Traditions of Backstrap Weaving
in Bangladesh
Manjulika Chakma and Niaz Zaman
Regional Conference and Workshop
Bain: Weaving the Past, Present and Future
Dhaka
March 22 -24, 2009
Introduction
• By moderate estimates, it is understood that
Bangladesh has at least 888,115 weavers.
• Of these weavers, 472,367 are male and
415,748 female.
• Male weavers work on the power loom, the
handloom, the Chittaranjan loom and the pit
loom.
• Most female weavers work on the handloom
– Some on the stake loom
– But the majority work on the backstrap loom.
Map of Bangladesh
Manipuri
• Manipuris live in India as well as in
Bangladesh.
• In Bangladesh settled in districts of
Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sylhet, and
Sunamganj.
• Estimated population 55,000.
Manipuri Costume
• Manipuri women’s dance costume of stylized
skirt and pointed cap with veil, has become
famous thanks to Rabindranath Tagore.
• Manipuri women wear a phanek (sarong), a
phurit (blouse similar to a sari blouse), and a
phidu or inaphi (orna or wrap). The phidu is
thicker and is worn by married or elderly women,
while the inaphi is finer and is worn by younger
women.
Manipuri Costume contd.
• Manipuri men wear gamchha ( a kneelength, checked sarong) also called panch
hati because it is five cubits or hath in
width. On top they wear shirts.
• Muslim Manipuri women wear Bengali
saris and blouses, and in public, don a
burka. Muslim Manipuri men wear clothes
similar to Muslim Bengali men.
Diofferent Looms Different
Products
• Women weave phanek on the backstrap
loom, as well as gamchha, jal gamchha
(towel for bathing), phidut, shawls, and
lashingphi, a type of quilt
• They weave saris, inaphi, and also the
phanek on the throw shuttle.
Thampisika Devi and Chandra
Mohan Singh
Mina Sinha in Phanek and Inaphi
Thampisika Devi Weaving a
Lashingphi
Historical Background of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts
• 15th century—settlement of different ethnic
groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts
• 1860—British rulers name the region
“Chittagong Hill Tracts District” and determine to
a large extent the relationship of this region with
the rest of India.
• 1952 planning starts for a hydro electric plant at
Kaptai
• 1962 Karnaphuli Hydro Power
Station commissioned
Liberation and After
• 1979 Bangladesh government sponsored
resettlement of landless Bengalis in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts starts
• By 1991 Bengalis 49 percent of the
population of CHT.
Impact of Demographic Change
• The culture of the indigenous communities different from
that of the Muslim settlers.
• Indigenous costumes start being given up in favour of
Bengali costumes--women adopt sari and blouse and
later, younger women, the shalwar and kameez.
• Even older women, who continue to wear their traditional
garments, cover their upper bodies.
• Changes in weaving with saris and other garments being
available in the market.
• Only for the last decade or so have indigenous people
felt free to wear their traditional costumes--but with this
difference that they continue to be conscious of the need
to cover their upper bodies.
Billboard put up by army displaying
ethnic groups
Chakma
• Largest indigenous group--252,258 according to 1991
census
• Traditional dress of women:
–
–
–
–
Pinon, khadi, siloom, khabang
(sarong, breastcloth, blouse, head cloth)
Till fifties, Chakma women wore pinon and khadi
Siloom worn when they went to the forest for jhum cultivtin or to
collect firewood
– Khabang worn like ghumta among Bengali women
– Today, Chakma women wear the pinon, but with a blouse and
the khadi across their bosom, like an orna or dupatta
Milungi
Durgabati Chakma: Weaver Turned
Entrepreneur
Three Generations at Rangapani
Chakma Pinon
• Traditionally the pinon was black
• with fine lines of dark blue and red bands,
towards the top and the bottom of the garment.
• On one side of the pinon is an intricate border
known as sabugi or chabugi woven in different
colours.
• The pinon is wrapped round the waist from left to
right. When the pinon is tucked in at the waist,
the sabugi falls on the left.
Chakma Khadi
Chakma Khadi
Chakma Khadi
Chakma Ritual Weaving
• In addition to clothes, the Chakma also
weave what they refer to as tangon, a
length of cloth ranging from 10 – 14 feet,
with one border design repeated through.
