The royal way of life

From as early as the Mauryan-sunga period there
were six emblems to denote a royal personage.
These were the ushnisha or turban, a pair of
flywhisks, umbrella, sword, -sandals, and the royal

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standard. Of these, the two most important and
almost always used on all format occasions were the
umbrella and the flywhisks. The umbrella was white
and gold for kings and nobles, and was carried by
the chattradhara or umbrella carrier. The flywhisks
were made of yak tails with gold handles, usually
two, which were waved alternatively by the chauri
bearers. In addition to this another attendant waved
a fan of palm leaves gaily chequered and made of
bark, usira grass, or peacock feathers.

A female attendant, the khadgavahni, on her
shoulder, carried the sword, a symbol of power. She
normally stood close behind the king. Thronged
sandals originally of boar skin were the kings
prerogative. Both sword and sandals were said to
rule the kingdom in the absence of the king.

3.3 Early Satavahana
The people of the Deccan were a hybrid race, a
mixture of the abdoriginal Dravidians and foreign
invaders. In the first century B.C their costumes too
were an interesting mixture of foreign and
indigenous garments. All these clothes are
represented in caves IX and X in Ajanta.
In the first century B.C we find tunics, kancuka in
the stripes design worn by attendants. The kancuka
are of mid-high length with short sleeves, in some
the opening is on the left side and in others it is at
the front. The tunic worn by a king in hunting dress
has no discernible opening at the neck, so it is
probably at the back. Necklines too differed in that
some were V-shaped and others were round in
shape. With the tunic a thick kayabandh was wound
once around the waist. An elaborate turban ushnisa,
intertwined with the long black hair of the aborigine
wearers was also worn. In addition to these, hunters

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wore two-bar type sandals with a strap for buckling,
which is still seen in the Deccan. As influences from
the north and from foreign invaders percolated, the
Dravidian aboriginal village women too changed
their costume using short antariyas, large uttariyas
with elaborate broad borders covering the head and
back, tikkas on the forehead and a series of conch
bangles on the arms. Except for the skirt, they
looked very much like the Lambadis who are a
gypsy tribe of the Deccan today.
In the royal court dress of the Mauryan-Sunga
people the female attendants wore transparent long
antariyas with loose kayabandhs tied in a knot at
the center having beautiful ornamental tips. Their
many stringed girdles were made of beads.
Shoulder length hair held by fillets tied at the center
of the head seems to denote that these attendants
were foreigners, although nothing in the garments
wore seems foreign. The king and most of his
courtiers wore the indigenous antariya short and
informal ceremonial occasions. With this the
decorative kayabandh was tied in different styles
and knots. The kayabandh could be tied like a thick
cord looped in a semi-circle at the front with
conspicuous side tassels, or be made of thick
twisted silk. The ushnisa was always worn and a
crown was used when necessary.

Headgear and Styles
The aboriginal jungle women wore rolls and
headbands with peacock feathers attached. Village
women and commoners wore their hair in a simple
knot at the nape covered by a large uttariya, which
at times had elaborate broad borders. Court
attendants and women of the richer classes wore
their hair more fashionably, either in a topknot on
the right side with a loop of flower suspended in a

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plait. A fillet, simple or gold embroidered, could be
worn to hold it in a place.
Most often, the long hair of men was worn
intertwined with lengths of clot to form an ushnisa
in a variety of ways. Frequently it had a knot the
original top knot of the aboriginals-covered with the
cloth of the turban. This knot could be at center
front over the forehead in a conch-shell shape, or
the tuff of hair could be visible on top of the turban.

Jewellery
Jewellery in this period had a massive primitive
character in strong contrast to that worn in the later
Satavahana period. When indigenous garments are
shown on men, whether at court, all wear some
from of Jewellery. But when hunters, attendants and
soldiers wear the foreign dress, the kancuka, and
very little Jewellery s seen. Most often it consists of
just earrings of the wheel-pattern type.
Indigenous jewellery however, consisted of
lambanam, earrings, and a pair of kangan and baju
band for the males. Women did not wear the baju
band but wore a large number of bangles made of
conch or ivory, disc type earrings, the lambanam,
and tikka on the forehead. Women attendants at
court wore, in addition, the mekhala.

Military Costume
Soldier wore short-sleeved tunics, with elaborate
headgear consisting of either a turban with a top
knot, chin band and ear flaps, or two top knots with
a turban. They were equipped with axes, and bows
and arrows or carried sickles. Palace guards
however wore the antariya with a heavy cloak
draped over the left shoulder.

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3.4 Late Satavahana (100 B.C A.D 250)
Costume
Clothing was generally sparse and made of thin
cotton. The three articles of clothing, the antariya,
uttariya, and kayabandh were widely used, but
interesting mixtures of foreign and indigenous
garments were fairly prevalent.
The uttariya for both men and women was usually
white and of cotton or silk. It was however, at
times, of beautiful colours and embroidered. Men
could wear it across the back and over both
shoulders or merely thrown over the chest, and they
still worn by both sexes in the kachcha fashion
which meant that one end was passed between the
legs and tucked in behind, but this way normally to
the knees or even shorter. Generally, the antariya
appears to have been made of almost transparent
cloth and was worn very tight and clinging in the
case of women. It is almost invisible in the early
Andhra sculptures with only double incised lines to
show the drape. Te nivi bandha knot to tie the
antariya at the waist is often alluded to in the
literature of ancient India.
The kayabandh tied in a bow-shaped knot was
worn by both sexes to give further support to the
antariya at the waist. This item was worn in a
variety of ways. The kayabandh in the form of a
simple sash was called the vethaka. The women
also wore the patika which was made of flat ribbon-
shaped pieces of cloth, usually silk. A heavy looking
thick jeweled roll with hanging tassels-
Kakshyabandha-was worn by men. the kalabuka
was a girdle made of many strips plaited together,
and the mauraja had drum headed knots at the
ends instead of tassels.
It is in the distinctive ways of wearing these three
simple garments the antariya, uttariya, and

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kayabandh and in the headgear and jewellery, that
we can trace the evolution of the costumes and the
fashion of the times in areas of India where they
were in use. The true yajnopavati thread is found on
the sculptures of this period. Before this, it existed
more in the form of the uttariya worn draped over
the left shoulder and under the right arm in the
upavita fashion from which the term yajnopavati
consisted of three cotton threads each of nine
twisted strands, but of hemp for the Kshatariya and
of wool for the vaishya. At a later stage this sacred
thread continued to be used in a limited way by
other castes but was retained most strongly by the
Brahimns.
Attendants, grooms, guards, and so on in the kgs
court and attendants in the womens apartments in
the palace, frequently used a stitched shirt like
foreign garment called the kancuka. Women too
wore the short kancuka with an indigenous antariya
or when calf-length it was worn with kayabandh and
uttariya, and in many other ways.

Headgear and Hairstyle
The ushnisa of the men was generally wrapped
around three times after first covering the top knot
of hair with one end. It was normally white but
could also be of dyed cloth, and smple turbans were
held in position by ornamental gold strips. Gold
turbans were worn on special occasions. Kirita were
also in use, of which one type was a short cylindrical
cap studded with gems and ornamented with
designs. The maulibandha was an elaborate turban
wound with itself was decorated with strings of
pearls wreaths. The turban normally covered the
hair which was arranged in a large topknot at center
front, and could have jewelled clasp at the center to
hold in place the folds of the turban. This topknot

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could also be pear-shaped to give it variety. Without
the turban., the hair could be worn in one or two
topknots, one loop and one topknot. Short hair
parted in the middle and reaching the neck was
fairly prevalent, especially among the common
people.
Women wore their hair in several ways. One was in
the form of a plait, praveni, at the back, decorated
with jeweled strips and tassels, as Bharat Natyam
dancers do today. Another common style was the
coil with five delicate plaits dangling from it, a
favorites with all classes of women. In the kesapasa
style the hair was looped closed to the head in an
elongated knot at the back of the head down at the
nape. This could have a veni, a small fillet of
flowers, around it or a short garland of flower
dangling from it. If the hair was made in a simple
knot it was known as kabaribandha. The dhammilia
was elaborate dressing of the hair with flowers,
pearls and jewels that often completely covered the
hair like a close cap or turban. This style was greatly
admired in the satavahana kingdom.
Women no longer wore the turban of earlier periods.
Special ornaments wore designed to be worn in the
hair. The chudamani was lotus-shaped, its petals
composed of pearls and precious stones. It was
worn normally in the center of the knotted hair. The
makarika was shaped like fish-crocodile and worn at
the front parting of the hair, very like the gold
ornament worn by the uriya women in the northern
Circars. These were also small crownlike fillets
through which the hair was drawn and then plaited
or hung loose.

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Jewellery
Strands of pearls were the main motif in all forms of
jewellery particularly in the late period of the
Satavahana Empire. Both men and women wore
earrings, bracelets, armlets and necklaces as in
previous periods, particularly the indigenous people.
The more common design in earrings was in
kundala shaped like a coil, which could be simple.
The talapatra originated from a small strip of palm
leaf rolled and inserted into lobe. This shape was
later made from ivory or gold and could be gem-
studded. A full-blown lotus design the kanaka-
kamala set rubies is still popular in south India, and
a couple off generations ago the karnika or jimiki
continued to be in use. This was in the shape of a
lotus seed-pod fixed upside down like a tassel.
Necklace or hara were mainly strung with pearls,
sometimes consisting of only a single string called
ekavali. A necklace of gems and gold beads was
called yashti, the central bead being often larger
than the other. Several of these could be worn
together. sometimes three or four slab-like gems,
phalaka, were inserted at regular intervals. These
held together the several strings of which a necklace
was composed, and the whole was called a
phalakahara.
A simple perfumed cotton thread necklace was
known to have been in use and tiger claws were
strung around the necks of children probably to
ward off the evil eye. The yajnopavita or a sacred
thread made of pearls called the muktayajnopavita,
were prevalent. Kantha, the shorter from of
necklace, continued to be in use and was often of
gold set with rubies and emeralds. Also the gold
coin necklace niksha strung on silk thread or plaited
gold cord was worn in almost the same design as
the modern putalya of Maharashtra and the malai of
Tamil Nadu. These gold coins were sometimes

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replaced by mango-shaped pieces of gold or gold
set with gems like the contemporary mangamalai of
south India. Men and women wore bracelets valaya
of solid gold set with precious stones. The more
delicate ones were made of filgree and elegant
rope-shaped ones of fine gold wire worn generally
by women. They also used bangles of ivory and
rhinoceros horn. Slab like gems when set into
bracelets like the phalakahara necklace were called
phalakavalaya.
Armlets for both sexes were close fitting and could
be engraved or set with jewels, or be in the shape
of a snake, also they could be straight-edged or
have an angular top edge, jeweled girdles of one or
many strings, mekhala, were worn only by women.
These were made in several varieties from the
tinkling kanci with bells to the rasana style made of
a linked chain with pearls, beads or precious stones.
These girdles, besides being very attractive held up
the lower garment or antariya. In addition cloth
girdles like those of the men described earlier in this
chapter, were also used for the same purpose.
Anklets worn again only by women had an
astonishing variety. The manjira was hollow and
light, coiling several times around the ankles loosely
and tinkling when in motion as it had gems inserted
in the hollow. This type is still worn in Marwar. The
nupura was plain while te kinkini had small bells
suspended. A heavier looking one was the tulakoti
whose two ends were enlarged at their meeting
point. This fom is stil worn in Andhra. Tinkling
anklets of any kind were not worn by the wife in the
absence of her husband. The finger ring is visible on
some of the satavahana sculptures but not only
after A.D 150.
The hemavaikasha was an ornament worn by
women, seen more frequently in the Kushan period.

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It consisted of two long wreaths of flowers crossed
at the breasts.

Military Costume
Andhra soldiers wore an antariya, which was
shortened by lifting at the hemline and tucking it
into the waist to facilitate marching, and style is stil
used in Tamil Nadu. A cloth sash was wound tightly
many times around the waist for support and was
sometimes crossed at the chest for protection. This
developed in later times into the channavira, which
was similar in function to the early Babylonian and
Assyrian sword at the chest with a metal buckle in
the center. In addition, the military personal of this
period occasionally were earrings and simple
jewellery.
Saka foreign soldier were employed by some of the
Andhra kings in the royal bodyguard. They wore a
heavy tunic with ruched sleeves, which reached to
the knees. With it was worn a form of churidar
trousers, and their helmet had earflaps. A wide sash
was worn at the waist. Sometimes a short quilted
tunic was worn with a heavy drape over the left
shoulder along with a turban- a mixture of the
foreign and indigenous garment. Footwear was not
incumbent than indigenous troops.
The equipment of a trained fighter was mainly his
sword, shield, bow, axe and spear; sometime
themace, club and javelin were used. Swords were
either curved and could have a sharp edge on one
or both sides. They were 30 inches long and
beautifully crafted. Handles of ivory and hilts of
precious metal encrusted with jewels were carried
by those in command, and the common soldier used
simpler onesw of bamboo or wood. These swords in
their sheaths, kosha, of fin-tooled leather were
normally fastened on the left side of the waist. Gold

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chains fastened Similar and gold chains fastened
more ornamental swords and daggers.
Shields mainly rectangular in shape were purely
functional and large enough to protect the body.
The club could be short but was immensely heavy
and was used for striking the enemy forcefully. The
bow made of wood or horn was painted red and
gaily bowstring was made of iron, bone, wood, and
were carved into animal and other shapes, and had
shafts of feather affixed in poison.

Religious Persons
The Buddhist monks were now in a very powerful
position and more or less abjured their vow of
poverty. Their clothes now retained a semblance of
patchwork but were composed of rich pieces of cloth
of the same colour, symmetrically arranged together
in checks and most probably presented to the
Buddhist order by rich donors as referred to in the
jatakas.
Hindu ascetics continued to wear their bark strip
garment valkala with a deer skin over the left
shoulder in the style known as ajinayajnopavita.
Their hair was tied in a heavy bundled topknot of
matted locks called the jata-bhara and sometimes
the hair was worn in small plaits. The priest was
Brahmins who were white garments but added a red
turban when officiating at ceremonial functions.
Jain monks and nuns have retained their white
robes to this day, and all their belief and customs
have remained unchanged because of their strong
conservatism.
Textiles and Dyes
From Mauryan times and even earlier, the
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there are constant references to its variety in the
brahmanical, Buddhist and Jain works. Coarse and
fine varieties of cotton were in part of the rich
persons wardrobe. A very cheap material made of
hemp was worn by the weavers and by laborers of
all kinds. Wool was not needed much in the part of
India ruled by the Satavahanas, which had a warm
climate, but it is used in the form of chaddars in
winter.
Style
The late Satavahana style expressed more directly
the full impact of the Dravidian-Andhra ethos. With
the crowded compositions of lean and strong bodies
and the ferocious figures looming over terrified
crowds, we feel a sense of frenzied activity and
turbulence. The kayabandhs make complex
arabesques, but there is less differentiation between
the court and the people as they throng together.

Village Women
(Ajanta cave X)

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Antariya
Short and worn in kachcka style

Uttariya
Of heavy material with elaborate broad borders
worn straight crosswise over the head and thrown
back over the shoulders

Mekhala
Woman on the right wears a two stringed bead hip
girdle.

Lambanam
Necklace of the women on the left is in the
phalakahara style, the other wears a simple string
of beads.

Karnika
Woman on the right wears disc type earrings called
dehri.

