Alacha
Alacha ('lacha' or 'alacha' or 'elatches' or alaja, ālājah) is a lightweight stripe cloth made primarily of silk or sometimes cotton and a mix of the both. The stripe pattern was formed bothside of the fabric. Noted length of Alachas is 5 yards.[1]It was produced in various parts of India for example Baikunthpur, Bihar. [2]The cloth was popular in use for female clothes such as dupatta, odhni, veil and petticoat.[3] [4][5]
Name
François Bernier mentions ''alachas were silken stuffs striped''. [4]Alacha may be an earlier term used for Mashru cloth, derived from the Sanskrit word alasa meaning “swan-footprint patterned creeper”.[6]The texture of Alacha was different from the another peer Doriya.[5]
Types
Alachas were mainly produced with red and white and blue and white colored stripes,[3]they were named with their origin or prudction towns. The qualities was varying with the contents of Silk and cotton. Bengal alachas were rich in silk and Gujarat alachas were with chief cotton content.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Forming ... to the hand-book of the economic products of the Punjab. Engineering College Press. 1872. p. 66.
- ^ Indica. Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture, St. Xavier's College. 2005. pp. Volumes 42-43 - Page 58.
- ^ a b Tortora, Phyllis G.; Johnson, Ingrid (2013-09-17). The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Textiles. A&C Black. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-60901-535-0.
- ^ a b Sangar, S.P. (1969). "SILK CLOTH IN THE 17TH CENTURY". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 31: 233–240. ISSN 2249-1937.
- ^ a b c Prakash, Om (2014-07-14). The Dutch East India Company and the Economy of Bengal, 1630-1720. Princeton University Press. pp. 20, 21, 25, 57, 58, 108, 167. ISBN 978-1-4008-5776-0.
- ^ ''Yashodhara Agrawal, writing in an essay titled “Mashru as a Trade Textile,” translates khanjari as “dagger” referring to a single arrowhead motif. 4 Khanjari also describes a wavy line pattern. Agrawal notes that alacha or alaja was the word used for this fabric before mashru came into common use. She speculates that alacha may have been derived from the Sanskrit word alasa meaning “swan-footprint patterned creeper” and could refer to the arrowhead pattern found in many mashru fabrics of Gujarat. She and others point out that the lower garment of Queen Sivali in a painting in Ajanta Cave One from the fifth century AD is patterned with warp resist, suggesting that this fabric has been in production for well over a millennia.'' [1]
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