The Mashroo textile was woven for Muslim communities, who believed that silk should not touch a person’s skin. Crafting a solution that enabled people to honor this belief while still appearing dressed in the finest clothing, weavers mixed silk and cotton threads to create a textile that was simple cotton on one side and rich silk on the other. The meaning of Mashroo is “this is allowed.” The port town of Mandvi is at the center of Mashroo legacy in Kachchh, historically creating luxurious bolts of the fabric that Muslims and Hindus enjoyed. In the regions of Saurashtra and Kachchh , women stitch mashroo kanjari (backless blouses), skirts, and cholis. Mashroo helped weave communities together. The Ahir Patels (farmers) produced cotton, which was handspun and then given the the weavers. Rabari and Ahir women did embroidery and mirror work to create even more distinctive versions of mashroo. Mashroo was a royal craft, produced in large quantities until the 1900’s for local elite and export markets. Till recently, the Maheshwari weavers practiced the craft. Today, traditional mashroo weaving is on the brink of extinction.

The natural resources required for Kharad Craft are wool and vegetable colors. Kachchh had a robust tradition of animal husbandry. The pastoral communities maintained large herds of camels and livestock like goats, sheep etc. Originally Kharad carpets were made from goat and camel hair wool. The Maldharis and Rabaris ( pastoral communities ) shear the hair from camels and goats. This was then given to the hand-spinners who specialized in making wool out of goat and camel hair. This wool was then used by the Kharad artisans. The Kharad artisans produced Kharad (used for spreading on the floor), Khurjani (used to keep on the back of a camel to carry heavy items), Rasa (thick cloth used to cover grains). They used to roam the villages of Banni, Pancham and Sindh for selling their products. The village/town called Mugdan at the Indo-Pak border had regular customers of Kharad and Khurjani. Products such as Khurjani were popular in Sindh where these items sold easily as many people owned camels there. The Kharad adorned many palaces in Sindh and Gujarat. The Kings and the ministers were regular patrons of Kharad given their very distinctive look, strength and longevity of Kharad. A kharad can easily last up to 100 years. Presently the Kharad craft is a diminishing craft.

Kachchhi weavers traditionally come from the Marwada and Maheswari communities. The Maheshwaris transitioned into the art of mashroo, while the Marwada style is now well known as Kachchhi weaving. This community is versatile, crafting woven textiles, leather and woodwork all over Kachchh.

Weavers are closely linked socioeconomically with their local clients, the Ahirs, Rajputs, and Rabaris. Each weaver was once personally linked with a Rabari family, who would supply yarn from sheep and goats. Farming communities like Ahirs cultivated kala cotton, which produced woven textiles for shoulder cloths and headgear. Sheep and goat wool was used for veils, skirts, shawls and blankets. The designs woven into Kachchhi woven fabrics were inspired by the communities who wore them, replicating the shapes of musical instruments, the footsteps of an animal herd, etc. The names for motifs like vakhiyo, chaumukh, satkani, hathi, or dholki are evocative of the rural images.

Plastic takes thousands of years to degrade, preventing soil from being used productively and leaching its way into groundwater. One method of plastic waste disposal that has been common to Kachchh is burning large piles of plastic. Studies have shown that burning plastic may release carcinogenic toxins into the air. Littering is a common problem, and trash in Bhuj rarely makes it to a landfill. Recognizing the issue of waste disposal as a global problem, it is necessary to create new, lasting solutions. Cleaned plastic is cut into long strips by women. The plastic strips of different colors are woven into durable textiles. Nylon is used for the warp, and plastic forms the weft, creating a thick dense material useful for mats, backpacks, or cushions. Weaving is a skill intrinsic to the Kachchh, and the recycled plastic is woven using a technology ancient to Kachchh – the pit loom.

The Unt Maldharis, or camel herders, of Kachchh tend a total population of over 10,000 camels. For generations their community has worked with camels to sell milk and as transport. Pastoralism accounts for a large percentage of livelihoods in Kachchh. For many years, Maldharis were making camel wool for their own means, as coverings for their camels or for bags to carry their wares.

Camel pastoralists in Kachchh currently face a range of threats. Declining grazing resources has led to a decrease in herd populations, and camels no longer sell as well as they once did. There is an urgent need to enhance these livelihoods and to conserve the local camel populations. Khamir’s Camel Wool Project is one part of a multi-pronged response to these challenges. Though primarily used for milk and transportation, camels produce high quality wool that is very warm, water-resistant and highly durable. It can be used to make textiles, carpets and ropes. Moreoever, there is a great demand for its natural colors. This wool has traditionally seen minimal use by pastoralists, and is a promising avenue by which they may earn additional income.

Camels are sheared once a year, between March and April, just prior to the onset of summer. Camel wool is coarse and has short fibers, which poses challenges to both spinning and the production of soft, clothing appropriate textiles.

Kala Cotton of Kachchh is the original pure Old World cotton of India. Kala Cotton Initiative encourages sustainable cotton textile production and the preservation of agricultural and artisan livelihoods in Kachchh.

Why Kala Cotton?
Kachchh has experienced rapid industrialization since the 2001 earthquake. While the impact of big industry has its positives, it has adversely impacted cultural livelihoods and their endurance is now shrouded in uncertainty. The number of weavers in Kachchh has declined from over 2000 in the mid-1990s to only 600-700 in practice today. Small-scale weavers cannot buy raw materials in bulk and face the greatest difficulties in integrating with changing markets. There was a clear need to develop a local value chain in order to insulate these weavers from external market fluctuations. To do this, the raw material was required that was locally grown, environmentally friendly, that had the potential to create social value.

Kala cotton is indigenous to Kachchh and by default organic, as the farmers do not use any pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. It is a purely rain-fed crop that has a high tolerance for both disease and pests and requires minimal investment. It is both resilient and resurgent in the face of stressful land conditions

Kala means ‘black’ in some Indian languages, often leading to the misconception that Kala cotton is black in colour, whereas it actually refers to the empty boll after extraction of the cotton fibre. Kala cotton has specific characteristics. This indigenous strain of cotton is genetically pure, which differentiates from the genetically modified Bt cotton. Kala cotton is hardy and resilient even under harsh weather conditions. Completely rain-fed and growing naturally even in the arid, drought-prone areas of Kutch, where there is less than 40 cm of rainfall, its high drought tolerance imposes minimal or no demand on scarce water resources, which makes it extremely water efficient.

Irrigation requires electrical or diesel energy to lift and supply water; manufacturing and transporting chemical fertiliser requires energy and produces greenhouse gases after usage; the use of pesticides poisons the environment, soil and water. For the most part, This cotton is grown without the use of irrigation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which makes its ecological footprint much lower as compared to other varieties of cotton. This is the reason that Kala cotton is considered to be among the most energy-efficient and carbon neutral crops in the world; more so in the present conditions of water scarcity in India.The trepidation about global warming and possible desertification also raises the present-day relevance of Kala-cotton.

According to the Vision 2030 report published by Nagpur-based Central Institute for Cotton Research in 2011, about half the cotton growing areas in Gujarat are irrigated. The rain-fed Kala cotton continues to be grown in the Rapar and Bhachau taluka of Kutch as these areas suffer from water scarcity and irrigated farming has not yet reached them.