Kangan
conch or ivory bangles in graded sizes are worn by
the woman on the right.
Kara
The woman on the right wears single, heavy
anklets, the other wears three on each ankle, with a
granulated design.

Baju Band
Single flat band with raised edges bands.

Hairstyle
Large bun at the nape.

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Bindi
Either painted on the forehead.

Court Attendant
(Ajanta cave X)

Antariya
Of sheer cotton

Kayabandh
Narrow pattika tied in a bow at the front of the waist

Kantha
Phalakahara style necklace

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Karnika
Simple disc type earrings called dehri

Kangan
Both granulated and plain seen on the left arm.

Hairstyle
Center parting, hair hanging loose to the shoulders
and decorated with ornamental chains.

Sitara
Large disc at the forehead, either painted.

Naga King
(Ajanta cave IX)

Kantha
Broad and flat short necklace with four pendant
pieces

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Karnika
Large cylindrical earrings with a decorative design
Kangan
Heavy and cylindrical bracelets

Baju Band
Thick cylindrical armlets with pendant pieces.

Head Dress
Turban is twisted around the head and held with a
decorative band; hair is long ; as worn by
aboriginals and is arranged in a top knot and five
crest with ribbons like serpents hoods
King As Hunter
(Ajanta cave X)
Kancuka
mid thigh length tunic with round neck and short
magayar type sleeves.

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Kayabandh
Wide, worn wrapped around the waist a couple of
times and tucked in

Ushnisa
Turban cloth wound with hair and twisted into a
topknot; the rest of the cloth is then wound around
the head.

Karnika
Ring like earrings, kundala type
Prince
(Amaravati, Ist period)

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Antariya
Wore in kachcka style to below the knees; the strips
indicate the folds of the drape.

Kayabandh
Kakshyabandha style, a thick roll worn aslant at the
hips with beautiful ornamental tips and tied in a
large loop knot.

Belt
With granulated pattern worn higher than the
antariya

Attendants
(Ajanta cave X)
attendant on the left wears her hair parted at the
left and hanging loosely to the shoulders, her

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earrings are of the pendant type; the one on the
right is the umbrella bearer, she wears her held
back by a fillet and made into a top knot.

Courtier
(Ajanta cave X)

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hair is brought forward in a conch-shell knot and
decorated; the fillet is probably used to keep it in
place; earrings are disc-type and necklace is of the
phalakahara style with chains held at intervals by
flat pieces.

Naga prince
(Ajanta cave X)

hair is arranged in a large top knot at the center
with the turban wound around the head after
twisting it around the knot, a brooch decorates the
center of the top knot; earrings are of the double
disc type; necklace; bracelets and armlets are made
of base metal and are probably hollow.

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Soldiers
(Ajanta cave X)
Kancuka
mid thigh length tunic with short sleeves

Uttariya
Tied around the neck to free the arms

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Karnika
Disc-type earrings called dehri

Ushnisha
Turban twisted around and through double to knots
of hair.

Soldiers
(Ajanta cave X)

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Kancuka
Both have short-sleeved tunic with round necks
opening is obviously at the back.
Karnika
Kundala or ring type earrings
Hairstyle
Simple top knot at the center of the head very like
that worn by the Hillman of south Manipur and
Burma called the Chins.
Woman
(Ajanta cave X)

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Ghagri
Gathered calf-length skirt probably with a
drawstring at the waist.

Kayabandh
Simple vethaka style, but long and wound several
times around the waist.

Uttariya
Wrapped loosely around the hips and draped over
the left arm.
Valaya
Several bangles of ivory horn.

Kundala
Ring type earrings.

Manjira
Hollow light anklets, coiling twice around and
probably making a tinkling sound in movement.

Hairstyle
Drawn back into a simple knot at the nape

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King
(Nagarjunakonda)

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Antariya
Falling to the ankles, worn in kachcka style with
pleats tucked in at the back and visible in the front
between the legs.

Kayabandh
Elaborated rolled and twisted at the waist; falling in
graceful loops at the sides with one rope like loop in
front.

Belt
Ornamental belt

Kantha
Short necklace

Keyura
Straight edged armlets with pressed decoration

Kundala
Ring type earrings

Valaya
Simple bangles at the wrists

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Hairstyle
Loose to the shoulder with a small fringe at the
forehead

Headgear
An ornamental disc attached to a head band or
topknot.

Prince
(Goli)

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Antariya
Worn in the same style as in figure

Kayabandh
Twisted rope like around the waist, then twisted
twice to form a knot at the right hip; the other end
suspended in front ends in two ornamental tips.

Belts
Ornamental belt

Kantha
Three of different sizes worn together to form a
collar

Keyura
Flat and decorative

Valaya
Three bracelets on each hand of some heavy metal
and incised with patterns

Kundala
Ring type earrings with tassels suspended

Headgear
Ornamental disc worn in front of jatta or knot of hair

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Prince
(Nagarjunakonda)

Antariya
Worn in kachcka style and spread out after tucking
in at the back, in double fish tail style; the little frills
in the front could be just a puff of the antariya
pulled out at the waist over the nada.

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Kayabandh
Rolled twice at the waist, then looped in the front so
that the two ends are worn loosely spread out as a
frill at each side.
Kantha
Collar like necklace

Hairstyle
in top knot
Chattradhara:Umbrella Bearer
(South India)

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Antariya
Ends a little above the ankles; kachcka style, with
the pleated ends passed between the legs and
tucked in at the back center.

Kancuka
Fork length tunic with long sleeves and round
neckline

Kayabandh
Simple sash vethaka style, tied at the back with
hanging ends

Umbrella
White with gold work on the handle

Hairstyle
Simple, worn hanging loose at the back.

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Dvarrala: Door-keeper
(Nagarjunakonda)
Kancuka
Knee length tunic of heavy cloth with ruched sleeves
and gathered neckline

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Churidar
Narrow ruched trousers

Kayabandh
Wound several times around the waist

Headgear
Helmet with peaked top called sirastra, sometimes
with ear flaps

Torque
Necklace of twisted wire.
Attendant
(Nagarjunakonda)

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Kancuka
Probably calf length, it has a gathered neckline with
a band and long sleeves decorated with a braid in
stripes.

Uttariya
Heavy and long, draped formally across the chest
and around the left shouder.

Kayabandh
Heavy, wound twice around the waist

Headgear
Turban with a fan shaped frill

Male
(Ajanta cave X)

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Ushinisa
Turban tied casually in a knot with one end going
down and the other up.

Kundala
Suspended disc type earrings.

Female
(Ajanta cave X)

Kirti
A crown like headgear with semicircular motifs in
front and larger lotus petal designs at the back

Kundala
Large ring type earrings

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Prince
(Nagarjunkonda)

long hair is drawn up into several twisted loops held
by two twisted coils, the shorter hair being allowed
to hang loose around the face.

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Buddha
(Goli)
Antariya
Worn in lehnga style

Uttariya
The upper cloth has a border and is worn in an
interesting drape on the left shoulder and hangs at
the back loosely to fork length.

Hairstyle
In topknot

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Buddha
(Goli)

Antariya
Worn in lehnga style almost up to ankle length

Uttariya
Wide upper cloth draped across the body to from
folds and resting on the left arm

Hairstyle
In top knot

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Intext Questions:
1. Make a project on Satavahana period with
illustrations displaying the people main area
of design& stylization.

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Unit-IV

Lesson 4: Kushan Period

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Lesson 4: Kushan Period

Structure
4.1 Introduction of Kushan Empire
4.2 Costume: Men and Women
4.3 Headgear and Hairstyles: Men And Women
4.4 Jewellery
4.8 Style
4.9 Illustration Of Men And Women Costumes

4.1 Introduction of Kushan Empire

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The Kushan established their empire in the first
century AD and were contemporaneous with the
Satavahana (Andhra) and west Satraps kingdom
during part of the second century. A unlike the
politician stability of the Mauryan empire, this period
marked by continuous changes in the boundaries of
power and immense cultural and linguistic
differences.

The on cohesive factor was trade, which has been
initiated in the Mau period, as a stable government
ensured communication between parts of the
empire and encouraged active internal trade.
Contact was established with many parts of western
Asia and the Mediterranean by it of envoys. This
naturally helped foreign trade, and the influx of
foreigners, Kushans, Sakas and Indo-Green even
more impetus to trade relations with these areas.

There are two completely distinct styles in Kushan
art. Gandharva, in the northern part of the empire,
was by craftsmen from eastern Rome who were
employed by patrons of Buddhism. These craftsmen
brought with the Graeco-Roman style, particularly in
the drapery of the sculpture, so that the buddhists
represented them were dressed in the classical
Greek and Roman garments, the chiton, rimation,
stola, tunica, chlamys, etc.

The second style in Kushan art was that which arose
in Mathura, the southern capital of the empire. This
was a direct continuation of the native Indian
schools of Bharut and Sanchi. But a clearer picture
of the act Kushan costume is seen in the sculpture
at Surkh Kotal in Afganisthan, the influence on style
there being Partian.

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The Partians themselves were of scythic stock like
the Kushans, and their costume is much the same
and resembles closely the portrait of Kanishka, the
great Kushan king, found at Mathura. The latter
wears in to his tunic and trousers, a fur- lined coat,
which is also seen at Surkh Kotal.

As mentioned earlier, there was no uniformity in this
period and the dress of the people to varied with
each region. The ordinary dress consisted as usual
of an antariya, uttariya and kayabandh, with a
turban for me. With the advent of the Kusnans this
was extended and the fashion of wearing sewn
garments of central. A pattern seems t ohave
headway with al classes of Indian in north India.
The cut and sewn garmer which are rarely visible in
the sculpture of the previous periods, are commonly
found in this period.

4.2 Costume: Men and Women
Kushan costumes may be divided into five types:
the costume worn by 1. indigenous people-the
antariya, uttariya and kayabandh 2. guardians and
attendants of the harem-usually the indige and
sewn kancuka, red brown in colour 3. foreign
Kushan rulers and their entourage and 4. other
foreign such as grooms, taders, etc. there are fifty
category a mixture of foreign and indigenous
garments. This category os of great interest as it
shows how clothes changed and evolved, how some
of the purely draped garments of the Indians were
replaced by cut and sewn garments. Especially in
north and northwest where influences were felt
more keenly, and where climatically sewn garments
were more suitable.

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The Kushan dress had evolved from a nomad
culture based on the use of the horse. It is at
Mathura, Taxila, Begram, and Surkh Kotal in
Afghanistan. The dress was worn by most of
Scythian and races and resembled particularly that
of the Partians. It consisted of ruched long sleeves
tunic with a sleeve neck opening, simple decorated.
The close fitting knee length tunic was sometimes
made earlier, and with it could be worn a short
cloak length woolen coat, worn loose from right to
left and secured by a belt of leather. Besides these
two upper garments, occasionally third garment the
chugha was used. The chugha was coat-like and
decorated with a bored down the chest hemline, and
had slits to fascinate movement. The trouser could
be of linen, silk in summer but woolen in winter.
These loose fitting trousers, chalana, were tucked
into soft padded board with trappings, khapusa.
Along with this was worn the Scythian pointed cap
of felt, bashylk or pea helmet or head band with two
ends tied at the back.
Although, the clothes were simple, they were often
adjourned with stamped gold or metal plates,
square, rectangular, circular or triangular sewn in
lines or at the central seams of the tunic. Their
purpose was not decorative but functional as well,
as they helped lift the tunic in the middle for riding,
by gathering the cloth along seams. This helped to
give the distinctive draped effect with four sharp
pointed ends at the her. The drape of trousers too
as held in place by means of these gold plates
stitched down the center. It is interesting to note
that elaborate embroidered panels later replaced
these gold plates. An early version was used by the
Saka warriors, where the tunic was simply picked up
and tucked into the belt at center front, to free the
spread of knees when riding a horse.

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Clothes for women were varied. At Gandhara there
are figures wearing a sari-like garment, which
seems to evolve. From palmyrene. This is the palla
pinned at the left shoulder. The difference in some
of the Gandhara female figures is that they wear, in
addition, an antariya, which is exterior in length.
This long antariya is worn in the kachcka style but
one end continuous over the left shoulder and
broached there like the palla. The total ensemble
looks very much like the Deccan sari today. The
long sleeves are visible underneath and could be
shortened version across the back and over both
arms, and Indian jewellery completes the ensemble.
The wearing of an uttariya with sari is still seen in
the fisher folk of Maharashtra.
These Gandhara figures are some of the most
intriguing sculptures of the Kushan period, and may
well beginning of the sari and one of the earlier
attempts to create a garment to cover the breasts.
This would far under the category of foreign and
indigenous garments. In yet another figure we find
a Persian-influenced knee or mid-thigh length tunic,
stanamsuka, worn with the antariya. The latter is
not between the legs as the kachuka style, but is
worn crossed over in the lehnga style. Simple
stitched skirts, ghagri, with a side seam and nada to
hold them up at the waist are also seen. They are
gathered folds from length about 6-8 feet, and have
a decorative border at the hem and at the center
front seam. The tunic, stanamsuka, is from-fitting
with long sleeves, a simple round neckline and
flaring at the hemline. Besides the above
mentioned, the lehnga style antariya and uttariya is
sometimes worn. But very little in the way of
elaborate jewellery is used.
There are also some figures of women wearing close
fitting ruched trousers with a long sleeved jacket
and uttariya. In the earlier period, trousers were

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worn by Greek znd Persian. It is said the amazons
were trousers formed the royal guards of the king.
These females adapted their own phygian costume
to tight mid-thigh length jacket with crossover at
the neck and a gathered skirt worn with the antariya
along with a crossed valikaksha with metal buckle
shield and sword. Servants and dancers from many
parts of the world were brought into the country
from a very early period in Indian history. The
pravara, a large shawl, continued to be worn by
both sexes as protection against the cold and it was
known to have been perfumed with bakul, and other
scents. The purely indigenous antariya, uttariya,
and kayabandh continued to be the main costume of
Indians with slight modifications. The kayabandh
became a more loosely worn informal piece of attire
was a wide twisted sash used mainly by women in
many delightful ways to enhance the suppleness.

4.3 Headgear and Hairstyles:
Women
The wearing of the uttariya on the head seems to
have almost disappeared in this period and most of
the women in indigenous costume are seen
bareheaded. They were their hair tuff at the covers
the line of parting. This tuff is in the form of a ball.
The rest of the hair is drawn back, folded in held
with a broonch at the nape or worn in chignon which
protrudes at right angle to the neck almost vertically
upwards. Sometimes a bow of cloth is placed saucily
on top of the bun by a ribbon. At times, a band of
diadem, or twisted cord or scarf is tied around the
head around the head and over the bun.
Ratnavali, a jeweled net, and brooches and
decorative hairpins continued to be worn. Turbans
wound around the foreign pointed scythic cap made
of striped fabrics and decorated with rows of pearls

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or a diadem were frequently used. A sprig of the
mimosa tree tucked into the turban was said to give
protection against the eye. If one from the asoka
tree was worn, it was said to symbolize love. There
is little evidence of long hair being worn loose, but
when arranged it was usually in one or two plaits.
Sometimes joined at the tips at the one side. The
commoner would probably wear hers in a simple
knot at the nape as is worn. Flowers were used to
decorate the hair and chaplets of leaves are
frequently seen around the high topknot hair
especially in northwestern India. The chaplet of
leaves made of nard leaves on fabric of many
colours and steeped in unguents was even exported
to Rome. But srajas garlands were the most popular
and could be of many kinds, worn at the waist, neck
or in the hair. They were sometimes supported by
munja grass, reeds stalks. Apart from leaves,
peacock feathers, horn and ornaments.
Men
Men continued to wear the turban, now called mauli,
as in the Mauryan Sunga period. However as simple
line of twisted rolls of the fabric itself is more in
evidence with hardly any of the intertwining the hair
with the turban cloth. The knob at the center of the
head, around which the turban was wound to from a
large protuberance, slowly disappeared. When
bareheaded, the hair was not wore topknot of the
bow, often softened by curls on the forehead
especially in the northwest. Fillets tied on the
forehead were common. Young men had begun t o
cut their hair adopted a short-skirted tunic with
their antariya. The Scythian pointed cap was
frequently used as was crown. The common man
moved around bareheaded to form a casual turban
on the head against the sun in almost the same way
as in seen today in India.

