SHAWL:

It is said that shawls were famous from Kashmir even in the times of Emperor Ashok but many writers credited Sultan Zain-Ul-Abidin ( 1420-1470 A.D) as the initiator of Shawl Industry in Kashmir. It may be the Sultan whose enlightened rule encouraged promotion of arts as an organized trade and the Pashmina or in Persian called “ Pashm” that we know today, is legacy of that period. Shawls have been worn and used as worm protective garment by kings and queens since ancient times. However, the Mugals Emperor Akbar experimented with various styles and encouraged weavers to try new motifs, which helped establish a successful shawl industry. The shawl, or shoulder mantle, has been in existence in India in a variety of forms since ancient times, serving the rich and poor as a protective garment against biting cold. Though shawls are worn and used as a warm protective garment all over the northern states today, Kashmir has become synonymous with shawls all over the World. There are no earlier indications but around the Mughal rule in India. Kashmir soon over took the north west frontier and Punjab, as the center of Shawls- making. Akbar was greatly enamored by Kashmir Shawls and the way it was worn, folded in four, captured his imagination. He experimented with various ways of wearing it, and found that if looked good worn without folds, just thrown over the shoulder.