 Woven textiles are one of the oldest techniques developed by people the world over. Many architects while writing the history of architecture point out that it began with fabrication or weaving together of twigs to create a shelter. Weaving of goat hair to create mobile tents of the nomadic people is the beginning of creating a mobile shelter. They could role up their tented dwellings and move with it and set it up anywhere they could have water and shelter.
The woven cloth protected the body from the heat and cold and later developed into a form of dress, which expressed the cultural values of the people and their identity.
The art of weaving and dying of fabrics was practiced in India from very ancient times. It was such an important part of the life of the ancient times that many of its techniques gave the name to philosophical and religious thought. You all know about the Sutras. These are the ancient Buddhist scriptures. The word Sutra is derived from sut, the thread to string together. Granth, the name for a holy book as in the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs comes from a textile term for knitting or weaving together. There are many other examples.
India from ancient times exported cloth. It is possible that the Harappan port town of Lothal, dating almost 2000 BC, is only 100 kilometers from Ahmedabad, where a number of spindle whorls as well as large die vats, similar to those used even today was exporting dyed cotton fabrics.
 India was the home of cotton, which has been cultivating from ancient times. Ancient travelers described cotton cultivation as sheep growing on trees, for they only know white wool, which was taken from sheep. Long stapled cotton was cultivated as a cash crop to be spun or sold, as it was to be prepared by the professional carders and then by the weavers.
The centers known for very finally woven cotton were in Bengal, in Varanasi, Chenderi and in the town of Uppada, Mngalagiri and Venkatagiri of Andra Pradesh.
The Dhakai weavers of East Bengal, now Bangaladesh, were famous not only for figured cotton sarees, but also for the finely woven cotton mulmul, muslin, which was used for turbans and for making upper garments. The names of different varieties expressed the quality of the cloth, e.g. shabnam, evening dew, and abe-rawan, running water. The patterned finely woven cotton was known as jamdani, a distinctive style of weaving, which is an Indian specialty. Traditionally elaborate patterns were worked in white on a white background by placing the pattern to be woven under the warp thread and using that as a guide they wove with extra weft threads. These extra weft threads, which created the patterns, were of the same fineness as those used in the fabric. They were thus absorbed into the fabric, and the design could be discerned only when it was held against the light. The jamdanis were women specially for the cotton angarkhas, once warn by the nobility all over north India, while the later day sarees are patterned with thicker colored threads.
During the time of Aurangzeb, the local ruler had to supply woven mulmul and patterned jamdani as part of his tribute to the Emperor. The specially woven fabrics were packed in bamboo containers and sent to the Mughal Court. They often had flowing diagonal lines similar to the flow of a river. The colors were also typical-deep maroon, black, indigo blue and chrome yellow. There was also the famous Nilambari saree in which the midnight blue-black background was held together by star-like flowers, as a dark star-studded, moonless night.
 The Dhakai sarees are woven today in West Bangal by weavers who migrated from their original homes. The sarees woven in West Bangal also known as jamdani and follow the traditional patterns. The texture however is quite different, as the twisted yarn is closely woven together, with the result that the sarees can be washed easily and are more lasting.
Chanderi weavers very fine cotton sarees and shallus, wraps, worn by women over their sarees. At present the warp is of silk and the weft is of cotton, whereas originally they were woven in cotton. The sarees carry motifs of roundels or ashrafi butti on the body. The weavers of central India wove very fine cotton, and in Chanderi, Paithan, Hyderabad, Gadwal and wanaparti, pallus and borders were woven in the Paithani technique.
The spinners of Chanderi were generally women who had long, supple fingers, which could not be roughened by housework. Even today the people of Chanderi recite a couplet:
Shahi Chanderi, jaman Warda
Tiria Raj Khasam Panihara.
"In royal Chanderi, the locality of weavers, women rule and men are their slaves."
Cotton being the most important material woven in India for garments is used by people throughout the country. There is a wide range of techniques and designs. Texture is the most important aspect of the cloth. It varies from a fine cotton, to gossamer net structure to woven checks are stripes of threads of different counts and even different material such as silk or zari, gold thread. Leave aside variations in each region; there were variations in each center with in the same region!
 The cotton sarees of Andhra Pradesh are a good example. The best known are the Gadwal, Wanaparti, Nander, Venkatagiri, Uppada and Mangalagiri. Gadwal and Wanaparti are known for their check body and silk border and pallu carrying the motifs in gold. Sometimes wedding sarees and some very special sarees carried a Paithani pallu, richly worked in gold.
Uppada and Venkatagiri specialized in weaving fine pure cotton sarees enriched with gold thread motifs woven in the jamdani technique. The motifs woven in Venkatagiri are stylized parrots, asherfis, gold coins, and stylized leaf-forms, woven half in gold and half in cotton threads. Uppada's masters weave fine Jamdani patterns all over. They were known right thought the Independence moment as a place from where very fine khadi sarees, woven on handlooms with handspun cotton were supplied.
Tamil Nadu developed cotton sarees, which followed the pattern of silk sarees very closely.
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Indian Textiles
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