Bafta cloth explained

Bafta (baft, baftae, bath, bufta or bafetta) is a kind of calico, initially made in India.[1]

Characteristics

Bafta is a coarse, cheap woven material made in long, narrow pieces, chiefly of cotton. It has a closed plain weave structure, and has been made in many varieties, from coarse to fine, and made from cotton only or with silk added. It was an affordable, comfortable material with draping qualities suitable for various dresses.[2] Bafta was a generic term for plain calico from Gujarat.[3]

Etymology

The name bafta was derived from the Persian word, meaning "woven, wrought".[4]

History

Bafta was originally produced in Bharuch, a city previously known as Broach, in Gujarat, India.[5] The old Bharuch baftas seems to have been a fine stuff.[6] Bharuch was a major textile manufacturing hub from 1500 to 1700, known for producing bafta for the West and Southeast Asian markets. Bafta was among the leading textile products exported to Europe from Western India for printing in the 18th century. The city's location near to the port of Surat and close to the banks of the Narmada River helped Bharuch to exploit its potential.[7] [8]

Bafta was a mid-price dress fabric during the early 17th century. Where wealthy women used to wear expensive clothes made of silk, fine cotton and muslin, working-class women wore clothes made of coarser cotton fabrics, such as bafta, dyed in different colors.[9] Off-white cloth was known as malti, mansuri, or kham, and white cotton cloth was known as "baft".[10] [11]

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689), traveler and French pioneer of trade with India, described "Broach Baftas" in his account of his travels to India.[12]

Bengal's description of piece goods for the Cape market includes different variations of Bafta such as "Chittabully Baftaes, and Callapatty Baftaes".[13]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Peck, Amelia. Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800. 2013. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 978-1-58839-496-5. 305. en.
  2. Book: Kausar, Zinat. Muslim Women in Medieval India. Janaki Prakashan. 1992. 9788185078748. 63.
  3. Book: Montgomery, Florence M.. Textiles in America 1650-1870 : a dictionary based on original documents, prints and paintings, commercial records, American merchants' papers, shopkeepers' advertisements, and pattern books with original swatches of cloth. 1984. New York ; London : Norton. Internet Archive. 978-0-393-01703-8. 152.
  4. Book: Pawar. Appasaheb Ganapatrao. Maratha History Seminar, May 28–31, 1970: Papers. University. Shivaji. 1971. Shivaji University. en.
  5. Book: Chaturvedi, Archna. Encyclopaedia of Muslim Women: Muslim women and society. 2003. 9788171697854. 158.
  6. Book: Yule, Henry. Hobson Jobson : the Anglo-Indian dictionary. 1996. Ware : Wordsworth. Internet Archive. 978-1-85326-363-7. 47.
  7. Book: Gokhale, Balkrishna Govind. Balkrishna Govind Gokhale. Surat in the seventeenth century. 1978.
  8. Web site: vol1_chapter05. 2020-10-01. www.columbia.edu.
  9. Book: Lee, Peter. Sarong Kebaya: Peranakan Fashion in an Interconnected World, 1500–1950. Asian Civilisations Museum. 2014. 9789810901462. University of Minnesota. 75.
  10. Book: Giorgio Riello, Tirthankar Roy. How India Clothed the World. 2009. 9789004176539. 318, 332. BRILL .
  11. Web site: Bafta Definition of Bafta by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Bafta. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028001639/https://www.lexico.com/definition/bafta. dead. October 28, 2020. 2020-10-01. Lexico Dictionaries English. en.
  12. Book: Tavernier. Jean-Baptiste. Travels in India. Phillips. John. 1905. Calcutta, "Bangabasi" Office. Duke University Libraries. 52.
  13. Book: Milburn, William. Oriental Commerce: Containing a Geographical Description of the Principal Places in the East Indies, China, and Japan, with Their Produce, Manufactures, and Trade, Including the Coasting Or Country Trade from Port to Port: also the Rise and Progress of the Trade of the Various European Nations with the Eastern World, Particularly that of the English East India Company from the Discovery of the Passage Round the Cape of Good Hope to the Present Period: with an Account of the Company's Establishments, Revenues, Debts, Assets, and C. at Home and Abroad [...].]. 1813. author and published. 46. en.

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