The tangon is given to the Buddhist temple
as an act of piety.
Alam
• The designs on the hadi are to be found
on the alam or alom, the traditional
sampler that every Chakma girl is
supposed to weave.
• Every Chakma girl is supposed to weave
an alam to show her weaving skill.
• While weaving, the weaver refreshes her
memory by looking at the alam.
Alam designs
• At the Tribal Museum in Rangamati three
old alams are displayed.
• The alam woven by Kumar Ramonimohan
Roy’s wife has 115 designs.
• The other two consist of 97 and 68
respectively.
Alam contd.
• Pancholata Khisa, made an alam for the
Principal of Faujdar Cadet College, which
consisted of 101 designs.
• The older alams are woven in black, red, and
white yarn.
• Newer alams are woven with fewer borders and
with different coloured yarn.
• Every girl does not embroider an alam these
days. At Rangapani one alam was shared by
everyone
Old Alams
Detail of Old Alam
Detail Old Alam
Sarat Mala Chakma
Sarat Mala Chakma Alam Detail
Sarat Mala Chakma Alam Detail
Alam Woven by Tushita Chakma
Alam Woven in Wool
Alam Used by Everyone at
Rangapani
Basket with Alam and other objects
used in weaving
Using an Alam for Help with
Pattern
Arati Weaving an Alam
Interventions in Late Fifties
• Mrs Kareem Iqbal, DC’s wife suggested to
Pancholata Khisa shawls could be made
on loom.
Pancholata Khisa
Shawl Woven by Pancholata Khisa
Shawl Woven by Pancholata Khisa
Shawl Woven by Pancholata Khisa
Processing Cotton for Weaving
• In the past the first step involved picking
cotton from jhum (slash and burn)
cultivation.
• The cotton would then be removed from
the pod and brought into the house and
thoroughly cleaned.
• It was then spread out on mats and left to
dry in the sun for two to three days.
Processing Cotton for Weaving
Contd.
• The dry cotton was then ginned to remove the seeds and to make it
soft. It would then be rolled by hand on to little pieces of bamboo.
• It was further refined by being rolled on a rod called pech, before
being spun into yarn with the charka or spinning wheel.
• Today, most yarn is purchased in the market.
• However, on Kathin Chibar Dan, cotton is still picked in the
traditional way, and spun into yarn before being woven into a piece
of cloth.
Using the Natai
Making Guli from Wool at Rajbari
Math
Preparing the Warp
Sajpodor: The Loom Before Being
Set Up
The Tagalog Bash: A Bamboo
Length Split Lengthways
The Weaving
• Once the yarn has been fastened to the loom, the weaver sits down,
her legs straight in front against the foot rest.
• She fixes the back strap behind her waist.
• In order to weave, the weaver moves the warp threads up or down,
to create a space called the shed.
• The biyong is placed in the shed vertically.
• The weaver then passes the shuttle, known as thurchuma, through
the shed.
• She then uses the edge of the biyong to tighten the weft thread
against the woven cloth.
• The biyong is taken out and, with the help of the suchok bash, the
threads are reversed and a fresh shed is created.
• When the weaving begins, the split tagalog bash works as the first
weft.
• The process continues in this way for plain weaving.
Chakma Woman Weaving Pinon at
Katachhori
Weaving Khadi at Rangapani
Picking Threads with the Bokati
Incomplete Khadi on Loom at
Katachhori
Kavita Chakma Using the Bokati for
Khadi Design
Kavita Chakma Using a Porcupine
Quill
Kavita Chakma Getting Out of the
Loom
Modern Pinon and Khadi Offered
for Sale by Durgabati
Chakma Weaver Making Woollen
Shawl at Rajbari Math
Borgi Sunning at Katachhori
Detail of Modern Chakma Shawl
Approaching Katachhori
Houses on Stilts at Katachhori
Huts in Rangapani
Tripura
• The Tripura, who numbered 61, 000 accroding
to the 1991 census, live in the areas of
Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Bandarban but
are also to be found in Chittagong, Noakhali,
Comilla and Sylhet.
• As well as in Hill Tipperah, in India.
