Chanderi handlooms under Bundelas and Scindias
It is worthy to note that it was really the weavers and the trade in silk and cotton fabrics of Chanderi that ensured that the town did not suffer the fate that many towns that lost their political importance in the eighteenth and nineteenth century suffered. The Bundela Rajput rulers (1605-1818) patronized and encouraged the weaving of textile fabrics in Chanderi; they insisted that the fabrics should carry their emblem of the two lions on either side as a hallmark of its quality, which has changed in recent times to that of the Badal Mahal Gateway. Till that time it was only the Momins/Ansaris who were engaged in the weaving of fabrics in Chanderi. Jains were the traders. The Maheshwari community of Chanderi that has been a prominent player in the textile trade of Chanderi migrated in the latter half of the nineteenth century from the north western Rajasthan. The latter half of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century saw the decline of the handloom industry in Chanderi.
Chanderi in the 17th century and 18th century
The antiquity and importance of Chanderi as a weaving center is clearly established by the presence there, in the seventeenth century, of an imperial Mughal karkhana (manufactory). The Chanderi karkhana supplied the Mughal court with high quality fabrics but the exact nature of these is not known. In 1677 however, the emperor Aurangzeb apparently ordered its closure. Since the eighteenth century, the center has been associated with the production of very fine, plain and gold bordered cotton muslins. There is also some evidence of the use of the double-tapestry technique for patterning. Diaphanous cotton safas (turbans) and saris, edged with golden borders and end-pieces, have figured prominently among the nineteenth century textiles attributed to Chanderi. These were woven mostly for the courts of central and western India such as those Gwalior, Indore, Baroda and Nagpur, a tradition that persisted until the dissolution of the princely states.
Chanderi in the 20th century
In the twentieth century, Chanderi continued to weave gossamer fabrics of mill spun cotton until the 1940’s. After Independence however,greige or undegummed and undyed silk began to be used in warp, eliminating altogether the difficult processes of sizing and warping very fine cotton yarns. This greige warp enabled the weavers to retain the transparency and finish of the traditional Chanderi texture with ease. But it somewhat altered its handle and durability. In the past two decades silk had also replaced cotton weft in the bulk of Chanderi production. Revival of the Chanderi Handlooms in the 19th century and decline in the 20th century: After the merger of the Gwalior state into the Union of India, Chanderi lost whatever importance it had in the erstwhile Gwalior state and the Textile weaving suffered decline. Some cooperatives of weavers were established for this cause but they could hardly contribute. The Government of Madhya Pradesh constituted a committee in 1979. This committee found out that the technical level of weavers was very low. The local weavers were simply trained to use the fly shuttle loom and not the more effective throw shuttle loom. The gold and silk sari worn by the princess in the contemporary Indian style was woven in Chanderi in the 1920’s or 1930’s. It belonged to her mother and was made around her wedding. From the moment a princess was born till the time of her marriage, saris were continuously being woven for her royal trousseau.