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4.4 Jewellery
In relation to the Mauryan-Sunga period, we noticed
a tendency towards greater refinement and
simplicity in this period. Gold was much in use and
was called hiranya and suvarana, silver was known
as rupya, and copper as tamra, and these continued
to be for making jewellery. Gold and silver were
often encrusted with ratna or jewels. These included
carnelians agates, lapis lazuli, amethysts, garnets,
coral and pearls. Saptopaz, diamonds and cats eyes
were embedded stung in various ways and worn as
ornament. Besides this, the art of enameling was
known, as well as inlay work in shell and mother of
pearl. Gold were beautifully filigreed with lack, while
others had cores of jasper and turquoise paste and
were stay on thread to be worn as necklace called
nishka was in vogue. Foreigners wore the torque, a
simple necklace of gold wire. It was a characteristic
ornament of the Scythian and celtic people and was
worn as mark of distinction by the Persian and
parthians, all of whom were of the same stock, as
were the Sakas and Kuskhans. Shell and terra-
cotta beads continued to be strung and worn by the
poorer classes.
The earrings, Kundala, were of three types and
most often of gold though there is evidence of ivory
ones. The pendant type often had decorative
rosettes and granulation. The ring type Scythian in
origin, could be simple with a gold wire wound
around of both types that is a ring elaborately
decorated with be as well as bud like pendants. Of
these men except for foreigners who are designed
as wearing none used the simpler kind.
Armlets were known as keyura and bracelets as
valaya. Both men and women wore these. Those for
women were often thick sheets of gold with hinged
clasps, and elaborately ornamented and inlaid. The
bangle of glass, shell or ivory was also used. Head

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ornaments were varied. As the turban and head
veiled women went out of fashion they were
replaced by a jeweled diadem or crown called
mukuta, or headband called opasa. These were used
in addition to the garlands of flowers, sraja, which
remain popular. Gold or silver hairpins with
attractively ornamented heads held up hair. Men
continued to wear the mauli. The mekhala was
mainly of beads and along with nupura was worn
only by women. This was simple and lighter than
that in the previous period. There is an absence of
forehead ornaments like the sitara and bindi of the
Mauryan Sunga period.Finger rings were of solid
god, plain others incised with tiny fingers. Ivory was
used extensively to make combs, brooches,
hairpins, boxes and other objects.

It is in the military dress of the Mauryan Sunga
period we find the earliest traces of foreign influence
on indigenous garments. At the Gandhara site of
Kushan is a soldier of Maras army wearing the
Indian antariya and turban with a Graeco-Roman
style of breastplate of mail. But the soldier coat of
mail appears to be made of metal scales, attached
to be backing rather woven wire. This could be a
foreign garment in the same army. His coat of mail
is worn over a short tunic, which is visible at the
hem, and sleeves and his bare legs are encased in
greaves. On his head is a three or helmet, which
suggests the well-known whitish gray felt cap of the
Tibetans and Khorezmians, Khorez, Bactria, and
Sogdiania in central Asia, had at one time been
some of the most important cultural of the ancient
world. They were later taken over by the Persians,
Greeks and then the Kushans. The third in this army
of Mara wears the purely Indian antariya and has
his uttariya wound around his waist. All three

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soldiers carried shields and equipments of various
kinds. Foot soldiers are said to have used six-foot
bows very long arrows, tall shields made of
undresses, and board swords three men carried
smaller shields and were equipped with two lances
each, but rode without saddles.

Brahmin hermits continued to wear garments made
of bark leaves and live austere lives in forests or
other isolated places. The clothes of bhikshu
continued to be yellow or red in colour and
consisted of same antaravasaka, uttarasanga,
samghati and kushalaka as being along with a
bucked belt. Only now the cloth of their garments
was most probably donated the monastery by
wealthy merchants and was not made of rags. The
sign of physical and spiritual perfect in the Buddha
figures is the protuberance on the head, which
evolved from the topknot worn by Brahmins.
Another symbol is the urna of hair between the
eyebrows, representing the third eye. The elongated
ear lobes are yet another sign of perfection.

For the first time trade with China was directly
established through the ancient silk route. Indian
traders set down in Chinese Turkestan, which was
annexed by kaniska, the Kushan king. This included
kashgar, and Yakhand. Buddhists missions too were
sent to china. In Rome, Augustus encouraged trade
with India exports increased resulting in a
flourishing merchant class. In the northwestern is
coarse cotton and wool was used for lightweight
cotton, tulapansi. Both indigenous and foreign silks
were plentiful but still very expensive. Antariya were

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rarely decorated and when they were, they appear
to have been either embroidered, printed in
diagonal check designs enclosing small circles.
Turban cloth for rich women were often diagonal
with every third line made of pearls. This bejeweled
material was also used to cover beds and seats
many geometric patterns of check, strips and
triangles were also printed and woven. It is only
from literary somewhat we know of the textiles and
dyes available in the earlier period. There is no
evidence of actual fabrics made in India before the
twelfth century. But a large variety of fabrics were
recovered from the burial grounds along silk route,
which can be dated to between the first century BC
and the second century AD. Based on this evidence
we may presume that the dyes and textiles of
Chinese are available long this route would surely
have found their way into India. Hence, it is possible
to maintain that many of the patterns and colours
would be similar. We know for the beautiful ultra-
marine and lapis lazuli blue were sent along the
trade route from the famous mines at Badakshan in
Central Asia. There is in addition much literary
evidence of sophistication of Indian textiles for the
earliest times. In a list compiled of fabrics recovered
from the ancient silk route, fabrics in the following
of were found bright blue, light blue, dark blue
cooper etc. these are all variants and mixtures of
the colours in dyes that were available in India in
this period.

4.8 Style
The Kushan influence was felt in what developed
into the Gandhara art and the art of Mathura which,
while retaining the massive scale of Bharat and
Sanchi, had carvings more sophisticated and images
more sensuous than had been seen before. It is an
if in the proactive display of courtesans with their

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bodies in the trichina pose and the delicate flower
like gesture of the hands, the foreigners had found
the Indian experience tat fired their imagination.
In the same period however there are the wall
paintings at Kizli in Afghanistan, where the wiry line
of the flat brilliant colours dominated by lapis-lazuli
gives a heraldic appearance, static and frozen, like
the portrait statues found at Mathura. The latter
have the still, formal depiction of the Kushan Kings,
shown complete detail the kind of heavy garments
they wore. The Kushan were not originally an
artistic people. Scythian origin, their only expression
had been the metal work displayed in their horse
trappings, hunting and in the ornamental plaques,
which they stitched on their garments.
But they lived for many years in Bactria before
entering India and this prepared them for the role
they have to play as great patrons of the arts, as
seen in the development of the Gandhara art and
the evolution of the indigenous art of Mathura. Later
both these styles fused to create the Renaissaince of
Gupta Art.

4.9 Illustration of Men and Women
Costumes
COURT LADY [Begram]
Antariya : worn extremely short in kaccha style;
the end that is passed between the legs has been
tucked in at the back; the other piece is looped to
mid-thigh in front and the end tucked in a small
looped frill at the center

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Kayabandh : there are two : one is a wide
sash tied in a loop on both sides to the knees with
steamers at each side of the hips hanging to floor
length; the other is kakshyabandha, a thick jewelled
roll worn aslant which has a large clasp at the left
hip

Mekhala : five-stringed pearl or jewelled hip belt, it
holds the antariya and cloth kayabandh in place

Hara : necklace of pearls, probably strung on
thread or wire and worn betweenthe breasts
Kantha : Short necklace of beads with central
pendant and looped chains

Keyura : simple armlets, of looped design

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in gold or silver.
Valaya : bracelets of two kinds : the central one
consists of a series of rings like a wrist band; on
both sides are larger rigid bracelets

Kundala : square earrings decorated with a flower
motif and with pearls suspended

Nupura : anklets-wide rings with an elaborate
design
Anguliya : finger rings of solid gold

Mukuta : bejewelled crown on the head and a
head band

Hairstyle : small symmetrical curls at the forehead,
hair tied in a looped knot projecting vertically at the
back

YAKSHI: FEMALE DOOR KEEPER
[Gandhara]

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Antariya : worn in lehnga style, simply wrapped
around and tucked in at the left

Uttariya : thrown casually over the shoulders

Tunic : with front opening, held at the neck by
button; long ruched sleeves have ruching held by
jewelled bands or buttons; tunic is form-fitting

Mekhala : four-stringed girdle with clasp and
decorative leaf at the centre

Hara : one long pearl necklace worn between the
breasts and one short one with a pendant

Kundala : large ring-type earrings

Head-dress : chaplet of leaves or turban with a
central flower worn around the top knot of hair.
Sitara : round ornament on the forehead
Mixture of foreign and indigenous costume.
DONOR FIGURE [Mathura]

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Antariya : sari-like, tied in front, while one end is
passed between the legs, pleated and tucked in at
the back, the otherend is partly pleated and tucked
in at the front, then wound
around and worn over the
left shoulder

Tunic : Kushan style

Belt : with granulated pattern worn higher than
antariya or worn short to waist

Valaya : one bangle on each wrist

Nupura : simple ring-type anklets

Kundala : twisted or suspended disc earrings

Hairstyle : centre parting with long hair looped on
one side Mixture of foreign and indigenous costume.
This early form of kachcha-style sari is still used in
Maharashtra and parts of South India.
DONOR FIGURE [Gandhara]

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Antariya : kachcha style, only the pleated end
hanging at the back has been shortened

Uttariya : worn over the left shoulder across the
back and under the right arm, then across the
chest and taken again over the left shoulder

Kantha: short necklace
Hairstyle : in a double knot at the centre of the
head Purely indigenous style.
SOLDIER
[Gandhara]

Antariya: worn in kachcha style

Armour: chain armour made of scale or rhombus-
patterned plaques, fastened together with strings
(like a Japanese or Tibetan armour); the end of the
sleeves, waist and hem are strengthened with
cording; the skirt portion is made of parallel rows of
rectangular plaques

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Mauli: turban made of twisted roll of cloth

Equipment: round shield and spear
This is a mixture of foreign and indigenous costume.
The armour is Graeco-Roman.
GUARD
[Gandhara]

Antariya : worn in kachcha style up to the ankles

Tunic : knee-length, a fully quilted garment with
thick cording at the waist, neck and hem.
Quilted upper garments are still worn in north India
in winter. Mixture of foreign and indigenous
costume.

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FEMALE COURT ATTENDANT
[Mathura]

This simple hairstyle is made by parting the hair at
the centre, drawing it to the right side and allowing
it to hang in a loop at the right shoulder.

COURT LADY
[Begram]

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hair is worn in a tuft at the centre as in the figure of
Court Lady Mathura), curls frame the face; rest of
the hair is drawn into a knot which is vertically
placed at back centre; a tur
ban has been twisted and wound casually around
the hair
NECKLACE
[Taxila]

Kantha : short necklace of gold in the spearhead
and drop' design

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MILK MAID
[Mathura]
Ghagri : simple narrow calf-length skirt stitched at
the centre-front border, it has either a drawstring
through it to is rolled over a string; this is an
example of the earliest form of a stitched lower
garment for women
Kantha : short flat necklace with decorative design

Keyura : armlets of same decorative design as for
kantha

Valaya : simple ring-type bangles

Kundala :simple ring-type earrings. She rests her
pitcher on a head-rest probably of cane, like a
inverted basket.

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FEMALE GUARD
[Gandhara]

Tunic : Kushan type with long ruched sleeves

Antariya : could be chalana-Kushan loose
trousers

Kayabandh : twisted sash

Hara : long necklet worn between the breasts

Valaya : three bangles are visible on the right hand

Nupura : heavy ring-type anklets
Hairstyle : hair at the front is divided into three
portions, the central one is made into roll, the two
at the side are combed downwards with tassels
suspended She carries a long spear and round

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embossed shield. A mixture of foreign and
indigenous costume.
FEMALE
[Gandhara]

Anatriya : sari-like, worn in the kachcha style, the
other end being taken across the body and over the
left shoulder.
Kayabandh : simple sash, twisted in parts

Uttariya : worn across the back and over both
shoulders, the left end is loosely tucked in at the
waist.
Valaya : four bangles on left wrist.
Hara : pearl necklace worn between the breasts

Kundala : simple disc-like earrings

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Nupura : heavy double rings on the ankles

Hairstyle : chaplet of leaves. Mixture of foreign and
indigenous costume.
KING KANISHKA
[Mathura]

Tunic : calf-length and heavy quilted, with braid at
the bottom edge
Chugha : a coat which is longer than the tunic,
worn open at centre front; it has a decorative braid
at the centre front and hem with probably long
gathered-up sleeves.
Belt : of metallic decorative plaques
Boots : padded, with straps around ankle and
under the boot held together by a decorative clasp;
either the boots are calflength or baggy trousers
(chalana) have been inserted into short boots
This is the dress of Kushan for foreigner of Saka-

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Parthian origin. He holds two swords in decorative
scabbards.
KUSHAN KING
[Mathura]
Chugha : calf-length with a wide
richly embroidered border down the
centre-front opening, hem and edge of long
sleeves(probably ruched); the material of the coat
has small rosettes and a V-neck and there is a
round motif on the right sleeve
Tunic : Kurta-like undergarment visible at the neck
Chalana : baggy trousers tucked into calf-length
padded boots; there is a wide band of vine pattern
at the centre from toe to top (not visible in
drawing); straps around the ankle and instep
Kantha : short necklace with pendant Purely
foreign costume of Scythic origin.

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SOLDIER
[Gandhara]

Antariya : transparent calf-length and worn in the
lehnga style
Armour : scale armour with V-neck and short
sleeves; the skirt portion is of square-linked design
and of mid-thigh length
Tunic : Visible at the hem and sleeves
Equipment : sword belt with flat, short sword;
strap across the chest, probably for quiver; round
shield with patterned design
Mauli : turban wound several times and tied at the
right side Mixture of foreign and indigenous costume
COURT LADY

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[Mathura]

A tuft of hair covers the line of parting; it has been
to form a ball; rest of the hair is drawn back, looped
and held in position by a clip or brooch
COURTIER
[Gandhara]

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Mauli : turban worn simpler than in the previous
period: no intertwining of the hair with the cloth;
decorated with some clasps in front; there is also a
decorative ring at the top through which a string of
pearls is passed and attached to the sides.

EARRING
[Taxila]
Kundala : of gold 'leech and pendant' type; the ring
or leech attaches itself to ear and the pendant bud
is suspended by a movable ring with granulation's.

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DONOR FIGURE
[Mathura]

Mauli : turban of rich material is surmounted by
twisted rolls of cloth from the centre of which the
pleated end is visible in a decorative fan shape; a
band is used crosswise to give shape to the turban

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Intext Questions:
1. Make a project on Kushan period.

