With its origin in East Bengal, known today as Bangladesh, jamdani was originally called ‘Dhakai’ after the capital, Dhaka. It came to be known as jamdani due to the influence of the Mughal Empire. The word is Persian, and stands for flower (‘jam’) vase (‘dani’) – it is expressive of the floral motifs made on this textile.

The earliest mention of this beautiful fabric has been found in Chanakya’s Arthashastra, dated back to the 3rd Century BC. It is referred to as quality cloth from the ‘Bangla’ and ‘Pundra’ region. Further notable mentions have also been found in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, where Arab, Chinese and Italian travellers and traders recall their accounts of jamdani. Towards the end of the 19th Century, T. N. Mukharji, who was a curator at the Indian Museum at Calcutta and an author, called this textile ‘jamdani muslin’.

Jamdani was extremely popular in the beginning, especially during the Mughal period, but it was met with a decline after the British colonised India. The production slowed down, and cheaper alternatives from Europe contributed majorly to the drop in its popularity. After the end of the Mughal rule, artisans lost their most influential supporters, which led to the once vibrant jamdani industry fading. However, after the partition of India, many weavers migrated to Bengal, thereby marking the emergence of jamdani fabric as what it is today.

To begin making the jamdani textile, the base fabric is chosen which is usually unbleached cotton. The chosen design is woven on the fabric using bleached cotton threads in order to create a ‘light-and-dark effect’. With the discontinuous weft technique, weavers are able to ensure that only the threads essential for the design appear, while the rest sustain the material’s transparency. A horn-shaped tool called a ‘kandul’ is used to lift individual threads and make them meet with the supplementary threads. 

The process is highly difficult and time-consuming making the production timeline extensive, and the textile more sought-after.

Jamdani can be distinguished into various kinds as per the region it is produced in. Dhakai Jamdani is the original textile which is native to Bangladesh, and encompasses the most intricate designs. A saree of this kind can take upto an entire year to complete - give or take. 

Tangail Jamdani is woven in the Tangail district of Bangladesh, and it typically has motifs of lotuses, fish scales, and lamps. This material often sports bold and attractive borders. 

Similar to Tangail Jamdani , there is Shantipur Jamdani, which is local to Shantipur, a city in West Bengal. Items made with this textile have a fine texture, and sophisticated striped motifs. Lastly, there is Dhaniakhali Jamdani, which has a dense weave and distinctly bold colours with contrasting borders.

This textile can be bought in various styles from designers like Yesha Sant, Aditi Somani, Debashri Samanta, Amita Gupta, Rahul Mishra, Pranay Baidya, Wendell Rodricks, 

Urvashi Kaur, Vaani Beswal and many more on Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop.