DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25990#0036
COSTUME OF THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.
It will be convenient to consider the Textile Manufactures of India as divided into two
classes :—the first comprehending the various scarf or plaid-like articles of dress which leave
the loom ready for wear, and the second consisting of piece goods for the conversion of
which into clothing the scissors and needle are required.
It would appear that before the invasion of India by the Mahomedans, the art of sewing
was not practised there.*
Anterior to that period, therefore, it is probable that nearly the whole clothing of the
people consisted of loom-made articles coming strictly under the first head.
Strict Hindus may yet be found to whom a garment composed of several pieces sewn
together is an abomination and defilement. Throughout India generally, however, they have
now begun to wear various made-up articles of dress such as were formerly used only by
the Mahomedans.
On the other hand, the Mahomedans of our day frequently content themselves with the
simpler covering which is more peculiarly the dress of the Hindu.
This partial assimilation of the costumes of the two great races of India has been brought
about in various ways. For instance, under the old Mahomedan rule, Hindu men of rank
in the employment of the Government were obliged to present themselves on state occasions
dressed in the same fashion as their conquerors. The element of compulsion in this was
at first distasteful. The innovation was accordingly resisted, and on their return to their
homes they discarded the costume they had been forced to assume, and reverted to that to
which they had been accustomed, and which they regarded as belonging to their race. Indeed,
the wearing of the Mahomedan costume would at first be looked on as an emblem of defeat
and vassalage, and a despotic interference with customs almost sacred from their age. It
must be remembered, however, that this change of costume was only imposed upon those
who were in office under the new rule—on those, in short, who were placed in some sort
of authority ; and hence, in course of time, the change of costume came to be regarded as
an evidence of power in those who adopted it, and to be valued accordingly. It is not
difficult to see how this would bring the matter eventually within the influence of fashion,
which has its rule in India as elsewhere. The new costume, in fact, became an evidence that
its wearer occupied a position of more or less importance, and this reconciled him to a change
which pride of custom and religious feeling would have led him to resist.
* Buchanan, in Montgomery Martin’s “ Eastern India,” Vol. II., p. 699.
E
(3428.)
It will be convenient to consider the Textile Manufactures of India as divided into two
classes :—the first comprehending the various scarf or plaid-like articles of dress which leave
the loom ready for wear, and the second consisting of piece goods for the conversion of
which into clothing the scissors and needle are required.
It would appear that before the invasion of India by the Mahomedans, the art of sewing
was not practised there.*
Anterior to that period, therefore, it is probable that nearly the whole clothing of the
people consisted of loom-made articles coming strictly under the first head.
Strict Hindus may yet be found to whom a garment composed of several pieces sewn
together is an abomination and defilement. Throughout India generally, however, they have
now begun to wear various made-up articles of dress such as were formerly used only by
the Mahomedans.
On the other hand, the Mahomedans of our day frequently content themselves with the
simpler covering which is more peculiarly the dress of the Hindu.
This partial assimilation of the costumes of the two great races of India has been brought
about in various ways. For instance, under the old Mahomedan rule, Hindu men of rank
in the employment of the Government were obliged to present themselves on state occasions
dressed in the same fashion as their conquerors. The element of compulsion in this was
at first distasteful. The innovation was accordingly resisted, and on their return to their
homes they discarded the costume they had been forced to assume, and reverted to that to
which they had been accustomed, and which they regarded as belonging to their race. Indeed,
the wearing of the Mahomedan costume would at first be looked on as an emblem of defeat
and vassalage, and a despotic interference with customs almost sacred from their age. It
must be remembered, however, that this change of costume was only imposed upon those
who were in office under the new rule—on those, in short, who were placed in some sort
of authority ; and hence, in course of time, the change of costume came to be regarded as
an evidence of power in those who adopted it, and to be valued accordingly. It is not
difficult to see how this would bring the matter eventually within the influence of fashion,
which has its rule in India as elsewhere. The new costume, in fact, became an evidence that
its wearer occupied a position of more or less importance, and this reconciled him to a change
which pride of custom and religious feeling would have led him to resist.
* Buchanan, in Montgomery Martin’s “ Eastern India,” Vol. II., p. 699.
E
(3428.)