• In the past they used to grow and process the
cotton needed for their weaving. They would
colour it with natural dyes. Today, they buy the
yarn needed.
Tripura Costume
• Traditionally Tripura women wore a kneelength black and white rinai (sarong) and
risha ( breast cloth).
• Their jewellery was also distinctive:
– Round silver circlets in the lobes of their ears
stretching the lobes, as well as a pointed
piece piercing the upper ear.
– Several strands of beads round their throats.
Tripura Loom at Dolubari,
Srimangal
Tripura Weaver Wearing Risha and
Rinai Weaving at Dolubari
Chandra Prova Tripura Weaving
Risha at Hadookpara, Khagrachari
Khyang
• The Khyang live in the area of Bandarban.
According to the 1991 census, they
numbered 1950.
• In the past they used to grow and process
the cotton needed for their weaving and
colour it with natural dyes.
Khyang Costume for Women
• Traditionally Khyang women would wear a pun (sarong), a khrang
(blouse), langkat (breast cloth) and lukhu (head gear).
• The khrang is made of two lengths of cloth--with an elaborate woven
design—stitched along the sides with an opening left for the arms
and in the middle with an opening left for the neck. Lengths of yarn
are attached to the opening in front in order to fasten it.
• The lukhu is also made of two lengths of cloth stitched together at
one end to form a hood and down the middle to the other end.
Under the hood Khyang women might store something such as betel
nut. The rest of the lukhu would then be wound around the head.
• The lukhu that a woman wore would go with her to the funeral pyre
after her death.
Costume of Khyang Men
• Khyang men would traditionally wear a
khe (a tiny piece of cloth to cover their
private parts), a baju (a white shirt) and a
bong (turban). Nowadays in public Khyang
men wear the lungi or western trousers.
Khrang: Gongorupara, Bandarban
Khrang Woven During Training
Given by Tribal Cultural
Institute,Bandarban
Jaima Wearing Pun and Khrang
Jaima Wearing Pun and Langkat
Lukhu
Lukhu from Gongorupara
Counting Threads for Design in
Lukhu at Gongorupara
Dabeu Khyang Weaving, Ujani
Para, Bandarban
Dabeu Khyang Weaving Khrang
Tanchangya
• In the 1991 census, the Tanchangya
numbered 21,639.
• They are scattered in the areas of
Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and
Bandarban.
• In the past they used to grow and process
the cotton needed for their weaving. They
would colour it with natural dyes.
Tanchangya Costume
• Traditionally Tanchangya women wore five
pieces of garments:
• saloom (a full-sleeved white blouse, with a
woven design at the neck)
• pinon (sarong)
• hadi (breast cloth)
• fadui or kamarfizuni (waist cloth)
• madahang (head gear).
• Tanchangya men wear dhoti and a long-sleeved
shirt.
Ritual Weaving
• In addition to clothes, the Tanchangya
also weave what they refer to as tankwai,
a length of cloth ranging from 10 – 14 feet,
with one border design repeated through.
The tankwai is given to the Buddhist
temple as an act of piety. The weaver will
not weave the same pattern ever again.
Tanchanganya Five Garments
Tanchangya Saloom
Tanchangya Saloom Back
Tanchangya madahang
Tanchangya Alamkani, Tiger Pass,
Nilachol, Bandarban
Tanchangya Women in Traditional
Five Garments
Tanchangya Woman, Tanchangya
Para, Rangamati
Rita Tanchangya, Tiger Pass,
Nilachol, Bandarban
Koichhyabi Tanchangya Weaving,
Tiger Para
Nila Tanchangya Weaving a
Tanchangya Pinon at Udalbonia
Nila Tanchangya Wearing Modern
Outfit
Bawm
• The Bawm are a small ethnic community
of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the 1991
census their number was given as 6,978.
• In the past they used to grow and process
the cotton needed for their weaving. They
would colour the yarn with natural dyes.
Bawm Costumes
• Traditionally Bawm women wore powanmen
(sarong), powanai (breast cloth), kochnai
(blouse), and lupung (headgear).
• Today many Bawm women wear blouses and
thami, bought from the market.
• Bawm men wear kekor (knee-length shorts) and
kordo (shirt). Nowadays Bawm men tend to wear
traditional Bengali garments or shirts and
trousers.
