Pashmina Shawls

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About Pashmina Shawls

• In 2019, the Bureau of India Standards (BIS) published an Indian standard for identification, marking and labelling the Pashmina Shawls for its purity.
• Pashmina Shawls are a fine variant of shawls spun from cashmere wools. 
• A cashmere wool itself is obtained from the Changthangi goat native to the high plateau of Ladakh.
• Pashmina Shawls status symbol not just for the wealthy in Indian but even across the world, known for its soft features,
• The shawl made up of pashmina wool was promoted as an alternative to Shahtoosh shawl. 
  • Shahtoosh Shawls is made from the Tibetan Antelope.
  • Due to demand for Shahtoosh, the shawl had wiped out 90% of the Tibetan Antelope.
  • To preserve what population is left, other alternatives, like the pashmina shawl, are being considered.

History of Pashmina Shawls

• Pashmina shawls gained much prominence in the days of the Mughal Empire as objects of rank and nobility. 
• Babur first established the practice of giving khilat – giving ‘robes of honour’ – in 1526 to members of his court for their devoted service, high achievements or as a mark of royal favour, made of Pashmina wool.
• Upon the complete conquest of Kashmir in 1568 by Akbar, a pair of pashmina shawls were an integral part of a khilat ceremony. 

Pashmina

• Pashmina is a fine type of cashmere wool. 
• The wool comes from a number of different breeds of the cashmere goat; such as the changthangi or Kashmir pashmina goat from the Changthang Plateau in Tibet and part of the Ladakh region and few parts of Himachal Pradesh.
• Traditional producers of pashmina wool are people known as the Changpa.

Pashmina goat

• The Changthangi or Pashmina goat is a special breed of goat indigenous to the high altitude regions of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.
• They are raised for ultra-fine cashmere wool, known as Pashmina once woven. The Textiles are handspun and were first woven in Kashmir.
• These goats are generally domesticated and reared by nomadic communities called the Changpa in the Changthang region of Greater Ladakh.

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