Ancient Clothing of India -Women

Clothing was very expensive in the ancient and medieval world, because without engine-powered machines it was very hard to make. So most people had very few changes of clothing; many people probably owned only the clothes they were wearing. Many children had no clothes at all. In the Stone Age most clothing was made of leather or fur, or woven grasses. By the Bronze Age people had learned to spin yarn on a spindle and to weave cloth out of the yarn on looms. Although many clothes, especially coats, were still made out of leather or fur, most clothes were made out of wool (from sheep) or linen (from the flax plant) or cotton. Some rich people wore silk. In the Middle Ages (the medieval period), people invented the spinning wheel, which made spinning yarn go about four times as fast. Clothes were a little less expensive than they had been before, but still most people had only one or two outfits.

People wore different kinds of clothes. Clothes helped to show where you were from, and whether you were rich or poor, and whether you were a girl or a boy.

Sari

Indian Women wearing Sari, the traditional garment worn by many women.

By the Aryan period, women wore one very long piece of cloth called a sari, that they wrapped around themselves in different ways. The word “sari” comes from a Sanskrit word that just means cloth.Saris are first mentioned in the Vedas, about 600 BC. Wealthy women wore saris made of silk, but most women wore cotton ones.There were many different ways of draping saris – to dress up women wore them like skirts with a top part thrown over their shoulder or worn over their heads as a veil. Working women often pulled their sari up between their legs to make a sort of pants. Women who were fighting with the army tucked in the top part of the sari in the back, to free up their arms for fighting. Most saris were five or six yards long, although some saris were nine yards. Younger women generally wore brightly colored saris, but widows and other women in mourning wore only white ones.

A Pathare Prabhu

Pathare Prabhu or Pratihara Prabhu as they are known are one of the Hindu communities in the city of Mumbai.  They are Rajput/Kshatriya aristocracy who migrated to Mumbai around the 12th and 13th centuries AD from the regions of North India and Rajasthan after the Turkic attacks in those regions which were ruled by the Pratihara dynasty of medieval India. Before arriving in Mumbai and north Kokan,Pratihar Prabhus held important position in the court of Yadav(Jadhav) kings of Deogiri( near today’s Aurangabad). After Fall of Yadav Kingdom in hands of Alauddin Khilji, Pratihar Prabhus along with their Yajurvedi Bhramins migrated to Mumbai.

Jodhpuri women

Muslim Women

Because the Islamic Empire occupied mostly hot places, people living were mostly dressed to protect themselves from the sun. The sunscreen lotion was yet to be invented you see, so the best way to keep from getting sunburns was to keep all your skin covered with cloth as much as possible. At the same time, people also believed that God wanted them to be covered up, especially women, so that men would not see their bodies. People said that women would be safer if their bodies were hidden under layers of cloth.

A Widow

A widow was supposed to be dressed very plainly with her hairs shaven off, and mostly wore orange or white robes

A bengali lady,

This is a classic late 19th century studio pose, note the three-legged Victorian table, books and painted backdrop.

Women from Kashmir dressed differently

A Rajput Lady