Jamdani

What it is

Jamdani is cotton cloth, woven on a hand loom, and it takes its name from a style of patterning rather than from a single design. The ground is sheer and plain, usually white or grey, while the pattern sits on top of it in thicker thread. Figures, flowers and geometric shapes are all common. The same cloth is used for saris, scarves and handkerchiefs. Weavers and traders often call it Dhakai jamdani, or simply Dhakai, because the old weaving centre was Dhaka. The late 19th-century writer T. N. Mukharji called the cloth jamdani muslin.

Origins and naming

Muslin from India appears in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, an ancient sailing guide, and in the writings of Arab, Chinese and Italian merchants who travelled the route. Cloth-making in Bengal may be two thousand years old, and jamdani is described as a later meeting of those old techniques. The earliest mention of jamdani as an industry belongs to Dhaka. Under Mughal rule the Persian word jamdani, the language of the imperial court, replaced the older name Dhakai. Nobody knows exactly when floral patterns entered the design; the sources place the flowered muslin's new name somewhere in the reigns of Akbar or Jahangir.

How it is woven

Two sets of thread do the work. One holds the cloth together and keeps it thin and even. The other carries the picture: thicker thread is laid in by hand, motif by motif, so that the pattern rests on the surface instead of running through the whole cloth. A weaver uses fine bamboo sticks and separate small spools to push each motif into place. Nothing is traced onto the cloth. Instead the design is drawn on graph paper and slipped beneath the warp, the stretched threads, as a guide. White, black, gold, silver and similar colours are used, and cotton is sometimes combined with gold thread.

Patrons and decline

Mughal emperors backed the trade with imperial warrants, and their courts were the chief buyers. John Forbes Watson, writing on Indian textiles and dress, held that figured muslin, because of its difficult designs, was always among the costliest work of the Dhaka looms. Only wealthy and royal households could afford it. From the middle of the 19th century the trade shrank. Cheaper yarn arriving from Europe undercut local spinning, and with Mughal power gone the weavers lost their most powerful patrons. Villages such as Madhurapur and Jangalbari in Kishoreganj district, once busy with the craft, faded.

Today and change

Jamdani is woven again in Bangladesh, and demand for good saris has grown. UNESCO put jamdani weaving on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, and in 2016 Bangladesh gained geographical indication status for the Jamdani Sari, the first such status for any product of the country. Pay remains a problem: master weavers called ostad and junior weavers earn little, and many would rather see their children take factory jobs in garments. A Jamdani Palli has been set up near Dhaka, designers are trained at several institutes, and the Jamdani Festival of Wearable Art in July 2023 drew attention to hand-woven work. In India, master weaver Biren Kumar Basak of West Bengal received the Padma Shri.

How Jamdani is kept

Weaving is a household trade. A weaver and helpers prepare the loom, stretching the warp threads along it, then draw the motif on graph paper and fix the sheet beneath the warp as a reference. Working with small spools and thin bamboo sticks, the weaver lifts threads singly and lays in the thicker pattern thread, motif after motif, until the length is full. Because nothing is printed or traced, each piece depends on the weaver's eye and memory. Master weavers, called ostad, direct the work, and junior weavers learn beside them.

When and where

The craft belongs to Bengal. Its strongest home is Bangladesh, along the Shitalakshya River at South Rupshi in Narayanganj district and in the old weaving town of Sonargaon, with Dhaka at the centre of the trade. In India it is worked in West Bengal, and designers and labels have helped weavers there and in Odisha reach new buyers.

What Jamdani means

Jamdani has long stood for wealth and rank. Its cost, and the months of labour behind a single sari, meant that only aristocrats and royal households could own one, and it is still described as a sign of high standing. For the weaving families of Bengal it is also a craft identity, passed down in villages and workshops, and a point of pride in what hand work can do that machines cannot. Its UNESCO listing and geographical indication status have made it a national emblem as well.

Questions people ask about Jamdani

See also

Kolhapuri chappalHandcrafted braided leather slip-on sandals from western IndiaSouth Asian truck artThe craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.IkatA resist-dyeing craft from Southeast Asia, where yarns are tied and dyed before weavingPhulkariGeometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.

Good reading and sources

• ::: Star Weekend Magazine :::The Daily Star, Article
• ‘Ache din for entire Jamdani community’, says weaver who gifted sari to PM Modi at Padma AwardsThe Indian Express, Article
• ::: Star Weekend Magazine :::The Daily Star, Article
• ‘Ache din for entire Jamdani community’, says weaver who gifted sari to PM Modi at Padma AwardsThe Indian Express, Article

• Jamdani on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.