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Unit - V

Lesson 5: Gupta Period
Lesson 6: Medieval Period, Mughal Period

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Lesson 5: Gupta Period
(Early Fourth to Mid-Eight
Century Ad)

Structure
5.2 Costumes: Men and Women
5.4 Jewellery
5.8 Styles
5.9 Illustration of Men And Women Costumes
5.10 Age of Empires Daily Life (500 B.C 647
A.D)

Main archaeological sites of interest for
costumes
Ajanta Frescoes
Bagh Frescoes
Ahichchatra
The Gupta empire was founded in northern India at
the beginning of the fourth century
AD
after a long
period of chaos which ensured when the Kushan
empire ended in the middle of the third century. In
the interim period a number of new peoples and

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states emerged about whom there is very little
historical record. It was only with the foundation of
the Gupta empire, that there was once again unity
and peace over almost the whole of north India.

The Gupta empire lasted for more than two
centuries and vast: it stretched over the major part
of north India and to Balk in the east. In the west,
the Guptas totally defeated the foreign invaders, the
Sakas, who had been ruling, Gujarat for more than
200 years. Known as the Gold- en Age and the
Classical Period, in the age and an efficient system
of administration was achieved.

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Fa- Hein, a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled in
India, wrote an account of his travels in which he
noted the peacefulness of India, the rarity of serious
crimes, and the benevolence of the administration.
Most Indians, except the lowest castes and
untouchables, practiced vegetarianism. Hinduism
was widespread although Buddhism still flourished.
Chronologically, the Gupta period includes the reign
of Harsha of Kanauj(AD. 606-647) who received the
glory of the empire after the invasions of the White
Huns. Neither Harsha nor the Guptas had ever been
able to conquer the south, where the pallavas and
Chalukyas took over from the satavahanas. With the
Kushans there had been a great deal of influence
from the western world because of the dominance of
the Roman empire but now that the latter ideals
were being expressed and even exported to the Far
East and South Asia Where more contacts had been
made through trade and religion.
In the Deccan, it was the Vakatakas and not the
Guptas who ruled from the first half of the fifth
century to the seventh century, and after them the
Chalukya king Pulakesin II (AD 609-642) came to
power. This region and period has been included
under the section of Gupta consume had penetrated
into the Deccan and most of north India.
In the previous periods, evidence of costume was
derived mainly from sculptures, but in this period
the wall paintings of Ajanta most vividly mirror
contemporary life and dress. In the previous
periods, evidence of costume was derived mainly
from sculptures, but in this period the wall paintings
of Ajanta most vividly mirror contemporary life and
dress.

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5.2 Costume:
Men
In this period there was a marked preference for the
stitched garment, as compared to any previous age,
and clearly defined garments for north India and the
Deccan began to emerge, which later crystallized
into the garment preference we see in India today.
With the Kushans, the stitched garment had gained
in status and it was now linked to royalty, for the
Kushans kings and their nobles had ruled a large
part of India and Central Asia for more than a
100ears. The Gupta king realized the value of
adopting a dress that traditionally becomes
identified with royalty. They are shown on Gupta
coins in full Kushans dress, that is, the coat,
trousers and boots. They continued, however, to
wear the indigenous antariya, ultrayia, and
kayabandh for informal occasions.
Many forms of cut and sewn garments became
fashionable, especially at court. These garments
were not total foreign to the Indians. Changes had
been occurring gradually and the indigenous
kancuka, associated with guardians and attendants
of the harem in earlier times, probably inspired
the brocaded tunic with long or short sleeves worn
by minister, guards, doorkeepers, and court
attendants. Just as often is seen a simpler version,
the white calf-length tunic which the chamberlain
wore, a chadder adding dignity to his attire. The
lower garment was usually the antariya and with it
was sometimes worn the kancuka which could be
tucked in like a shirt. The kayabandh was used to
hold the garment in place. The ushnisa was slowly
becoming obsolete, and was now associated mainly
with certain dignitaries, ministers, and other
officials.

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Foreigners at court were a common sight as trade
and commercial intercourse between India and
Persia in this period was at its height. Persias
influence on Indian art is most clearly seen in the
rich floating ribbon decoration, which was in fashion
at the Persian court of Khusrau II (AD 600).
In northern India where climate conditions were
more suitable, there was greater emphasis on the
stitched garments, but in the south, as in apparent
even today, the indigenous antariya, uttariya and
kayabandh held their own. Strangely enough,
although royalty on the Guptas coins is shown
wearing the sewn garments of the Kushans kings, in
the Ajanta paintings the king and other members of
the nobility are still seen in their fine silk or muslin
antariyas.
The kings costume was most often of stripped blue
closely woven silk with a floating uttariya. Both
these garments invariably had woven borders.
Instead of the kayabandh a plain cord or belt
became more popular, wound once or twice around
and then buckled or knotted in a variety of ways to
secure the antariya. Sometimes the ultrayia itself
was twisted thickly and worn aslant the waist with a
large knot at the left hip on which the hand could
rest, or it was casually thrown over the left
shoulder. It was the elaborate mukuta and exquisite
jewellary that really set apart kings and high
dignitaries from other members of the royal
entourage. Some scholars believe that these
elaborate mukuta were never actually used, but
were merely signs of divinity or royalty.

Women
In the case male costume it is easier to trace the
influence, which came mainly from the invaders and

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traders. In female costume, however, the variety is
much greater and hence it is more difficult to
pinpoint the exact sources.
The antariya which was 18-36 inches wide and 4-8
yards long was worn in the kachcha style or as a
lehnga, in which case it was first wrapped around
the right hip then around the body and tucked in at
the left hip. It was drawn very tight across the hips
accentuating their curve most seductively, was
normally calf length. Another form of the antariya
was worn in the kachcha and lehnga style together.
This was usually a very short antariya only up to
kachcha style; the longer end of the three-yard long
material was then wrapped around like a short
lehnga. A common form was a skimpy antariya
made of cheap linen worn mainly by the lower
classes. Normally the nobility and women of high
rank wore the ankle-length antariya; attendants
usually wore the shorter form. But in all cases it was
tied under the navel and supported by the hip
bones.
The antariya was occasionally worming like the
Indonesian sarong- a wide garment from under the
armpits to mid-thigh in a simple wraparound
fashion. The main differences in the Gupta period,
as distinct from the previous periods, is that the
kachcha style became less popular with women,
being replaced gradually by the more feminine
lehnga as we call it today, although the queen and
other ladies of the royal family remained
conservative. This conservative kachcha style is still
adopted by the women of Maharashtra and South
India.
The skirt, bhairnivasani, evolved from the antariya
which when stitched on one side became tubular
and was worn gathered together at the waist, and
held by a girdle. This was one of the earliest forms
of a clumsily stitched on one side became tubular

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and was worn gathered together at the waist, and
held by a griddle. This was one of the earliest forms
of a clumsily stitched skirt and used as early as the
Early Bronze period by the Germanic race. The
bhairnivasani was first used by the Jain and
Buddhist nuns, and arose from the idea that a
womens body was sinful and had to be covered.
Also, the kachcha and the lehnga styles were
considered too seductive as they entailed the
antariya to pulled tightly across the hips. With the
Jain sect in particular, an extraordinary amount of
clothing was worn by the nuns to completely hide
the shape of the female form. From the
bhairnivasani evolved the skirt with the drawstring
or nada, called the ghagri. The ghagri was a narrow
skirt six feet long- the same length as the original
antariya. It was worn mainly by village women, and
was very attractive since the border of the cloth was
used vertically in the center to decorate it.
A heavily gathered skirt, an elaboration on the
ghagri probably introduced by foreigners, is also
seen. It seems to be mainly used by dancers, so
that its many folds, which may have been gored,
enhance the swirling effect. This skirt is still worn by
many rural peoples, including the Lambadi and
Banjara gypsies of India. Women wore langoti type
of drawers, the ardhoruka, which had evolved from
the needs of modesty. This was a short strip of cloth
worn around the waist with an attached piece from
the center of the waist, which was drawn up
between the legs and tucked in behind. Like the
bhairnivasani this too was an early garment
originally used by women ascetics. Jain nuns wore
four of these ardhorukas one on top of another,
something like the medieval chastity belt.
It would be interesting to find a satisfactory answer
as to why, at this particular juncture, Indian women
frequently began to cloth the top half of there

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bodies. For many centuries before they had moved
around unselfconsciously nude above the waist.
There were probably two reasons. One was that the
female attendants in the kings court, thrown into
the company of beautiful foreigners who wore upper
garments, must have realized that covering the
bosom could be ever more attracting than exposing
it, and accordingly emulated the dress style of the
foreigners. Also, with the impact on Buddhism,
Jainism, and Christianity the belief that the body
was sinful and must be concealed to avoid
temptation was percolating through India. In
medieval Europe this time, similar changes were
occurring in female clothing, and women began
covering themselves from head to foot.
The breast-band had been used since Vedic times,
as with the Greeks, mainly as a support for the
breasts rather than to cover them. There was in
addition to the breast- band, an indigenous stitched
garment known as cholaka, choli, cholika, and
kancholika, which is mentioned in early Sanskrit
literature. The primitive choli was cut very simply
from the square piece of cloth, with a slit for the
neck. This was also the early from used as
protection by the women of the Germanic or
Teutonic races in the Early Bronze age. The
evolution from the unstitched to the stitched
garment had an inescapable logic as it evolved for
purely functional purposes. In the case of the
Germanic races it was protection from the cold, and
in India it served the purpose of modesty.
A further development of the choli was the fold back
at the bottom edge and the introduction of strings,
attached to made it backless, very like the garment
worn today by women in Rajasthan and elsewhere.
The apron-like attachment at the front of the choli,
visible in some of the frescoes, could have evolved
from the need for protection against the cold for the

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front part of the body, as the back was normally
covered by the head-veil, or as a modest covering
over the stomach which was exposed, the skirt or
lehnga being worn below the navel. Here again the
head- veil covered the back.
Another choli, which ends above the waist, is made
of diaphanous material and seen particularly in the
dress of princesses and other royal ladies. This choli
appears to be fastened in front, probably knotted,
as is the case with certain cholis use today. This
would cover the back completely, but expose most
of the midriff in font. The Persian shirt or kurta, with
its side- opening at the neck, slit sides and four-
poted hemline had become thoroughly indianised
and was commonly used ever by women. Another
style of the kurta was the crossover flaps and side
opening in the still appear foreign and may have
been a Turanian Tartar contribution to the fashion at
court.
The uttariya remained, but was worn very sheer and
more as a flattering accessory, rather than as the
substantial article of clothing it had once been. It
normally seen in Ajanta, delicately wafting behind,
like the floating ribbon decoration which was also in
fashion at the Persian court at this time.

Simple plaits were no longer visible, and hair was so
elaborated dressed at times, that the help of
maidservants who were expert hairdressers was
obviously essential. There seemed to be broadly two
styles of foreign origin, while the complicated ways
of dressing long hair were mainly derived from
south Indian and Deccanis styles. The latter
became extremely popular in the gupta age. The
use of missi to darken the gums and lips, and hena

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to redden the palm and soles of the feet was fairly
prevalent.
Of foreign origin was the short h air, which was
sometimes frizzed in front with luxuriant ringlets
quite unlike anything, seen today, or just left
hanging loose to the shoulders or lower, held by a
fillet or a chaplet of flowers.
The indigenous style showed itself in long hair worn
in a bun either high or low on the neck or knotted at
the side of the head, or with the coil wound on the
left on top of the head. The bun itself was
sometimes a simple tight knot, at other times in the
shape of the figure eight, or large and loosely
wound, but almost always surrounded by flowers or
had large lotus blossoms tucked into it. In addicted,
there could be a, ratnajali, jeweled net or a nete of
pearls called muktajala, worn over the bun.
Tiaras were often used with short or long hair, and
pearl string could define the painting of the hair, as
could a jeweled band. Fillets both simple and
elaborate were commonly used to hold short hair.
Turbans too had not disappeared completely
covering the hair.
The profuse use of flowers cannot be
overemphasized in this period. Besides surrounding
the bun they were used as tiaras, and in as many
ways to dress the hair as could conceivably be
imagined by the women wearing them. in the
Deccan hairstyles of the lower classes or the
peasant women could be as elaborate as those of
the higher-class women.
For men, tiara with a band inset with pearls and
sometimes festooned with garlands replaced the
turbans. This slowly became more common for the
king when informally dressed in indigenous
garment; attendants wore this a well with shoulder-
length hair. On the Gupta coins, however, the king

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is shun in Parthian-Kushans dress and wears a
skullcap or helmet as headgear. This latter costume
was probably used by the king on formal occasional,
which required military regalia, or at sport like
hunting.
In the royal entourage, the turban continued to be
worn by high officials, like the chamberlain,
ministers, military officers, civic officials and so on,
where it had become a distinctive symbol of their
respective ranks. It could be of fine Muslim tied over
a large knot of hair at the center of the forehead or
a stripped turban worn flat and twisted giving a
rope-like effect to the cloth when wound. The
ministers were often Brahmins with all their hair
shorn keeping only the ritual topknot.
Generally, hair worn loose by men, shoulder-length
and curled, in the gurnakuntala style, sometimes
with a headband to hold it in place, or adorned with
a stand of pearls. Very short hair was also fairly
common and looked much like the hair worn today
except that a clear painting in the hair was seldom
visible.
There however, fashions in the dressing of mens
hair, which was sometime cut unevenly at the
edges, giving the appearances of a wig; at other
times the earlier form of a knot was employed, but
in a more decorative manner, using only a portion
of the hair, the rest hanging in curls to the shoulder.
5.4 Jewellery

Gold was more commonly used than ever before,
especially in the Deccan where there were gold
mines. Gold ornaments for both men and women
were exquisitely made, acquiring a new delicacy as
beaten work, filigree work and twisted wire was
skillfully combined with jewels-particularly pearls.
Kundala was the general term for earnings, which

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were mainly of two types, both of them were
circular. One was large ring type and the other was
a button type, karnaphul, with a plain or decorated
surface. The bali, a small gold wire circlet worn on
the upper part of the ear with pearls strung on it, or
two pearls and one emerald, is still popular. Large
ring-type earnings later developed pendants that
shook with the movements of the head and were
called kancala-kundala or tremendous earning.
The sutra was a chain for the neck. When made of
gold with precious stones in the center, it was called
hemasultra. But this was the era of the pearl
necklace or muktavalki. A single stand of small
pearls was the haravasti, one of big pearls, the
tarahara, and one with a gem in the center of the
pearl was known as suddha ekavali. However, it was
the glorious vijayantika, a necklace made from a
successive series of pearls, rubies, emeralds, blue
dress, that was most sought after. The nishka or
coin necklace also continued to be popular.
Upper arm ornaments were known as angada and
keyura, the former like a coiled snake, and the
latter, a cylinder made of filigree work or inset with
pearls. Bracelets, valaya were generally simple or
inset with pearls. Bables of conch shell or ivory were
worn in sets of graded sizes, like those anguliya
were of gold or studded with precious stones,
ratnaguliya. Tiaras-kirita and crown mukuta were
worn by men and women of the nobility and were
particularly splendid, often having pearls suspended
from them so as to delicately surround the face. All
the above ornaments were common to both men
and women. These were jeweled girdles, anklets
and an attractive ornament of two strings of pearls
or flowers, worn crosswise on the chest and back, in
the vaikaksha style. It was sometimes held by a
clasp at the center. Women on the upper part of the
thigh sometimes wore a very provocative garter-like

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ornament, the pada-patra. This ornament could be
quite decorative with festoons of pearls and other
ornamentation.
Women wore the mekhala or girdle quite low on the
hips suspended from the katisutra. The latter was
probably a string tied at the waist and hidden under
the upper edge of the antariya, in which it was
rolled. The mekhala hung in a seductive clasp at the
center from this string, over which hung a small
pleated frill of cloth. This is still seen in the
bharatya, natyam dancers costume of today. A
simple straight belt was used by men to hold the
antariya, or sometimes above it, which could have a
bucket either squares, round, rosette-shaped, or
rectangular.
On the womens ankles the kinkini, with its small
bells, tinkled as they moved, or their nupura could
be made from jeweled beads, maininpura. Although
women of all classes wore anklets, they are not
seen on the feet of goddesses in sculpture.
Flower in the form of necklaces, mala, were worn on
the head entwined in the hair, and looped around
the neck crosswise in garlands on the chest. Women
loved to decorate themselves with flowers as well
and wreaths of scented flowers hung from their
ears. Their brows were also adorned with wreaths
and heavy garlands of amarnath hung on their hips.

