By: Tanveer Memon Hala
The Matiari district is mainly famous for its "Ajrak" industry. The industry was established here since last four to five centuries ago. There are six factories “Ajrak Kaarkhaana” in Matiari, where varieties of Ajrak like Teli, Vall, Sabuni, Kori etc are printed.
The Ajrak, a textile with dominant shades of rich crimson and deep indigo is a name derived from “Azrak”, which means blue in Arabic and Persian.
People wore printed clothes even in prehistoric times. The blocks used for printing Ajrak are of different styles, size and shapes.
These blocks are carved out from wood of Babur, Keekar and Talhi (Sheesham). Different tools are used for making the designed blocks out of that ordinary wood. It normally takes the block-maker a week to carve a complete set. A set usually comprises of seven blocks. Asl, Kut, Phulli, Kharrh, Meena. Two blocks each of Kharrh and Meena are carved so that two artisans can print simultaneously.
As Ajrak block carving is a highly specialized craft, there are very few Ajrak “poregars” left in Sindh.
The fabric used for Ajrak is always cotton which is base material whether hirak, baftah or lattha (types of cotton fabric). 10 meter length of fabric is torn in two pieces of five meters, which is later sewed up together.
After tearing up the fabric, next step is to wash the cloth in lake or canal. As the fabric is woven in mills, removal of impurities is necessary without which the dyes would be improperly absorbed.
Then the fabric is soaked in a mixture of Carbonate of Soda and water, then it's squeezed and spread on the ground to let dry.
The dried cloth is then steamed which is called “Khumbh (Steaming of fabric)”. The Khumbh is usually fired in evening and continues for eight hours. The Khumbh is kept aflame until next evening till each and every fabric gets steamed, then it's taken for washing. After washing fabric is dried on a grassy, lime free ground in the sun and then brought back to workshop.
When fabric is soaked in three different mixtures it is ready for printing (Chappai).
First step in printing is “Kiryana Printing” or simply White Outline Printing. In this method the borders are printed first and then the centre portion. It is like and outline of design,then coming printings are like, filling of this method.
Next step is KUTT printing or the Printing of Black Areas. Fabric printed with Kiryana is now printed with .
Kutt Phulli Printing: The fabric printed with Kiryana and kutt is now printed double with Kiryana mixture in the area of phulli (floral stars) to ensure that when dipping in indigo dye, the areas would remain protected and unaffected by the dye.
Kharrh Printing: Having gone through the stages of white and black printing, the dried fabric is received by the printer to print the Red Areas. The fabric is lightly dusted and when complete, is hung out to dry in the sun for few hours. The resist is applied over the entire surface which is to be protected against indigo. The Kiryana, kutt and phulli are printed over again therefore.
Kunn Process (First Indigo Dyeing). The kunn (dyeing vat) is earthenware, approximately 1.5m deep and sunk in ground. Pieces of fabric are dyed in pairs. When all the lengths are dyed and dried in the sun then, folded and rolled into a large bundle.
Vichharrh is a process of washing the dyed, dried fabric in a river or canal.
Then cloth is dyed red, which is called Rangan Jo Marhalo.
Mananh Process (Gissi Treatment). A pair of Ajraks are soaked in the copper van containing liquid gissi (camel dung) taken out, wrung and kept on the ground.
Tapai process: Ajraks are washed again in carbonate of soda to remove gissi.
Meena Process, by printing the meena resists mixture all areas in the Ajrak are covered except those that have been dyed indigo in the first stage of dyeing.
Meena Jo kunn (indigo dyeing), Folded ajraks are immersed into prepared kunn in which dye has been mixed. They are not squeezed but lifted and spread on the ground to dry completely.
Washing and finishing: Ajraks are taken to a river and spread on water surface to sink in gradually and soak for a few hour. This removes the gum and metoori mixture from fabric.
In last comes the bleaching treatment, in which ajraks are soaked into bleaching solution, wrung well and kept on the ground.
The complicated process of Ajrak making differs from centre to centre and craftsman to craftsman. The experts called “Usto” vary the proportions of the ingredients used and the duration of time required for a certain stage of the process, according to weather changes, fabric structure and availability of raw materials.
Almost all types of Ajrak go through these processes of making, but in some Ajrak styles like Kori Ajrak, Do rangi Ajrak and Sabuni Ajrak some of these processes are eliminated because they have adopted new processes or sometimes they skip some steps, which results in a low quality Ajrak.
