Craft Traditions

of India
Past, Present and Future

Textbook in Heritage Crafts

for Class XII
 ISBN- 978-93-5007-139-7
First Edition
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February 2011 Magha 1932
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 FOREWORD

The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, recommends that

children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside the school.
This principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning
which continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the
school, home and community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on
the basis of NCF signify an attempt to implement this idea. They also
attempt to discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp
boundaries between different subject areas. We hope these measures
will take us significantly further in the direction of a child-centred system
of education outlined in the National Policy on Education (1986).
One of the key recommendations of the NCF is to increase the number
of options available at the senior secondary level. Following this
recommendation, the National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) has decided to introduce certain new areas highlighted
in the NCF for their potential for encouraging creativity and
interdisciplinary understanding. India’s heritage crafts constitute one
such area which provides a unique space for the pursuit of aesthetic and
productive learning in the context of crafts, and the present textbook
attempts to provide a new pedagogic approach to the specialised study
of India’s living craft traditions. This approach focuses on combining
background knowledge with field study and the experience of engagement
with artisans and their crafts.
This initiative can succeed only if school principals, parents and
teachers recognise that given space, time and freedom, children generate
new knowledge by engaging with the information passed on to them by
adults. Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination
is one of the key reasons why other resources and sites of learning are
ignored. Inculcating creativity and initiative is possible if we perceive and
treat children as participants in learning, not as receivers of a fixed body
of knowledge.
These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode
of functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is as necessary as rigour
in implementing the annual calendar so that the required number of
teaching days is actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for
teaching and evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook
proves for making children’s life at school a happy experience, rather
than a source of stress or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to
address the problem of curricular burden by restructuring and
reorienting knowledge at different stages with greater consideration for
 iv

child psychology and the time available for teaching. The textbook
attempts to enhance this endeavour by giving higher priority and space
to opportunities for contemplation and wondering, discussion in small
groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.
NCERT appreciates the hard work done by the syllabus and textbook
development committees. The work of developing this interactive textbook
for exploring and documenting of craft traditions for students of
Class XII was challenging and the painstaking efforts of its Chief Advisor,
Dr Shobita Punja, is praiseworthy. We are indebted to the institutions
and organisations which have generously permitted us to draw upon
their resources, materials and personnel. We are especially grateful to
the members of the National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the
Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human
Resource Development, under the Chairpersonship of Professor Mrinal
Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande, for their valuable time and
contribution. As an organisation committed to systemic reform and
continuous improvement in the quality of its products, NCERT welcomes
comments and suggestions which will enable us to undertake further
revision and refinement.

Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
May 2010 Research and Training
 INTRODUCTION
Handicrafts are still today a vibrant aspect of Indian culture and society.
Crafts have been interwoven with the culture of the people in India from
the beginning of human history. Crafts have been an integral part of
daily life in villages, towns, courts and religious establishments. The
variety of crafts and craft skills available in India and their continuous
development throughout the centuries make India a unique country,
unlike any other in the world. Ours is one of the few countries in the
world where crafts are practised throughout the land and by many
people.
The crafts sector provides livelihood to a large number of people and
makes an enormous contribution to India’s export and foreign exchange
earnings. With the carpet industry, the gem and jewellery industry,
handicrafts accounts for one-fifth of India’s total exports. It is estimated
that today there are over 12 million artisans and craftspersons working
in the crafts sector. A recent data of the Export Promotion Council for
Handicrafts in 2005 shows an increase of 53 per cent in five years in the
exports of metalware, woodcrafts, hand-printed textiles and scarves,
shawls, jewellery and other crafts. However, India today only occupies
two per cent of the world trade in handicrafts despite there being over 30
million artisans and weavers in this crafts sector which has a huge
potential. With government support, today China has over 17 per cent of
the world trade in the same sector.
Recognising the importance of the crafts sector the government policy
in India has been to
• enhance opportunities for employment and income from crafts;
• sustain craft as an economic activity by enhancing its market, both
domestic and international;
• preserve the traditional beauty and skills of crafts, threatened by
extinction, and make them once again an integral part of daily life in
India.
The biggest threat to the crafts sector in India are from industrial
manufacturers, in India and aboard, who produce cheap products in
large quantities and are quick to diversify to meet changing trends and
fashions. Today globalisation and liberalisation of trade policies have
meant that quality handmade products from all other countries can enter
and compete with the existing crafts industry in India. Within the country
the crafts industry has to compete with large multinationals and
corporates as young people buy branded clothing and lifestyle products.
Good marketing strategies and expensive advertising campaigns by these
large corporates have put the Indian crafts community at an extreme
 vi

disadvantage. The lack of raw material, working capital, educational

facilities and poor understanding of the changing markets have made
the crafts community extremely vulnerable.
However, the future potential of the crafts sector is enormous in India.
There are consistent and increasing demands from the United States of
America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, Europe and
the Middle East for handicrafts. We need to provide the crafts community
with a global market perspective and expertise in design and development
to meet these new demands. This is the reason why this subject has been
offered at the senior secondary level in schools so that students can forge
a career in a field with such enormous possibility and promise.
Today the entire world is debating climate change and looking towards
products and activities that are sustainable, planet-sensitive and people-
friendly. Handicrafts are, by definition, ‘made by hand’ using simple
energy efficient tools, with minimum environmental impact and a low
carbon footprint, using locally available natural raw material. Crafts are
produced in a community-friendly manner and are of great artistic and
functional value. The Indian crafts sector can enhance the promotion
and development of crafts, and build a brand identity for Indian
handicrafts that meets these global concerns. We need to create a brand
identity for Indian handicrafts that distinguishes it from those available
in other countries and one that is synonymous with sustainability, style,
quality, artistic excellence, and authenticity.
There is a great need also to address the problems and concerns within
the crafts community. Crafts have always been a significant source of
employment and income in our villages and towns. Today we need to
address problems of poverty, income generation and women’s
empowerment through this sector also.
We need to evolve a new and innovative educational programme for
young people from the crafts community and other stake-holders, to
draw them into this field that will generate wealth by the use of existing
craft skills and intellect, design and development, and by understanding
the rapidly evolving market potential in this sector. This course attempts
to highlight the fine craftsmanship that India was famous for in the past
with the skills of entrepreneurship needed to make this sector a new and
creative industry.
The present book for Class XII is divided into three parts—the past,
the present and the future—in order to examine the history and status of
Indian crafts in different periods.
In each period the status of the crafts community was transformed
with changing historical and economic situations. The way crafts were
made and sold also changed significantly. In the past we talk of the barter
system, types of trade—internal and external—what happened to trade
during the colonial period. Today the challenges that lie in the proper
marketing of crafts in a globalised economy are discussed. All the chapters
are interconnected to create an overview of the social and economic aspects
of crafts over different historical periods.
 vii

Unit I, an ‘Overview of the Past’, explains how craft skills developed

over the centuries into highly specialised artistic forms, how it responded
to economic and cultural changes up to the era prior to India’s
Independence.
Chapter 1 tries to interpret how craft in India became a specialised
activity—so intricate and complex that it required entire communities to
specialise in the production of a certain craft product. The last chapter in
this book returns to this idea by stating that one of the most important
challenges of the future is to find ways and means to preserve and nurture
design specialisation, skill and artistry to ensure Indian craft regains its
unique position in the world.
Chapter 2 describes the beauty and brilliance of Indian crafts and the
wealth of raw material that attracted European traders to forge trading
relations with India that eventually led to colonial rule. During the colonial
period it was the European industrial revolution that threatened the
handicrafts industry in India. It was this period that brought to focus
the machine-versus-hand debate.
Chapter 3 outlines Gandhiji’s unique philosophy of swaraj, by which
villages became self-sufficient by meeting all village needs through crafts
and handmade products rather than becoming dependent on industry
and machines.
Unit II, ‘Crafts Revival’, looks at the Indian crafts sector since
Independence and some of the challenges that they face.
Chapter 4 begins with the post-Independence period when the
Government realised the importance of crafts and the enormous economic
contribution made by the crafts community in terms of trade and exports.
The Government introduced schemes, programmes and set up institutions
and systems to promote crafts in modern India.
Chapter 5 outlines some of the concerns and problems that still besiege
the crafts community in India today—how gender inequalities, illiteracy,
poverty are preventing the crafts community from coming into their own
in a changing world.
Chapter 6 raises the debate between old and new production and
marketing structures as a background for the development of new
marketing strategies in a globalising world where age-old traditions, social
structures and patronage patterns of crafts in India are changing.
Unit III, ‘Strategies for the Future’, addresses the challenges of
tomorrow, so that students can begin to consider what their role should
be in the crafts industry. What strategies could be developed for marketing
crafts today that honour and respect the craftsperson as designer, artist
and independent seller of products?
Chapter 7 systematically investigates the advantages and
disadvantages of the urban craft bazaars as a contemporary marketing
strategy. We hope students will acquire analytical skills in developing
new strategies for marketing that ensure that the skilled crafts community
is the primary and ultimate beneficiary.
 viii

Chapter 8 provides another case study for students to enable them to

learn how to analyse market potentials. The tourism industry is described
as an example of a new market and how to find creative solutions to
enhance the lives of crafts communities and constantly improve the
quality of crafts is discussed.
Chapter 9 is the final chapter and returns to the original idea that
crafts require specialised skills, tools and marketing opportunities. To
constantly improve the quality of crafts and ensure fine craftsmanship in
the twenty-first century, focus is directed towards design, research and
development to meet contemporary challenges.
The contents of this book may be made more interesting by using
local examples and assigning students such projects and tasks that will
enrich the experience of this subject.
 TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT
COMMITTEE
CHIEF ADVISOR
Shobita Punja, Chief Executive Officer, National Culture Fund,
Ministry of Culture, New Delhi
ADVISOR
Feisal Alkazi, Director, Creative Learning for Change, New Delhi
MEMBERS
Jaya Jaitly, Chief Executive Officer, Dastakari Haat Samiti,
New Delhi
Laila Tyabji, Chairperson and Founder Member, Dastkar,
New Delhi
Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Historian and Editor, Editorial Pages,
The Telegraph, Kolkata
MEMBER – COORDINATOR
Jyotsna Tiwari, Associate Professor, Department of Education
in Arts and Aesthetics, NCERT, New Delhi
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Apart from the Textbook Development Committee, various
people and institutions have been directly or indirectly involved
in the development of this textbook. All the illustrations in this
textbook are based on the crafts maps of different states of India
prepared by Sunita Kanvinde for Dastakari Haat Samiti, New
Delhi. We are especially grateful to Jaya Jaitly, Chief Executive
Officer, Dastkari Haat Samiti for giving us permission to
reproduce illustrations from these maps wherever found
appropriate.
We are also grateful to the Director, Indira Gandhi
Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, and the Director,
National Handicrafts and Handloom Museum, New Delhi for
giving us permission to use photographs of the museums and
the crafts displayed. Also, we thank Shobita Punja, Chief
Executive Officer, National Culture Fund, for giving us
permission to use photographs from her book, Museums
of India.
In this book passages have been quoted from different
sources including newspapers and magazines— The Times of
India, Down to Earth, India Magazine and Young INTACH—
where contemporary issues have been discussed. To reinforce
knowledge relevant extracts from various books have also been
given. These include The Earthen Drum by Pupul Jayakar;
The Making of New Indian Art by Tapati Guha-Thakurta;
Marco Polo: the Traveller by Roland Latham; Threads and
Voices by Judy Frater; and The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by
Louis Fischer.
Special thanks are due to the DTP Operators, Surender
Kumar, NCERT; and Tanveer Ahmad.
 CONTENTS
Foreword iii
Introduction v

Unit I: OVERVIEW OF THE PAST 1–39

1. Crafts in the Past 3

2. Colonial Rule and Crafts 15
3. Mahatma Gandhi and Self-sufficiency 31

Unit II: CRAFTS REVIVAL 40–85

4. Handloom and Handicrafts Revival 43

5. The Crafts Community Today 55
6. Production and Marketing 73

Unit III: STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE 86–133

7. Crafts Bazaars 89
8. Craft in the Age of Tourism 103
9. Design and Development 119

Annexure: Treasure Troves of Indian Craft 134