In the previous centuries, except occasionally in the
Satavahana age, there was no fixed uniform for the
indigenous army. It was the Kushan army, well clad
and equipped, that became the prototype on which
the new military uniform of the Guptas was based.
The king himself adopted the Kushan royal costume
on formal occasions as a staus symbol. In the early

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period the Gupta soldier had worn the antariya with
his bare chest in adequately covered by the six
jewel-strapped channavira. This evolved into the
more efficient foreign-influenced kancuka with
trousers or short drawers, jhangia, and high boots,
with a helmet, and sometimes a fillet to tie back the
hair.
Later the soldiers uniform was either a short or
long sleeved kne-length tunic, kancuka, which had
a center front opening with a V-snapped or round
neck. The tunics were sometimes spotted with black
aloe wood paste, which could be a type of tie-dye,
or bandhni as it known today. This may have been
their version of the camouflage on military uniforms.
It is possible that these tunics were worn over a
brief antariya, as the foot soldiers seldom wore
trousers to cover their bare legs. Instead of the
knee=length kancuka a short tight-fitting blouse,
cholaka, was sometime worn with the short
antariya. Around the waist, the kayabandh could be
wound once or twice, holding a short dagger or
curved sword. Shields were curved, the former
sometimes decorated with a dragons head. Some
soldier continued to wear only the short antariya
which was often disc earring were still worn.
Headdresses were normally a simple skullcap or just
a scarf or cloth wound around the head like a
turban.
The cavalry wore a more elaborate dress, closer in
style to the original Parthian-Kushan dress being a
mid-half length quitted coat with long ruched
sleeves. With this was worn a fillet or headband, or
sometimes a white turban. Other in the cavalry
wore more colourful and diverse garments. Mid-
thigh length tunics of brocade cloth, trousers, and
an uttariya-a decorative cap like headdress of
white or yellow with embossed flowers; completed
their very colourful uniforms.

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The elephant drivers were picturesque in their
shorts-sleeved tight-fitting cholaka with decorative
bands at the neck, hem and sleeves. With this were
worn short drawers of plain or gold striped cloth and
a skull cap or scarf on the head. The king himself
when attired for battle wore a short, tight-sleeved
kancuka and an elaborate turban with sarpench. His
bodyguard carried curved swords like the Nepalese
Khukri and shields of rhinoceros hide in checked
designs. His sword-bearer wore a patterned tight
tunic with pointed ends reaching to the knees, and
the kayabandh wound twice around the waist.
The leaders of the various contingents in the army
were decked in pearl embroidered tunics made from
the famous stavarkha cloth of Sassanian origin and
chaddars of many colours, or in the complete
Central Asian outfit consisting of a dark blue quilted
tunic with a V- shaped neck and long full-sleeves
with soft dark trousers and a saffron turban of
Indian origin instead of the Central Asian conical
cap.
Armour was worn as further protection. It was
known as the cinacola, probably of Chinese origin. It
was sleeveless covering the front and back, and was
made of metal. A helmet for soldiers was known as
sirastrajala. Bows were of two kinds: the simple
one- piece bow and the classical double-curved how
probably made of three pieces.

The Hindu sanyasi, by the Gupta period had slowly
given up his bark-strip garments and adopted red
ochre robes, very similar to those of the Buddhist
monk. It is from this period in history that there is a
marked difference. The red ochre uttariya of the
sanyasi was tied into the vaikaksha style, or a
tattered rag of the same colour knotted over the

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heart, and a deerskin was occasionally worn over
the left shoulder. A loin cloth of the same red ochre
colour, sometimes held up by a black leather belt,
completed his costume. Later on, this costume was
replaced by a stitched garment either a rope or a
patched tunic. The hair was normally matted and
worn in a topknot tied with cord across the
forehead, at times with the formidable emblem of a
skull affixed to it. The matter hair took on a
yellowish tinge due to ashes being rubbed into it
and appeared bleached from exposure to the sun.
The Brahmin acharya normally wore a short antariya
and uttariya; the latter could be of narrow strips
stitched together. His head covering could be
narrow strips stitched together. His head covering
considered of a kantopa over his topknot.
The Buddhist monk and nun now wore linen or silk.
The poorer ones dyed their red or yellow linen
garments inexpensively, in a dye made from dates,
red earth, red stone powder or wild pear. The
monks wore a samghati, uttarasanga and
antarvasa. The antarvasa, 36 inches wide and 2
1/2

yards long, was wound round the waist where it was
secured by a girdle. Both the girdle and inner cloth
had subtitle differences in the way they were worn
by each sect. The samghati was a 2
1/2
yards square
with a five-finger wide strip attacked at the neck.
This had a drawstring through it, which was tied at
the chest. When the weather was particularly cold
both Buddhist monks and laymen wore quitted
garment called hi-pa, which covered the front of the
body and went over the left shoulder and across the
back, being fixed in position under the arm at the
right side, something like the deer or antelope skins
which were used by religious orders in the past for
protection.
The nuns wore the same garments as the monks;
only their antariya was stitched together at the edge

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to from a skirt, and was 36 inches wide and 72
inches long. This was gathered and tied at the
waist. After adolescence the nuns covered their
breasts. Besides these three garments, both monks
and nuns were allowed to have two pair of under
garments, a mat and towels.
Jain monks had to wear totally unstitched white
linen garments, which were not be cut; this meant
they are specially woven to specifications. Their
chadder, antariya and kayabandh could occasionally
be made from camels hair, jute and even bark
fibre. Very rarely was silk allowed, its use being
generally discouraged. The kayabandh could not be
more than four fingers wide. For Jain nuns, the rules
were even more specific and the number of
garments they wore was astonishing. The large
number was designed to conceal the shape of the
body as much as possible. Four different langoti
type of drawers, the ardhoruka, were worn one over
the other to cover the lower parts of the body. Over
this was worn the slehnga known as bhairnivasani
which was not to be drawn tightly over the hips and
was held by a string and not a kayabandh at the
waist, as the latter was considered too fashionable.
The breasts were covered by a length of cloth 1
1/4

yards by 18 inches approximately. This was
wrapped tightly around and fixed at the side. The
aupakasiki was 27 inches square and covered a part
of the chest and back, and was tied over the left
shoulder: the vaikaksiki, absolutely similar, was
worn in the opposite direction and tied at the right
shoulder. It is not difficult to imagine how shapeless
and unattractive the whole ensemble must have
been. Finally there was the samghati. Each nun was
allowed four of these in different widths from 1 to 4
yards and each about 2 yards long. Each cloak was
to be worn on a specific occasion, and the one which
was 1
1/2
yards wide was to be used only in the
toilet. In addition, a large square shawl of 2 yards

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was used during particularly bad weather. Shoes
were not worn by Jain nuns.

In the Gupta age the finest textiles were available,
printed, painted, dyed, and richly patterned in
weaves or embroidery. The art of calico printing
improved considerably and many of the traditional
prints of today originated in this period. There were
checks, strips and bird and animal motifs, for eg.
Geese, sawns, deer, elephants and so on. Delicate
embroidery on muslins, consisting of hundreds of
different varieties of flowers and birds, was skillfully
executed along with intricately woven brocades,
which continued to be in vogue. These brocades
with floral designs from the Deccan and Paithan
were like the Jamiwar and Himru fabrics of today.
The former is a silk floral design on a wool
background and the latter has cotton for its main
warp. Gauze and Decca was noted for its
transparency and was said to be fine that the only
evidence of its presence was the delicate gold
edging of the cloth. This had led to the further
sophistication of wearing a transparent garment
over a bright coloured one. Before this, the
transparency of the cloth had only accentuated the
nudity below.
Gold and silver woven brocades of benares which
had a very ancient tradition were still used, and in
the north and the north-west the art embroidery
reached the highest peak of development. Silk was
woven in black and white check patterns especially
for cushions which had handsome covers of gold,
silver or dark-coloured cloth embroidered with
chess-patterned bands. Special bedcovers known as
Nicola and pracchadapata, and rugs known as
rallaka and kambala were made.

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Dyeing too was very sophisticated and the diagonal
strips, which were popular, merged in each other in
places as soft and dark tones. This beautiful effect
was created by the resist dye technique. Tie-dyeing
of Gujrat and Rajasthan, in many different patterns,
was called pulakabandha and was used a great deal
in the upper garments of women. The process of
bleaching was perfected and all thin bleached sills
were classified as dukula. Binaries tissues and
brocades, which had been the prerogative of the
rich, now percolated to from the festive and bridal
attire of the poorer classes for whom a special
cheaper variety known as rasimal was available.
Special costly silken fabric known as stavaraka was
originally manufactured in Persia and is known to
have been imported into India. This was a cloth
studded with clusters of bright pearls and worn by
royalty.

5.8 Styles
In the highly civilized Gupta Empire, we find jeweled
headdresses, and stripped muslin lehnga adding to
the sensuous fullness of the body and lending it a
free- flowing movement. The mood is relaxed,
somnolent and languorous, with sheer floating
scarves and shining radiant eyes accentuating the
aura of dream like delicacy. Pearl strands decorating
the archways and looped on diadems and around
necks, further enhance the undulating movements
of the graceful figures.

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5.9 Illustration of Men and Women
Costumes
Antariya
Worn very short in kachcha style; after knotting at
the center both ends are passed between the legs,
fluted and tucked in at back center to fall to the
ankles; one end has been tucked in under the
mekhala and the other over it.
Muktavali
Necklace of one stand of small pearls.
Keyura
Worn on the upper arms-baju, cylindrical, inset with
pearls and tied on with ribbons.
Valaya
Bracelet of filigree work

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Mekhala
girdle at the hips is decorated with discs; a small
frill of cloth hangs at the side which could be part of
the end of the antariya pulled around from the back
after tucking in, tucked in again at the front.
Kundala
simple ring-type earrings
Nupura
anklets are simple and cylindrical
Hairstyle
Hair has been drawn back into one plait with a few
curls at the forehead; a fillet is worn and also a
chaplet of flowers to which a semicircular ornament
has been attached on either side of the center
parting.
Lehnga
The antariya has now become the lehnga; it is held
first at the right hip then taken once
MAIDSERVANT
(Ajanta cave XVII)
PRINCESS
(Ajanta Cave I)

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around the body and tucked in tightly at the left hip
in pleats or simply as in this figure.
Uttariya
of sheer material, thrown over the breasts
Muktavali
several pearl necklaces of small and large pearls
including one long strand which hangs between the
breasts
Valaya
One Simple And one ornamental bracelet is worn
on each wrist.
Kenyura
Armlet of filigree work festooned with pearls.
Bali
Ring type earrings with pearls strung; a smaller
simple ring is worn on the upper part of the ear.
Anguliya
Ring worn on the little finger of the right hand
Nupura
Very simple anklet
Kirita
A decorative tiara

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Hairstyle
Elaborate, adorned with flowers and jewels, hair
being worn in a large bun at the nape.
Sari
An elongated from of the antariya, the left end is
passed between the legs and tucked in at the back;
the right and longer end is taken around the body
and thrown over the left shoulder from the front and
is visible in folds at the left.
Muktavali
Two strings of pearls at the neck
Valaya
Simple bracelets, two at each wrist

OLD WOMAN
(Ajanta Cave XVII)

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Kundala
Ring-typed earrings
Hairstyle
Drawn back and knotted She is carrying a flower
garland.

Ardhoruka
Langoti type of patterned stripped drawers-a short
strip of cloth worn around the waist with an
attached trip from the center of the waist which is
drawn up between the legs and tucked in at the
back.

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Choli
Short blouse of diaphanous material
Vaikaksha
Two string of pearls crossed at the chest
Muktavali
String of pearls at the neck
Kundala
Large disc type earrings
Uttariya
Worn over the left shoulder
VOTARY FIGURE
(Ajanta Cave II)

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Kenyura
Flat simple armbands
Valaya
Bracelet, one on each wrist
Nupura
Anklets of simple design
Headgear
A striped scarf tied round the head and knotted at
the back, tassels are visible behind the right
shoulder; further back on the head is a decoration
of leaves with a central motif probably tied around a
chignon type hair style.
Ghagri
The early from of a skirt to the knees in which there
is a drawstring; the border of the woven silk
material can be seen vertically down the center.
Valaya
Graded ivory shell bangles.
Hara
Bead necklace.
Hairstyle
Centre painting with chignon on nape decorated
with ribbons; a wreath of leaves is worn around the
head.
Ghagri
A simple skirt with drawstring

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Court Lady
(Ajanta Cave I)
Pratidhi
Breasts-band tied at the back
Girdle
Ornamented, worn over the skirt for additional
support
Vijayantika
Necklace of strings of looped pearls with precious
stones
Kenyura
Armlets with incised design
Valaya
Bangles and pearls bracelets

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Kundala
Hairstyle
Worn shoulder-length and loose

MAIDSERVANT
(Ajanta cave I)
Cholaka
Choli type blouse with an apron front and V-neck
made of pulakabandha-tie and dye cloth
Antariya
Lehnga style, of stripped cloth
Valaya
Simple Bangles

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Kundala
ring type earrings
Hairstyle
Simple bun with flower wreath

MAID SERVANT
(AJANTA CAVE I)
Cholaka
Double jacket of bandhini the upper one with
shorter sleeves in the angarkha style; the lower one
is green in colour with longer sleeves.
Hara
Two necklaces, both of beads with the central bead
of a different shape.

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Hairstyle
Curly hair held back by a fillet.