Workers in factories works on daily bases, they get a 250/= pay each day. Owners of these factories get a 10 to 20% profit on each Ajrak when sold to a shop in market.
Handicrafts sort of arty and creative works have been manifestation of ancient and modern ceremonial practices of any region and the populations engaged in such handiworks can be counted as communal and enlightened possessor of such hierarchies. Such artisans have been appreciated by rank and file among sophisticated societies. Splendid region of Sindh has nourished thousands such stunning skills and crafts in her humble loam. Among such handy arts which have been historically & traditionally rooted into fertilized society of Sindh is Rilli (the quilt) a coverlet made of cloth.
Rilli is a cloth sheet made up with different colorful pieces of fabrics and can be used as bedspread. Its snobbery is that Rilli can be used to reduce the temperature in hot season whereas during summer it works to warm the wrapper. Rillies made in Sindh are thickly double layered than modern fancy bed sheets while are thinner than quilt. Amazing fact about Rilly is that since its evolutionary dawn these have been formed into human hands.
BIRTH PLACE OF RILLI
A question has constantly been asked from historians, artisans and Rilli makers that what is the native region of Rilli? For a while this query formulate the man all at sea since thumbs are down regarding that among historical scripts, books or commandments therefore proper answer has not been given in this connection but in my view point this subject is not much knotty as has been well thought-out by all. Nevertheless we don’t have any information about the indigenous place of Rilli but we do know about parental constituency of it.
It’s established truth by history that among three majestic civilizations of the world viz: Sumerian civilization of Mesopotamia, Egyptian civilization of Nile valley and Indus valley civilization, only from the ruins of Mohenjodaro the city of Indus valley civilization pieces of cloth/fabric material, knitting machines and dyeing places has been founded. Imports of cloth from Sindh have also been verified by ancient Sumerian and Egyptian scripts.
Whole of the Rilli has been assembled by different pieces of new and old clothes while cutting in particular form and again stitch all parts in a sequence while it developed into the outward appearance of a Rilli. If all chronological sciences approved the origin of cloth is Sindh than the idea grew to be sure that not only handy craft of Rilli has also taken its beginning into society of this terra firma but needles and very first suture of needle must have been stitched by Sindhi sewer. Innumerable kinds of textile shown on various statues founded from Mohenjo daro demonstrate the dying shops must have been here there fore historians called this metropolis as “city of brightly colored dresses”.
Although for the period of five thousand years cloth category of objects could not live to tell the tale into brackish soil in the region of Mohenjo daro but excavators founded many golden, silvery, earthen and ceramic pots covering and wrapper with superior feature of fabric which with by touching had turned into ashes. Indian Central Cotton Inquiry Committee in 1929 observed the ashes of that stuff and testified in the report that “This cloth is made of best kind of cotton and Indus knitters were superlative at their work and they had fashioned numerous techniques of cloth weaving””. Residents of Mohenjodaro have been used fiber of different types and colors. The excavators founded fishing hook wrapped with black colored thread. With such undeniable facts research world believe that “Sindh has been ostentatious manufacturer of cotton commodities in ancient world”.
This actuality is also distinguished that cotton has been called “Sindhu” in Sanskrit language while same was the name for cotton in primordial Sumerian scripts. In olden Greek scripts “Sindhoon or Sindhin” has been written for cotton and in Arabic lingo and in holy Bible is written “Satin”. These all words been used for cotton in ancient languages belongs to the family of the word Sindh which bear witness that along with those regions not only the cloth of Sindh has been sent around those but they must not have technique of weaving or knitting cloths. For that reason their dictionaries were blank with the word could be used for cloth/fiber/yarn therefore they put the name of cloth imported from this region as Sindh which according to accents their languages and with the passage of time corrupted the pronunciations.
The proofs for the assets like Quilt, Blanket, Ajrak and other such type of cloth expanses and bed sheets customary expected among Mohenjo daro residents can not be denied while watching carefully the things founded from the ruins of this city. Such as the statue of King Priest has wrapped the Ajrak type of textile piece which surely belongs to family of Quilt or blanket which proves that residents of this constituency in olden times used Quilt type of textile sheets as body cover. Keeping this fact in mind it will not be out of point they must use such sheets but thicker one as bedspread or coverlet which might be assembled by sewing different pieces of cloth in particular shape which must be evolutionary appearance of the quilt (Rilli).
HALA HANDICRAFTS PHOTO GALLERY
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