Bawm Weaving
• Bawm women have kept up the tradition of
weaving. However, they prefer to weave
blankets for sale.
• Stores at Shailprapat and Farookpara are full of
blankets made from recycled wool.
• Retail price of blanket Taka 400. With the old
wool costing about Taka 120, they are paid a
pittance for their work on the loom.
• As the winter season is short in Bangladesh, the
weavers are left with a lot of unsold pieces at the
end of the day.
Old Bawm Woman at Farookpara
Lilaeing Nowam, Bawm Weaver
and Entrepreneur at Shailaprapat
Lilajing Noam® Preparing Warp for
Blanket with Helper, Shailaprapat
Blanket on Loom with Shuttle and
Backstrap at Farookpara
Zonunmayi, Lushai Weaver at
Farookpara
Blanket on Loom at Farookpara
Mro
• The Mro largely live in the area of
Bandarban. In the 1991 census their
numbers were given as 22,167.
• Most of them live deep in the forests still,
though some Mro have started to live in
the upper regions, closer to Bengali
habitation and schools.
Mro Costume
• Mro women used to wear the wanklai, a short sarong
barely covering 9-11 inches below the waist.
• Women still wear wanklai in interior.
• The upper portion of the torso originally remained
uncovered, though recently, with the increasing number
of Bengalis in the hills, Mro women have been wearing
the wancha, coloured cloaks bought in the market, to
cover the upper body.
Mro Costume Contd.
• Mro men used to wear a short loin cloth known
as dong. They also used napong, a head gear.
Barebodied Mro youth were famous for their top
knots, often decorated with a comb. They would
sport flowers in their hair or behind their ears.
• Today, however, most Mro have been converted
to Christianity.
• Men have taken to western dress, trousers and
shorts, while women wear the blouse, which
they call korma, and lofong or turbans in addition
to the thami.
Mro Youth Sporting Topknot and
Flowers
Mro Youth Ruma Bazar
Mro Weaving
• Unlike the other groups which have mostly
given up using jhum cotton, the Mro still
grow and process the cotton needed for
their weaving. They continue to colour it
with natural dyes, using seram seeds for
black and prinsu seeds for red. The seeds
are soaked in a pot water with the yarn.
Mro Woven Products
•
•
•
•
•
.
Mro women weave
Wanklai
Child carriers known as wonpotpung
Blankets which they call wonma.
shawls.
Weaving the Wanklai
• The black wanklai has a woven design, most of which is visible only
on the surface of the cloth.
• Unlike the other woven designs in the CHT, the designs on the
wanklai are woven and “embroidered” much as the jamdani design
is on the pit loom.
• Like the Chakma weaver making an alam, the Mro weaver counts
the yarn with a length of flat bamboo.
• To embroider the design, she uses a porcupine quill or sharp
pointed instrument to draw the short lengths of coloured yarn
through the warp.
• This manner of weaving produces the effects of both weaving and
stitching.
• In the past, seeds were threaded and stitched to the lengths of the
wanklai—today they have been replaced by glass beads.
Domram Mro Ginning Jhum Cotton
at Ampupara
Donram Mro Spinning Yarn
Rumpao Mro in Wanklai Weaving a
Wonpotpung
Children at Darjeeling Para Using
Wonpotpung to Carry Babies
Prinsu Seeds Used for Red Dye by
Mros
Weaving a Wonma at Ampupara
Using a Pong Pai to Count Threads
in a Wanklai
“Embroidering” a Wanklai
Mro Wanklai
Mro Wanklai
Mro Wanklai
Marma
• The Marma, numbering 157,301 in the
1991 census, are the second largest
indigenous community and mainly live in
the areas of Rangamati, Khagrachhari,
and Bandarban. Some Marma are also to
be found in Cox’s Bazar and Patuakhali.
Marma Contd.
• In the past the Marma used to grow and
process the cotton needed for their
weaving. They would colour it with natural
dyes. Today, they buy the yarn needed.
Marma Costume Contd.
Today, Marma women, like other women in
the CHT, have started to wear blouses and
Burmese printed thami. Marma men wear
Bengali garments or western trousers and
shirts—or suits.