MAID
(Ajanta cave XVI)
Angarkha
mid thigh length tunic with left opening and
bordered edge all around; it has long sleeves and a
four-pointed them in Persian style
Ghagri
Heavily gathered skirt tied at the hips with a nada
Kantha
Bangle on left wrist
Valaya
Bangles and pearls bracelets
Kundala

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Hairstyle
Probably a thick twisted roll of padding is fixed at
the center parting and held in place by tiny plaits of
hair; this is still used to hold high the head-covering
by some women of north India and gives an
extremely regal effect to the head veil

ATTENDANT
(Ajanta cave I)

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Robe
Ankle length in white material with a pale blue frill
at them; it has tigh sleeves and a collar; the are
embroidered; there is a tiraz band trimming at the
upper arm and floating ribbons at the back opening
Headgear
A round cap of red material with a white border of
fur or wool and white plume at the center

KING
(Ajanta cave XVII)
Antariya
Short striped worn in the lehnga style with a long
and visible on the cushion
Necklace
Of gems with loops
Suddha Ekavali

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Necklace of pearls with a central gem
Keyura
Elaborate armlets with loops suspended from a
cylinder of filigree work.
Valaya
Ornamental bracelet, one on each wrist
Anguliya
Ring on little finger
Kundala
Elaborate earrings
Kirita
Tiara of metal with ornamental disc and motifs
MINISTER
(Ajanta)

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Kancuka
Indigenous simple round neck tunic with long
sleeves and a font opening; probably calf length
Uttariya
Wrapped around the waist and thrown over the left
shoulder in upavita fashion with the final end resting
on the left arm.
Bali
Simple ring type earrings with pearl suspended
Haravsti
Large pearl necklace
Torque
Simple necklet
Hairstyle
Long hair combed back smoothly
HAMBERLAIN
(Ajanta cave XVII)

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Kancuka
Indigenous striped white tunic with long sleeves and
a front opening; probably calf length
Chaddar
Cloth decorated with a fish-scale pattern; worn over
the left shoulder and under the right arm in upavita
fashion
Torque
Necklet of twisted wire with beads
Headgear
Flat turban twisted cloth held by ribbon bands at
intervals, worn as a mark of office by the
chamberlain
GUARD
(Ajanta cave II)

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Kancuka
mid calf length tunic with four pointed ends. V-neck
and long sleeves; the cloth is star-patterned
Trousers
Gathered in churidar style
Headgear
Skull cap
Kayabandh
Sash tied at the waist

KING AND QUEEN
(Gupta gold coins)

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Chugha
Close fitting coat of the Kushans with a row of
decorative butons with fastenings at the center; the
opening in front is held together and the waist edge
ends in a point at the center
Trousers
Do not appear to have creases at the knee
Headgear
Close fitting cap
Earrings
Button style

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Quaba
Calf length stripped coat with pointed collar and
tiraz band-braid on upper arms; floating ribbon ties
are visible at the back.
Headgear
Dome cap with band
Belt
Worn at the waist

HORSEMAN
(Ajanta cave XVI)

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Cholaka
Short jacket covering the chest with half-sleeves
and a decorative braid at the hem and sleeve-edge
Antariya
Short and of stripped material with a border
Kangan
One bracelet on each wrist
Hairstyle
Shoulder length hair; wear no headgear
Equipment
Spear and rectangle, curved shield of rhinoceros
hide
FOOT SOLDIER
(Ajanta cave XVII)

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Quaba
Of foreign origin this calf length tunic has the
Persian type pointed collar and tiraz band braid
trimming on upper arms
Girdle
Worn at the waist
Kundala
Disc type earnings
Hairstyle
Drawn up in a large top knot
Equipment
Oval shield and curved sword
GUARD
(Ajanta cave XVII)

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Antaravasa
This lower garment was normally 36 wide and 2
1/2

yards long and worn around the waist where it was
secured by a girdle into the nada
Uttarasanga
The upper garment is thrown over the shoulder in a
loop

BHIKKU
(Ajanta cave XVI)
Hairstyle
Hair is worn with a center parting which is covered
by a decorative ornament attached to the mukuta at
the forehead and the jeweled braid at the left side
of the rape; the braid then continues like a fillet
around the crown of the head.

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Mukuta
Highly decorative in embossed gold or silver, has
little pendants suspended from it at the forehead.
Kundala
Large wheel like earrings
Haravsti
One strand of large pearls
Torque
Twisted wire necklace of Celtic origin
COURT LADY
(Gwalior Museum)
Hairstyle
Hair is worn in a large pompadour style on the
crown of the head with tiny curls along the
forehead.

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Ratnajali
From the elaborate tiara like ornament around the
head, strands of pearls from a net over the
hairstyle; there is a central ornament at the
forehead from which are suspended stands of pearls
Mala
Large flowers above the ear used as further
ornamentation to the hairstyle
Kundala
Very large ring type earrings
Bali
Small earrings with suspended pearls; worn higher
up on the ear
Suddha Ekavali
Pearl necklace with suspended pearls; worn higher
up on the ear

FEMALE VOTARY
(Ajanta cave VI)

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KING
(Ajanta cave I)
Hairstyle
Short hair
Mukuta
Tiara of floral motifs from which pearls are loaded
and suspended
Bali
Earring from which separate drops of pearls and
sapphires are suspended
Valaya
Bracelets of different kinds at the wrists
Sutra
Simple chain at the neck

YOUNG MAN
(Ajanta cave XVII)
(
A
j
a
n
t
a

c

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Hairstyle
Simple, shoulder length, drawn back without a
parting and left loose; a shorter strand is seen over
the ear
5.10 Age of Empires Daily Life (500 BC-
647 AD)
The next thousand years saw a great many kings
and emperors! Some did fabulous things, like plant
trees along the roads and built rest houses for
travelers. Other started great public works
programs. Let's take a closer look at just one of the
empires - my favorite - the Gupta Empire.
The Gupta Empire (320 AD to about 500 AD). The
Gupta Empire existed at about the same time as the
Roman Empire. It dominated northern India. The
Gupta Empire was neat. Villages were protected
from bandits and raids with local military squads.
Each squad was made up of one lephant, one
chariot, three armored cavalrymen and five foot
soldiers. In times of war, all the squads were
brought together to form the royal army!
People were happy during the Gupta period, the
"Golden Age" of ancient India. They had religious
freedom. They were given free medical care, which
included simple surgery. Criminals were never put
to death. Instead, they were fined for their crimes.
Rewards of money were given to writers, artists,
and scholars to encourage them to produce
wonderful work, and they did. Very few of the
common people were educated, but the Gupta
Empire had many universities. Students came from
as far away as China to study at Gupta universities!
"Indian cities are prosperous and stretch far and
wide. There are many guest houses for travellers.
There are hospitals providing free medical service
for the poor. The viharas and temples are majestic.

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People are free to choose their occupations. There
are no restrictions on the movement of the people.
Government officials and soldiers are paid their
salaries regularly. People are not addicted to drinks.
They shun violence. The administration provided by
the Gupta rulers is fair and just." Chinese traveller
Fa Hien, during the reign of Chandragupta II.
Gupta homes:
In the villages and towns, homes were mostly one
room huts made of wood or bamboo, with thatched
roofs. Even the palaces were made of wood! Larger
homes had several rooms and balconies.
Gupta villages:
Streets between the homes were narrow and
twisted. Stalls for selling things were located on
both sides of the street. People mostly walked
where they wanted to go inside their village.
Villages were very noisy places. Not only were
they full of happy, busy people, they were full of
animals. A monkey might sneak up and steal food
right out of your hand! Imagine coming home from
the market, and telling your mother that the
monkeys stole the food you bought, again!
Art:
The craftsmen worked with iron and copper. Their
iron work, especially, was outstanding.
Even today, statues exist from this period,
made of iron, that show very little rust!
Jobs:
People worked on roads and other public works, but,
(as they were in ancient Egypt), they were paid
for their work. In the Gupta Empire, wheat was
the main crop, and they kept cows for milk. This
civilization produced great works of literature and

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marvelous works of art. Sculpture was their thing,
though. They were very good at it.
They were also very smart scientists.
They believed the earth was a sphere, and rotated
around the sun. They also figured out that the solar
year had 365.358 days. (Today, our scientists think
it's probably more like 365.242, which means they
only missed by 3 hours!) They were great with
math. Ancient India gave us the number system we
use today - 9 digits, the zero, and the decimal!
What did they eat?
The concept of breakfast did not exist. In earlier
times, meals were both vegetarian and non-
vegetarian, depending upon your religious beliefs.
After the coming of Buddhism, Jainism and other
pacifist religion and reforms in Hinduism, vegetarian
food (strictly excluding animal and fish meat)
became the norm for as much as half of the
population. In the Gupta Empire, they mostly ate
vegetables, cereals, fruits, breads, and drank milk.
School:
Older kids, who went to school, lived at school.
School (ashram) life was tough. You had to do
everything yourself. There were no servants. Even
princes had to wash their clothes, cook their food,
and follow a rigorous course of studies. They had a
lot to learn. They studied math, science,
engineering, literature, art, music and religion.
Marriage:
In ancient India, the most popular form of marriage
was called Swayamvara. In this type of marriage,
potential grooms assembled at the bride's house
and the bride selected her spouse. Instances of
Swayamvara ceremony are found in India's national
epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. There were

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other types of marriage as well, such as Gandharva
Vivaha (love marriage) and Asura Viviha (marriage
by abduction).
Sports and Games:
Ancient Indians invented many of the games
we play today, like chess, polo, and playing cards
(which are said to have gone from India to the other
parts of our globe). They practiced martial arts,
wrestling, and fencing. Hunting was also a favorite
pastime of the nobility.
What kind of pets did they have?
The pets were mainly birds like parrots. The royals
had peacocks. (Monkeys were not usually pets.
Monkeys were mostly a nuisance, but cute!)
Clothing: Fashion in Ancient India
In Northern India:
In the north, Ancient Indians wore (some still wear)
an unstiched garment called dhoti. This was a 9
meter long cloth that was draped around the legs
and tied at the abdomen. Both sexes wore it the
same way. Women wore bright colours. Men wore
either white or dark colors. Ancient Indians did not
use banks, so the family "fortune" was worn by the
Vaishnav women in the northern half of India. In the
north, they wore lots of jewelry. It was used both by
men and women. Jewelry included armbands, waist
belts, leg and ankle bangles for both sexes, ear
rings, nose rings, rings on fingers and toes, crowns
and other hair adornments. In 326 BC, Alexander
the Great (that great Greek!) invaded northwest
India. Here's his account: They use parasols as a
screen from the heat! They wear shoes made of
white leather and these are elaborately trimmed,
while the soles are variegated, and made of great
thickness, to make the wearer seem so much taller.

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In Southern India: In the south, however, ancient
scriptures describe women as wearing saris. A sari
is a single cloth wrapped around the body. It covers
the woman from head to toe. A dhoti is less
modest. In ancient times, it was considered very
important for women to be covered from the neck
down to the feet. The southern half of India has
been almost exclusively Shaivite for thousands of
years. Shaivites typically have very, very few
possessions. A Shaivite woman would not have worn
such jewelry. Shaivite me have typically worn only a
loin cloth and perhaps a cloth on the head to protect
from the sun, never jewelry.
Fashion in Ancient India

Clothing in Ancient India was for the most part,
similar for both men and women. The basic costume
of ancient society was a length of cloth wrapped
around the lower part of the body, and a loose
fitting garment for the upper body, which was

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usually another length of fabric. A headdress was
also worn, mainly by the men.
Women in Vedic society wore a variety of garments.
The first being a skirt type garment (dhoti), with a
blouse (choli) and scarf. Second is a sari, which is a
length of fabric wound around the body with the
loose end (pallu) thrown over the shoulder.
Sometimes a choli would be worn with this. The last
garment was worn mainly by tribal women. The
Adivasi is a length of fabric tied around the waist
with no upper garment worn.
Men also had a choice in their clothing though not
as varied as the women. Men usually wore a Dhoti,
which is a length of fabric wrapped around the
waist. This could be left as a skirt or brought
through the legs and made into a pants type
garment. Men of the south rarely wore shirts, but
men of the north wore a fitted upper garment. Male
headdress was also a length of fabric, wrapped
around the head, called a Turban. Women
sometimes wore the turban also.
Due to the large area of India many differences in
clothing emerged, mainly due to climate differences.
The southern Indians wore much less than in the
colder north. Women in the south rarely wore a
upper garment. Northern women adopted a fitted
upper garment to be worn under the loose fitting
one.
Clothing was made from resources found in each
region. Cotton and wool were the most abundant,
since silk was not introduced from China until
around the 1st century B.C.E. Vedic people also
enjoyed lavish embroidery and embellishments.
Gold being the preferred, though there was also an
abundance of silver and precious gems.

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Glossary of Terms
Nivi Pleats in the front or back of a Sari or Dhoti.
Choli A short blouse like garment with no back.
Sari (or Saree) A length of cloth about 2 yards by
6-10 yards (depending on the region) wrapped
around the lower part of the body with the loose
end being thrown or wrapped around the upper
body.
Pallu - The loose end of the sari.
Adivasi A length of fabric tied around the waist,
Usually smaller than the sari.
Dhoti A length of fabric about 1 yards by 6-9
yards, which is wrapped around the body with the
loose end either tied at the waist or thrown over the
shoulder.
Turban A length of fabric wrapped or tied around
the head to create a headdress.
Hirano-Drapi Ornamentation of garments.
Atka Flowing garments.
Drapi Embroidered garments

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Lesson 6: Medieval Period,
Mughal Period

Structure
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Hindu Court Clothing
6.3 Sultanate Clothing
6.4 Textile Trade

6.1 Introduction

With the eventual collapse of the Gupta Empire in
the sixth century, the classical age of Ancient India
came to an end, leaving the north fragmented into
smaller kingdoms. The vast area of the subcontinent
which had been united under the Guptas was no
longer controlled by one strong dynasties with
diverse ideologies, racial and cultural traditions
fought for supremacy. The main clans that emerged
in Northern and Western India were the pratiharas,
karkotas, utpalas and solankis. Central India was
dominated by the paramars and chandellas, Eastern
India by the palas and gangas, and the deccan by
the chalukyas and rashtrakutas.

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It was towards the end of the ninth century that the
Rajputs became an influential force in the culture
and politics of India. Their exact origins are unclear,
but they claimed solar and lunar genealogies in
keeping with the Puranic tradition were conferred
kshatriya status by the Brahmins which allowed
them to establish royal lineage. The various Rajput
clans founded independent kingdoms across
Northern, Western and Central India, but they
fought among each other incessantly and it was this
disunity that allowed the Muslim invaders to gain a
foothold and eventually overwhelm them. By the
British Raj, most of the royal houses in what came
to be known as Princely India were descendants of
the Rajput dynasties.

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From the mid-sixth to the thirteenth centuries the
South was also dominated by conflicts between
three major kingdoms: the Chalukyas, the Pallavas
followed by the Cholas and the Pandyas, unilike
Northern India which is dominated by vast fertile
plains, the hilly terrain of Southern India made it
difficult to from large domains and the peninsular
kingdoms remained comparatively small and insular.
India may have been politically divided by constant
conflict and power struggles, but the strong
tradition of Hindustan was the subcontinent unifying
force. By the early medieval period, the laws of
Hindu society and its hierarchical structure were
firmly rooted in the caste system, and its fourfold
division Brahmin, kshatriyas vaishyas and shudras
was strictly adhered to. Writing in the eleventh
century, the Arab philosopher, AI-Biruni, noted that
the Hindus firmly believed that there was no country
like theirs. Foreigners were considered impure, and
there was a general aversion to Islam and
Christianity when they were later introduced. It was
not easy for them to integrate into this strictly
caste-based society and the solution for many
foreign rulers was to convert to Buddhism.
Architecture and sculpture had flourished
throughout most of India under the patronage of
powerful Budhist rulers, particularly during the
Mauryan and Kushan periods, but the Hindu
renaissance during the Gupta period, however, the
focus shifted to the Deccan and southern India,
where an equally vibrant and influential cultural
brought about a vital intellectual evolution.

