King of Wool, Shahtoosh- The Indian Handloom Fabric by Folksmarket.com

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The origin of Shahtoosh fabric to India is widely debated. Some viewed it to come from Tibet, some Mongolia and large section of historians are of the view that it was introduced to India by Mirza Mohammad Haida Dughlat, the Kashmir ruler during 1540-41.

Shahtoosh or “King of fine wool” (Persian) is mostly used for a specific types of Shawl made from the underhair of a Tibetan Antelope, popularly called as Chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii). Chirus are inhabitant of Tibet.  

Chiru are timid, vegetarian and delicate antelope, found in desolate vastness of the Tibet, Xinjiang and Ladakh regions and they migrate to Ladakh in summer and remain there from May to July. They live in one of the harshest condition at an altitude of over 5000 mtrs. The antelope Chiru develops a down hair in severe winters which protects it from cold weather and harsh cold condition. Later when the temperature goes up and normalize they then shed their wools. People or tribe falling Chirus then collect the wools and bring it to market. Sometimes Ladakhi peasants follow the Chiru through the mountain and pick the woolen fibre from bushes on which animals happen to snag themselves up.            

The fur is very light, fluffy and extremely warm. According to folklore of Kashmiris, an egg wrapped with Shahtoosh could boil it if kept in sunlight for an hour!!. Well there is no scientific validation to this fact, but it underlines how extreme warm wool fibre, Shahtoosh is. 

The delicate under hair is very fine, measured between 9-11 microns. They are so fine that an average fabric of 7 yards by 1.5 yards can be passed through the wedding ring! At first this sounds elusive like an Indian rope trick. But unlike the Indian rope trick this is very much tested and it does exist. When woven into a shawl, Shahtoosh looks like an ordinary shawl, till the time you feel it! It has a smoothness of silk. Once put in your hand in Shawl you feel like putting your hand in a cloud.

This incredibly fineness makes it virtually impossible to handle and this is where the weavers with their experience in handling one of the finest combed wool, Pashmina, has a role to play. Like Pashmina they could weave shawls from Shahtoosh and thus Shahtoosh shawl born. The weavers in Kashmir are so deft and skilled that they can even embroider over these shawls. This is so difficult even for Kashmiri weavers and they have to do it by starching it first. 

Shahtoosh-shawl making requires special looms and skill set which some of the Kashmiri weavers have been carrying since centuries. Kashmir enjoys the privilege of being the only region in India and world-over with the proficiency and adroitness to weave and spin Shahtoosh. Weaving is mostly done by the Kashmiri men and spinning by women. It is they who turn the humble, tangled bundles of raw wool into the miracle of Shahtoosh. It takes months from the arrival of clump wool to prepare a 7 yard shawl that consumes around 6 Pound of wool.

No wonder such shawls can cost you sometimes a million bug (Indian Currency, INR). Many locals still treat this fabric a must for their wardrobe. Shahtoosh shawls could be Plain as well as Embroidered. The cost of the Plain shawl is mostly determined by the percentage of Shahtoosh wool in it. As the wool is very fine, it is mixed with Cotton. Silk thread is used for embroidery.The colour of Shahtoosh is white, grey, etc but it is the white which is more expensive among most expensives!

Popularity of King of Wool

British traders should be credited with increasing the popularity index of Shahtoosh shawl for the world outside India. When they travelled to Kashmir, India during summer season, they realized the worth of Shahtoosh and introduced it to the world. In India, it being expensive, majorly was consumed by the Royals and Aristocrats. The Shahtoosh shawl is now a global name but is extremely popular in countries like France, Italy, Germany and other Western European countries. These countries are trendsetters in modern Fashion industries. Many folks of these countries treat this as must for Bride’s wardrobe. 

Global ban in Shahtoosh Fabric trading

As the modern consumerism grows the demand of Shahtoosh fabric, the traders stopped waiting for the antelope to shed its wool. Rather they started killing them. Chiru has, thus, become target for the poachers.

"It takes five dead Chirus to make one shahtoosh shawl," Poorva Joshipura, chief functionary of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) India, told IANS.

Relentless and unchecked poaching caused this innocent and timid animal to come down from more than a million at the start of 20^th century to about 150,000.

As a result that Shahtoosh trade was banned in Year 1975 globally under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to which India is also a signatory. Indian govt woke up late in 1991 and banned it. Jammu and Kashmir govt had stayed away till it banned its sales in 2000. Eventually in May 2002, the state government outlawed Shahtoosh production, bringing its laws at par with Indian and International laws that prohibited trade in shahtoosh products.

The killing of the Chiru, a Schedule I animal according to the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is banned in India. The law is strict and states that processing or wearing shahtoosh is a punishable offence. The punishment includes hefty fines and even sending behind bar for those who carry the shawls. ‘In Jammu and Kashmir, the imprisonment for killing a Chiru is one to three years, with a proposed fine of Rs.5,000 to Rs.25,000,’ says Bashir Ahmed War, retired senior veterinarian of the Jammu and Kashmir Animal Husbandry department.

Impact of Ban over Shahtoosh Fabric weavers

Banning has not vanished its demands altogether. The King of wool and wool of King’s demand is not easy to fall. It has no alternative. Therefore even after the ban on Shahtoosh trade is effective for more than two decades, it still being smuggled from China, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. The raw material is imported secretly from China and Nepal, processed and woven into a shawl and sold.

But this ban comes with a price. Many Kashmiri weavers who are traditionally into this business feel the ban has done collateral damage. To work with ultrafine wool (9-11 microns) and produce superb fabric is not only their pride but also livelihood. "We have been hurt the most. The ban has been a kick on our stomachs. We have pleaded to the government of India to rethink the ban. But it has mostly fallen on deaf ears," Gawhar Maqbool, a wool exporter from Srinagar, told IANS. Gawhar Maqbool is among those 45,000 -50,000 families who are severely hit by the ban. The demand of Shahtoosh is reportedly come down to 25% of what it used to be during pre-banned years.

This is a perennial dilemma for Govt who need to fine tune between the environmental balances and livelihood of the affected families. The talk of rehabilitating those weavers into Pashmina is a successful step taken by Govt. Both Pashmina weaving and Shahtoosh require fine and skilled weaving. The Wildlife Trust of India is reportedly doing excellent work in this rehabilitation process. It envisioned a high-quality hand-made pashmina, using traditional techniques, as an alternative to shahtoosh for the producers as well as for their customers. Kudos to such initiative

Ray of Hope

The global effort to save this endangered antelope is paying rich dividend. A global wildlife trade monitoring network, confirmed that according to a survey reported by Chinese news agency Xinhua there is an increase in the number of endangered Chirus in Tibet.

The population of the endangered antelopes in Tibet registered a double increase from 75000 in late 1980s. The survey was comprehensive and lasted for 18 years in Tibet. For the past 6 years this rare antelope is growing by 7.9% annually.

Lessons for Shahtoosh Fabric Consumers and Traders- "Save Chiru"

What Every Prospective Shatoosh-buyer Should Know is the fact that furtive trading done is possible only because people are still purchasing it either out of ignorance or for brazen disrespect to our nature.

Those who accepts the claim of collecting the wool from the bushes needs to know that there are only paltry or no bushes at 5000 mtr height. One shawl thus means, killing 5-7 Chiru as they have never captured alive as far as we know. Even their domestication process is not much researched upon.

We must be responsible with our fashion and wardrobe as well. Next time you wear a Shahtoosh shawl just think that you are carrying corpses of 5-7 Chirus who are punished for being sweet and delicate to the nature.

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