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
20th 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.
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.