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6.2 Hindu Court Clothing
The Pallava and Chola dynasties, which dominated
Southern India from the seventh to the thirteenth
centuries, were amoung the most powerful ruling
clans in medieval times. Hindustan developed under
their reign, social institutions were established, and
art, architecture, literature and music flourished.
Thus, the Tamil culture crystallized and the sphere
of its influence spread across Southern and Central
India and even had an impact on the pattern of life
in the north.
The temple played a powerful role in Hindu society.
In Southern India, the building of temples took
precendence over any other palatial building.
Hundreds of temples towns sprang up and became
flourishing urban centrees. The immensely wealthy
temple trusts were controlled by the Brahmins who
acted a financiers and traded in commodities. They
sponsored textiles guilds and co-operatives and the
craft workshops that were set up around the
temples produced the finest fabrics and jewelry for
the kings and the gods. The demand for Indian
textiles and spices grew and led to a lucrative
export trade which in turn led to the development of

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textiles centers of excellence. The guild leaders
became powerful financers and bankers and
together with the merchants and temples trusts,
controlled the economy of their states
The temples of Southern India belong to what can
be broadly defined as the Dravida style of
architecture. The finest examples of this style are
seen in the rock-cut temples of Mamallapuram,
Pallava, the Kailashnath temple at Kanchipuram, the
Elephanta island caves outside Bombay the
spectacular Kailashnath temple at Ellora in the north
deccan and the Brihadishwara temple in Tanjore.
The Northern India eveloped a strong architectural
and sculpture identify of its own. It is exemplified by
the exquisitely carved, temples at Khajuraho in
North Central India, and Bhuvaneshwara and
Konark in Orissa, which feature some of the finest
sculpture in India.

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The profusion of figurative sculptures which
decorate these spectacular structures are vital
references in tracing the evaluation of royal
clothing. Although the portrayal of the human form
itself differs widely from region to region, the
clothing patterns of ancient India which focused on
highlighting rather than concealing the contours of
the body remained largely unchanged. The erotic
carvings of lovers in ecstatic embrace at temple
such as Khajuraho and Konar reaffirm the Hindu
ideal of physical sensuousness, the beauty of the
naked body and the belief in fertility and the cycle of
life. Regardless of whether the sculpture were
patronized by Hindu, Jain or Buddhist dynasties,
preference for the unstitched garment prevailed,
particularly in the Southern and Central parts of
India. The dancing apsaras painted on the ceiling of
the Great Temple at Tanjore are draped in fine
transport attariyas and antariyas. This is in keeping
with the southern tradition where the celebration of
the body is reflected both in paintings and in the use
of Chola bronze casting which has produced two of
the worlds most wonderful and voluptuous dancing
forms the Nataraja cosmic dance of Shiva
representing the eternal cycle of birth, death and
the dancing Krishana. Dancing in temple courtyards

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was an important ritual of workshop and was
performed by highly skilled dancers. Exquisite
jewellery was crafted and textiles woven not only
for the aristocracy, but also for dancers who
worshipped the goals through their art. The
development of these classical dance forms
continued unhindered and the stylistic draping of
the dance costume has been maintained in its
original form to this day.
The difference between the clothes of an aristocrat
and those of a commoner lay out in the way they
were worn or cut of the fabric, but in the level of its
sophistication. In some courts, commoners were
prohibited by laws and social taboos from wearing
fine fabrics. In the warmer regions the classic
ensemble worn by Hindu kings was still made up of
the traditional unstitched garments, but new words
to describe these garments began to appear,

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showing regional variations. The terms dupatta
chadar and dhoti, synonymous with the uttariya and
antariya are in common use by this time.
Information on the seasonal use of colour and fabric
comes to light in the encyclopedic work written by
the Chaluka King Someshvara. He wore soft and
light, smooth and blowing in the summer; red,
brown and rose-coloured clothes during the rainy
season and saffron coloured wool in the winter.

After extensive research of the literature of this
period, Dr Kalyan Krishna has been able to identify
a wide range of stitched clothes that appeared. The
medieval period is generally described as an affluent
one and frequent reference is made to different
styles of tunics, skirts and trousers, the use of
precious jewels to decorate the body and hair and
turban ornaments. It is interesting to note that the
first mention of petticoat worn with a sari also
appears at about this time.
Apart from the cave and temple paintings, which
kept more or less to the Ajanta tradition, there is
little in the way of visual evidence of any significant
changes in clothing styles until the appearance of
painted manuscripts in the fifteenth century. By this

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time, the palm leaf had been replaced by paper, and
brighter colours had been introduced to the palette.
The tradition of painting in temples, monasteries
and caves, and on palm-leaf manuscripts and
textiles dates back to antiquity. The murals that
decorate the walls of the Alchi monastery in Ladakh
are based on the life of the Buddha. Painted in the
eleventh century by Kashmiri artists, they represent
a unique culture. The figures are dressed in an
amalgamation of clothing styles that reflects the
different ethnic influences on these high plateau
lands. Some of the men wear stitched of Central
Asian origin. their coats are often patterned with a
square grid, some of which are decorated with
animal motifs. The female figures are depicted in
the usual unstitched garments, but the
advancements of textile craftsmanship is evident in
the complex patterning of the fabrics. Tara, a
female Buddhist deity, appears in many forms on
the walls of the Alchi monastery. However the
relative complexity of the cut of her choli is
indicative of a marked profession in tailoring skills.
The writings of the eleventh-century Kashmiri poet,
Kalhana, endorse the fact that by this time formal
dress codes had been established. He describes the
diverse range of rich fabrics styles and outfits worn
in the northern courts and observe that admission in
to court was only granted to those wearing turban
and a patterned dress.
Naturally, where there was interaction between
neighboring Hindu and Muslim courts, a synthesis of
styles did occur. Northern Hindu courts began to
include more stitched garments in there clothing
repertoire, although these was generally adapted to
suit the local textiles. By the fifteenth century,
manuscripts paintings show nobles in the variety of
stitched clothes. Chief among them is an early
version of what came to be known as the jama

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known as the takauchiya jama, which had made its
first appearance in the Kushan period. The clothing
of Hindu women, on the other hand, remained
largely unaffected by the arrival of the muslims. On
the whole, unstitched clothing was still the most
common form of courtly dress for both men and
women throughout the medieval period, and new
fashions were created not so much through the
introduction of new styles, but through the evolution
of textiles techniques.

6.3 Sultanate Clothing
The Delhi Sultanate
The emergence of Islam to have far-reaching socio-
cultural influences on India. After the Muslim
conquest of the Sind in 713, Arab trade on the west
coast strengthened and Arab settlements soon
began to appear on the east coast as well. The early
Muslim invaders were marauders rather than
conquerors. Their main interest was in looting and
they were responsible for the destruction of many of
the beautiful monuments and temples that were
once scattered across the North, which contained
vast of deposits of wealth. It was not until the
twelfth century, when the internal wars of the
Rajput were still raging that the Turks and Afghans
began to conquer and settle.
In 1185 Muhammad, the ruling prince of Ghur,
embarked on a series of invasions from the
Northwest. This time, the intention was to build an
empire. By the beginning of the thirtieth century, he
had defeated the Rajputs, who had been weakened
by so much infighting and coquuered both Delhi and
Ajmer. He was assassinated in 1206, and his
dominions came under the rule of Qurb-ud-din
Aibak, a freed slave who had risen to the rank of
Muhammad most trusted general. It was he who

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established the Slave Dynasty and what became
known as the Delhi Sultanate, beginning long age of
Turko-Afghan rule.
The Slave Sultans controlled Northern India for
most of the thirteenth century. Foreign rulers in a
predominantly Hindu land, they did not integrate
initially, remaining isolated in their courts and
retaining their Islamic traditions. Their attitude was
matched with equal indifference on the part of the
indigenous population who considered their
conquerors to be barbaric and impure. It wasnt
until the early fourteenth century, when the Khiljis
and the Tughluqs came to power that the
assassination of cultures began. The number of
intermarriages between Sultanate nobles and Hindu
princesses increased, although there was a natural
resistance to these political alliances. This is borne
out by the popular legend of Rani Padmani, wife of
Rajput ruler Rana Ratan Singh of Chitorgarh.
Extravagant tales of her beauty had reached the
ears of the sultan Ala-ud-din-Khilji and aroused his
curiosity. He befriended the Rana and then pressed
him to reveal the reflection of Padamai in a mirror.
So smitten was he by this glimpse of the Queen that
he promptly had the Rana killed. On hearing of her
husband death, however, Padamani thwarted the
sultan hopes by committing jauhar along with all the
others women in the palace, as was the custom of
Rajput noblewomen who feared for their honour.
Death was preferable to tainting the pure bloodline.
The Tughluq line collapsed in 1398 after the
devastating raid on Delhi by the Mughal conqueror
Timur. Timur nominated Khizir Khan as ruler of the
Delhi Sultanate, and the Sayyid Dynasty he founded
remained in power until they were ousted by the
governor of one of their Northern provinces, Babhul
Lodhi, who became the Sultan of Delhi in 1451 and
founded the Lodhi dynasty. This dynasty ended with

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Ibrahim Lodhi who was defeated in the battle of
Paniput by Babur marking the end of the Sultanate
period and the beginning of Mughal rule in Northern
India.
During the Sultanate period, Delhi was the seat of
Islamic religion and learning. From the fifteenth
century onwards the provincial capitals in the
Deccan, Bengal, Gujarat Jaunpur, Kashmir and
Malwa also emerged as important centers of Muslim
art and culture. The clothing of the Sultanate rulers
during the early part of their region conformed to
the Central Asian styles of their homeland and they
did not take to the unstitched clothes worn by the
local people which were unfamiliar to them. In his
comprehensive account of Indian costumes, the
eleventh century writer, Al-Biruni of Khwarazm
observes.
They use turbans for trousers: those who want
little dress, are content to dress in a rag of two
fingers breadth, which they did bind over their loin,
with two cords, but those who like much dress, wear
trousers, lined with as much cotton as would
suffice to make a number of counterpanes and
saddle rugs. The trousers have no visible openings,
and they are so huge that the feet are not visible.
Ibn Batutta, Ambassador of Sultan Muhammad bin
Tughluq, who arrived in India in 1333, was struck
by the way Indian women dressed: they do not
seem to wear sewn clothes, but only unswen
garmentsthey form a griddle with one of the sides
of the garment and cover their heads and breasts
with the other.

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The clothing styles encountered by India new rulers
were evidently the objects of curiosity and
confusion. Muslim writers were more confident when
describing garments that were familiar to them.
There are many literary accounts of medieval court
life, and although they are often exaggerated and
intended to glorify their patrons, they are full of
interesting detail on the clothing worn by Muslim
nobles.
The first literary references to clothing of the
Sultanate period indicate that ensembles were
created by wearing an assortment of stitched
garments, one on top of the other. These garments
were usually woven and embellished with gold

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embroidery. Their turbans, unlike those of Indian
origin, were wound tightly around a skullcap with
the ends often left dangling at the back. Whereas
shoes were removed upon entry to the traditional
Hindu court, the Sultanate nobility wore richly
embroidered shoes, which often had upturned toes.
Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq and his Delhi courtiers
are described as wearing different kinds of ornate
and expensive garments. The Sultan himself is said
to have worn a kullah costing a lakh of tankas. In
public audience, he wore a barani wool coat with
elaborately embroidered shoulders. However, in
private, he wore a tunic like garment. Similarly
officers wore silken robes in public and tunics shifts
in private. The amirs courts wore a type of gown
called a tatariyat coat and short turbans. Judges
and learned men wore a very full gown and an open
garment buttoned down the front called a durra.
Muslims of the eastern and western regional courts
were similarly attired. Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese
traveler in the fifteenth century, describes the
clothes worn by the Moors of Gujarat.
Ibn Hawaqal, an Arab geographer of the twelfth
century notes the resemblance between the clothes
worn by the people of the lower Indus Valley, whose
basic costume compared a pair of drawers, vest and
turban and those worn in Iraq. He also remarks that
in the warmer regions around the Gulf of Cambay
and the Malabar Coast, the Muslim amirs ha
adopted the costume of the native princes, although
they continued to wear their native pantaloons and
jerkins.
Although a fairly clear picture of the clothing styles
worn during the medieval period can be drawn from
literary and artistic sources, very few actual
garments have been preserved. The oldest Indian
garment documented in this book is the Talismanic
coat. It was made in the fifteenth century, probably

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for a Sayyid Sultan. Inscribed all over with a long
extract from the Koran, it is likely to have been
worn for religious ceremonies.
In accordance with Islamic law, women of
aristocratic Muslim families lived within the strict
confines of the harem. Many Hindu rulers decided to
introduce same practice into their courts largely
because they believed this was the best way to
protect their women from the unwelcome attentions
of foreigners and housed them in a sequestered
section of the palace called the zenana known as the
deorhi in Western India and the under mahal in
Bengal. The practice of pardah previously unknown
in India quickly spread and radically changed the
lifestyles of Hindu women. As a result there are very
few eyewitness accounts of women of royal birth. It
is presumed that Muslim women kept to the clothing
styles of their Central Asian homeland and dressed
in tunics, gowns and paijamas similar to these worn
bhemen, accessorized with scarves and jewellery. A
special over garment called the barqa was for
traveling which covered the body from the head to
foot.
There are very few accounts of prominent women in
medieval India. Razia Sultan was the only empress
of the Sultanate period who wielded power. She
effectively although her reign in Delhi only lasted
three and a half years. The story of her life and her
purported love for Yaqut, an Ethiopian in her
coterie, has been romantiezed in the annals of
Indian history. Records prove that she was an
emancipated woman and appeared before the public
unveiled, in masculine clothes, wearing a short tunic
and a conical hat. However, she is an exception to
the rule. In reality the presence of women was
largely ignored. One of the rate literary references
to women comes from the regional court of Malwa in
the Deccan, where Sultan Ghiyas Shah allegedly

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spent the better part of his 31 year reign cavorting
with the women of his harem, who were said to
number around 15000 although this figure is likely
to have been exaggerated. The romantic description
of the provincial court suggests that there were
large number of women teachers, dancers,
musicians, embroiderers and even magistrates in
the capital city Mandu. The Sultan entourage
included 1000 beautiful young female guards
brought from Turkey and Abyssinia, dressed in
uniforms similar to those worn by the male soldier,
who were fully armed with bows, quivers and
firearms. Apart from these rare references to the
existence of women, there is very little evidence of
their clothing. It is clear, however from study of
later Muslim fashions that a subtle synthesis of India
textiles and Muslim designs did take place.
The development of textile, techniques and styles
created a whole new vocabulary that made its way
into the Sanskrit and Persian language in about the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The more complex
the garment, the longer the word used to describe
it. Hence the Sanskrit term for what later commonly
became known as the jama was
rarddhapakagrihitavastra. Literary translated, this
compound word means a garment tied and kept in
position by fasteners. It is evident from the many
local terms for textiles that appear in Persian
literature that Indian fabrics had been widely
adopted by the Sultanate courts. The words of the
fourteenth century poet. Amir Khusrau, are
scattered with terms, cloths that redeem the past
life and decorate the body like jhan bartali and
Bihari that are like a pleasant gift of a spring tide
and sit as lightly on the body as moonlight on the
tulip on the morning rose.
As Indian interest in Sultanate costumes increased,
so did the Sultans enthusiasm for textiles,

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especially the Muslims manufactured in Deogiri.
Khusrau was struck by the beauty and
sensuousness of these gossamer fabrics. There are
accounts of Karkhanas, royal workshops patronized
by the Sultanate courts in delhi, which are said to
have employed 4000 craftsmen who produced
thousand of robes of honour bestowed by the
Sultans upon their loyal courtiers. Some of these
craftsmen may have come from Iran and Central
Asia, but it is likely that the ingenuity of the local
Indian craftsmen was used to incorporate Islamic
aesthetics into both the weaving techniques and the
patterns of Indian textiles. Designs for the muslim
courts were made in accordance with the tenets of
Islam which meant that the repertoire of textile
designs was limited to floral and geometric
arabesque motifs.
Although woven fabrics were traditionally favoured
in Central Asia, the predilection for sumptuous

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clothing decorated with gold and silver may have
initiated the demand for embroidered fabrics. It is
presumed that the technique of gold-thread
embroidery was commonly applied in the Sultanate
period, although the exact nature of the
embellishment is not known. Ibn Batutta mention
that silk robeswith matching caps richly
embroidered with Karchobi were in use, which were
often studded with precious and semi-precious
stones. In his account of Firuz Tughluwqs court
attire, Al-Biruni describes the robes and kullahs
worn by the sultan as being heavily embroidered.

The Deccan Sultanate
By the fourteenth century the Delhi Sultanate had
extended its rule southwards and established
provincial kingdoms in central India and the Deccan.
By the fifteenth century the governors of those
provincial kingdoms had broken away from Delhi to
found their own dynasties and formed the five
Deccani Sultanates: Ahmadnagar and Bijapur in the
West, Golconda in the East and Bidar and Beerar in
the Central region. While the Delhi Sultanate had
close ties with central Asia, the Deccan rulers had
strong commercial links by the sea routes of the
Arabian Sea with Persia, Turkey, Egypt, and the
Arab world, which enabled them to retain
independence from Delhi. The majority of the
Deccans population was made up of Hindus and
Muslims, but large and powerful communities of
Turks, Persians, Arabs and Africans also thrived.
Although politically unstable the Deccan was
culturally enriched by the multi-racial nature of its
society.
In the North, the foundations of the Mughal Empire
were being laid as Babur defeated the last of the
lodhis and took control of Delhi in 1526. However

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the Mughals did not expand their interests until the
conquest of the Deccan by Emperor Aurangzeb. This
conquest marks the end of the medieval period in
the South,. The Deccan rulers therefore enjoyed
independence for a greater period of time than the
other provincial Muslim courts, which had fallen
under Mughal rule. The peninsula area remained
under the independent control of the Hindu
Vijayanagar Empire. Here trade and culture
flourished and the rulers managed to resist Muslim
attack for a relatively long period until they were
finally over powered in 1565.
A distinctive culture resulting from a synthesis of
Persian and Hindu elements flourished across
Central India. The secular growth of the Deccan
continued and, under generous royal patronage, it

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became a great center of learning. The region was
learning. The region was known for its beautiful
painted and woven textiles, which the Sultanate
rulers adopted with great enthusiasm. Their clothes
were distinguished not so much by the styles, which
remained Central Asian in essence, but by the rich
decorative patterning and vibrancy of the southern
India textiles used to make them. The Islamic
miniature paintings patronized by the sultans are a
rich source for the study of royal clothing of
Southern and Central India and the way it different
from the styles that were evolving in the Mughals
courts of the North. Techniqually, the Deccani
paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
should be classified as early Mughal, but the textiles
they portray painted by Hindu artists seeking
Sultanate patronage after the fall of the Vijaynagar
Empire, and the strong influences of traditional
Hindu fresco painting and the Tamil culture can be
felt. The costumes are sumptuous and elaborate
and the textile designs more bold and earthy than
those evolving in the Northern Mughal courts. It is
virtually impossible to tell from these highly stylized
paintings whether a fabric is woven, embroidered,
printed, but ikat and tie and dye techniques were
evidently advanced as was the art painting and
printing cloth with vegetable dyes.
It is important to remember that these Sultanate
paintings and the subsequent proliferation of Mughal
miniatures are by no means representative of Indian
royalty as a whole. However, it is true that the
expansion of trade and the fusion of Muslim and
Hindu cultures in certain areas resulted in a vastly
increased repertoire of techniques and the
appearance of new silhouettes. This assimilation
was more obvious in the Muslim courts. Few
changes in clothing styles were seen in the Hindu
courts that had little contact with Muslim. In the
context of the entire subcontinent, Muslim was a

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minority, albeit a powerful one, and they had little
influence on the way the majority of Hindus
dressed. The Hindu, Jain and Buddhist paintings and
sculptures from the post Gupta period to the late
medieval period show that the indigenous
population remained firmly rooted in their own
textiles based clothing culture. Stitched clothing had
become an integral part of Indian attire long before
the advent of Islam but on the whole, the royalty of
India retained its preference for the unstitched
garment, particularly in the Southern and Central
regions. The manner of draping the body in the
Hindu tradition may have changed little in over
1000 years, but judging from the colouring and
patterning of fabrics depicted in medieval art, a
tremendous evolution in textile crafts and
techniques had taken place.

6.4 Textile Trade
Writing in the fifth century BC, the Greek historian,
Herodotus, marveled at the equality of Indian
cotton: There are trees which grow wild, the fruit of
which is a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness,
that of sheep. The Indians make their clothes of this
tree wool. In 330BC, Megasthenes, the Greek
ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya,
enthused about the patterned robes and dresses
made from the finest flowered muslin worn at court
and by the wealthy. It the first century BC, the
Emperor Nero sent for spices and cloth from the
East. In fact, the demand for Indian muslins in
Rome was so great that Pliny the Elder complained
of a trade deficit with the East causing a drain of
over 550 million sesterces of gold bullion each year.
The Mauryan administration had improved
transportation and the Indo-Greek kings; the
Shakas, Kushan and Parthians had established
strong links with Western and Central Asia, China

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and the Mediterranean world. Mercantile activity
increased throughout the Southern kingdoms where
large-scale Marin tine trade and commerce was
conducted by the Eastern ands Western coasts of
India with Arabia, South-East Asia and Japan. Trade
with the Nile Valley and Lower Egypt, by the Indian
Ocean and the Red Sea, was also well developed.
Cotton fabric made up the main portion of the
shipments carried by the Arabs dhows that piled the
seas in the Middle Ages. Silk was also exported by
the fabled Silk Road, the ancient trade route that
linked China with the west. Fabrics were woven
from a variety of yarns: cotton was cultivated in
most parts of the subcontinent; silk came mostly
from the Eastern Himalayas; and wool came from
the Northern Himalayas. Most of these textiles were
luxury commodities, which began their evolution
during the medieval period.
Woven cotton textiles were the main export. The
great cotton weaving belt of India stretches from
Tamil Nadu in the South through the Central region
of Andhra Pradesh to Orissa, Bengal and Assam in
the East and to Gujarat in the West, Bengal was the
most renewed center of textile craftsmanship in
Eastern India and produced super-fine textiles
woven from the short staple cotton that flourished
in the rich soil of the Ganges Delta. Records suggest
that some of these muslins were shipped to ancient
Rome, Persia and the Far East and later to Europe.
These woven textiles were equally prized in Indian
courts where along with patterned fabrics; they
were referred to in such poetic terms as the flower
cloth and the picture muslin. A sixteenth century
Arab trader, Sulaiman, Praises the beauty of the
garments made from these woven cloth: the
garments are made in so extraordinary manner that
nowhere else are the like to be seenwove to that
degree of fineness that they may be drawn through

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a ring of middling size. In the sixteenth century, fine
and well-executed embroidered fabrics from Bengal
were also exported to Portugal, where they were
considered prestigious.
The wild silks of India were gathered from the
cocoons spun by the silkworm, which fed on the
Asian trees, mulberry and the castor oil plants of
the northeastern Himalayas. Textured silks were
referred to as bark cloths in early Indian texts. The
first direct mention of this silk appears in the
seventh century in Banabhatas Harshacharita, the
biography of King Harsha. There Muslims were quick
to recognize the beauty and value of Indian silk, but
in some regions Islamic law forbade the wearing of
silk next to the skin. The problem was solved by
developing a special fabric known as mashru, which
is woven in such way that one side a rich silken ace.
These mixed fabrics were used extensively in the
Muslim courts for robes, linings and decorative
hangings and were exported to Muslim communities
in Africa and Arabia.
Kashmir was the gateway to India from Tibet,
Mongolia and china. Twenty-six ancient trade routes
passed through this Northern most region of India.
One branch of the old Asian Silk Road crossed
North-Western India and it was along this route that
textile products were carried to the rest of the
world. One of the first rulers to patronize the
talented wool and silk weavers of Kashmir was
Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. There is a theory that the
double-interlocked, twill-tapestry technique known
locally as Kanni was perfected by weavers he
brought over from Persia, but this has not been
sustained. Traditionally, this highly skilled and
labours intensive technique was worked with fine,
soft yarns made with pashmina wool. The kanni
technique was later used to make the legendry

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Cashmere paisley shawls, which became the rage in
nineteenth century Europe.
The beauty, brilliance, colour range and fastness of
Indian fabrics were held in high esteem and their
quality was unsurpassed. Remarkably, India
managed to keep the complex technique of cotton
dyeing secret from the world until the seventeenth
century. The process of cotton dyeing involved
preparing the bleached fabric, painting it with
mordants, dipping it in dye and bleaching it again,
in repeated sequences, until a bright multi-coloured
fabric was created. The secret of the dyers art lay
in the deft manipulation of the mordants and the
purity of the vegetables dyes. There were over 300
dye-yielding plants in India. One of the most
important of these was indigo, which had a high
commercial value and was imported in large
quantities by the Dutch, English, Persians, Mongols
and Armenians. The two most valued colours after
indigo were black and red, which were dyed and
fixed with alum and other mordants. In addition,
Indian craftsmen had also mastered the technique
of manipulating dyes to create complex grid
patterns, delicate flowers and intricate pictorial
scenes on cotton. Block-printed cotton exported
from Western India and the Deccan provided the
prototype for the calico and chintz upon which later
European and American fashions were based.
Trade journals recording these textiles exports have
been preserved, but material evidence of this
lucrative trade was found in Egypt. At a small site
on the outskirts of Cairo, Known then as Fostat,
large numbers of fragments of printed, painted and
resistance dyed fabrics dating from the tenth to the
fourteenth centuries were found. Chemical analysis
of these fabrics revealed that the colours came from
dye-yelling plants emedemic to the semi-desert
regions of India, notably the chayroot and neel. The

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pattering of these fabrics is typical of the Gujarat
region and is composed of geometric designs such
as chevrons, simulated bandhani patterns printed
with blocks and stylized birds and animals such as
rabbits, ducks, parrot, geese, peacock and swans.
The swan is an important motif in medieval design.
Antagada Dasao, a writer of the late Gupta period,
describes Prince Gautam in a robe decorated with
swan in their descriptions of womens apparel. The
swan also appears in the Ajanta wall painting and on
Jain manuscripts. By the Mughal period, however it
is rarely represented in the visual arts. One of the
most popular floral motifs was the lotus, a symbol of
both Hinduism and Buddhism
Many other fabrics patterning techniques emerged
in different parts of the country. The bulk of
traditional block printed, painted and dyed fabrics
came to Western India, the Andhra region, the
Coromandel Coast and certain peninsular regions.
Dye painted wall hangings depicted stories from the
Ramayana and Mahabharata and mythological
scenes from the Purans were used in temples as
decorative backdrops and for religious rituals. They
were painted by master craftsmen who had an in-
depth knowledge of the scared texts and who
worked in guilds attached to the temples. The act of
making these temples cloths was in itself a ritual
and the rules of purity were observed rigorously by
the craftsmen as they worked. Their main function
was to relate the stories of the goals and goddesses
to the public and they were considered to be
auspicious objects. Although most of the surviving
painted textiles do not pre-date the seventeenth
century, the degree of sophistication they display
suggests that the technique and style is the
continuation of a long established textile tradition. A
number of literary references indicate tat the art
was patronized by the temples of Western India and

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by the rulers of the southern Vijaynagar Empire in
the early fourteenth century. Each area developed
its own distinctive style. Amoung the most
distinguished temple cloth centers in the South are
Kumbakonam, Srikalahasti, Pallakollu and Madurai.
Nathadwara in the North was also a renowned
center, which specialized in cloth hangings known as
picchavais. These temple hangings were painted
with pigment using a very different technique to
that used on the vegetable dye-painted cloths.
Printed and painted cloths were also produced for
commercial purposes. Elaborate canopies, wall
hangings and clothing fabrics were made both for
the local courts and overseas customers. The main
trade cloth centers were Machilipatnam, Pulicat,
Pallakollu in the South East and Sironj, Burhanpur
and Dhamadhaka in the West. An Arab trader
traveling through India in the twelfth century
described the port town of Machilipatnam as a
bustling place where people of many nations
thronged the streets, spoke in many different
languages and poured gold into the coffers of the
local merchants. By the seventeenth century, the
cosmopolitan town had risen to prominence and set
the standards of dye-painted cloth, which came to
be known as kalamkaris.
Tie dyed fabrics had a long tradition of usage in the
courts and were widely exported. They came in a
variety of designs such as bandhani, lahariya and
mothra. These techniques were used for texturing
and patterning both silk and cotton fabrics. Ikat
fabrics were another precious commodity, especially
the celebrated double ikat patola of Western India,
which was produced using a complex technique in
which tie-dyed silk and cotton yarns were woven
with geometric precision to produce intricately
patterned fabrics of supreme quality and originality.
This technique was already well advanced in ancient

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times. Along with evidence of the existence of ikat
fabrics in the Ajanta paintings, references to terms,
which seem to be related to the patola appear in
literature from the fourth century onwards. A report
from Deogiri, a major textile center near
Aurangabad written in the late thirteenth century
states that Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji received
abrasam silk and patola from Deogiri. Apart from
areas of Western India and the Eastern Deccan,
there is evidence that ikat fabrics were in use in
Kerela and Cochin during the Mughal period, which
leads to the Assumption that the tradition in these
parts of southern India has an earlier history.
Patolas and other Ikats were also custom made for
the inhabitants of South East Asia, who believed
that these Indian cloths had magical qualities and
used them in religious rituals and ceremonial rites of
passage. The right to wear ikat was widely claimed
as a prerogative of the nobility on these islands and
wealthy families kept them as heirlooms. The value
of ikat in the Spice Islands was in fact so high that
local traders would refuse gold for their precious
spices and only exchange them for Indian fabrics.

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Intext Questions:
1. Make a project on Gupta period.
2. Illustrate or make a portfolio of design from
medieval & Mughal.

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2500.
BC
Harappan
Civilization
Kalibangan and
lethal
National
Museum
(N. Delhi)
4th
2nd BC
Mauryan
Rule
Pataliputra,
Patna Sarnath,
Sanchi.

Indian
Museum
Lucknow
Museum
Mathura
Museum
2nd-
11stAD

Sunga

Bharhut (UP)
Bodhgaya(Bihar)

Sanchi
Museum
2ndBC-
2ndAD

Satavahana

Indo
Greek
Roman

Sanchi (MP)
Rock cut caves
(Maharah)
Ajanta.
Amarnath Stupa
(AP)
Taxila (new in
Pakistan)

Indian
Museum
Chandigarh
Museum
Mathuran
museum
Site
museum
Sarnath
national
Calcutta
1st cent-
2st cent
AD

2st cent-
3rd cent

I.Kshvaku,
Shakas,
Vakataka

Caves of Ajanta

Govt
Museum
Madras(TN)
National
(TN)

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3rd
cent-
5th
cent

Visit of
Taxian
Gupta

Deogarh,
Nachna Sanchi
(MP),
Udaigiri(Orissa)

Govt
Museum
National
Museum
Prince of
Wheels.

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Books for Further
Reference
1. Ancient Indian Costume - by Roshen Alkazi.
Published by National Book Trust India.

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