Marma Woman and Girls at
Udalbonia
Marma Weaving
• Most Marma have stopped weaving their
own garments
• They mainly weave shawls, blankets, and
gamchhas
• However, Emdadul Haque Bitu discovered
a Mathui Ching, a Marma weaving expert
at Ujanipara
Mathui Ching, Marma Weaver
Ujanipara
Marma Weaver at Loom, Ujanipara
Marma Cloth, Ujainipara
Chak
• The Chak, numbering 2000 in the 1991
census, are scattered in the area of
Bandarban, mainly in Naikhonchhari.
• In the past they used to grow and process
the cotton needed for their weaving. They
would colour it with natural dyes.
Chak Costume
• Tradtionally, Chak women would wear nafï
(sarong), rangkeng (breast cloth) and
rangkengpong (head gear).
• Chak women are distinguished by their
large earrings that stretch and distort the
earlobes.
• Chak men wore kotunpangrey (dhoti),
apong (head gear), and lakhey pazu
(shirt).
Chak Woman at Boga Mukh,
Bandarban
Chak weaving
• Chak weaving is almost lost, with both men and
women wearing clothes from the market.
• In order to encourage and revive traditional
culture, the Cultural Tribal Institute at
Bandarban, which offered a training programme
in 2007 for Khyang women, will be offering a
similar progamme to Chak women to weave
their own traditional cloth
Khumi
• The Khumi, who numbered 1,241
according to the 1991 census, live in the
area of Bandarban.
• Like the Mro, they grow and process the
cotton needed for their weaving. They
colour it with natural dyes.
Khumi Costume
• Khumi costumes for men and women
resembled Mro costume.
• However, men would have the end of their
loin cloth hanging at the back.
• Today Khumi women wear sarongs and
blouses.
• Both Khumi men and women wear a
“turban” on their heads.
Noipa Khumi, Longthanpara,
Roalchhari
Noipa Khumi at Loom
Khumi Nina (sarong)
Jhum Cotton
Khumi Uye Used to Gin Cotton
Pangkhoa
• The Pangkoa, who numbered 3,227 in the 1991
census, live in the deep forests of Rangamati
and Bandarban.
• They would grow and process the cotton needed
for their weaving. They would colour it with
natural dyes.
• Pangkoa women wear colourful knee-length
khajel (sarong)
• Pangkoa men wear kengiel (sarong)
An Old Pangkhoa Woman
Pangkhoa Sarong
Lushai
• The Lushai, who live in the area of Rangamati
and Bandarban, are perhaps the smallest ethnic
community in CHT. In the Census of 1991, there
were only 662 Lushai in Bangladesh.
• In the past they used to grow and process the
cotton needed for their weaving. They would
colour it with natural dyes. Traditionally, they
would use four colours for their garments: white,
black, red and yellow.
Lushai Costume
• Lushai women would wear puwanfen
(sarong) and korchung (blouse).
• Lushai men wear puwanbi (dhoti) and
korchung (shirt).
Lushai Costume
• Today both men and women wear local
costume.
• Women wear Burmese type blouse and
thami bought from the market.
• Men wear shirts or tee shirts and lungi or
trousers.
Jonunmayi Lushai with Husband at
Farookpara
Lushai Puan
Lushai Costume
Jonunmayi Lushai Weaving in
Traditional Costume
Changes
• In 1972, old woollen garments started being
imported into Bangladesh. Weavers started
using old wool to make shawls and even alam,
which had, in the past been made of jhum
cotton.
• In the mid-eighties rayon yarn started being
imported into Bangladesh. This shiny yarn
became very popular with weavers, who also
found it easier to weave with this than with
cotton yarn that had to be brushed with water
every now and then.
Changes
• The alam started being made with fewer
designs.
• The impact of the handloom and semi
automatic loom also had an adverse
effect: pinons made on the handloom and
semi-automatic looms were cheaper than
the hand-made articles.
Interventions
• Arshi D. Roy, in her study of indigenous
weaving, explains how she organized a
fashion show to delve into ways to make
indigenous groups aware and proud of
their ethnic identity.
Interventions
• The Cultural Tribal Institute at Bandarban
organized a training programme for
Khyang women and will do the same for
Chak women this year.
• Problems that cropped up.
– Examples of their products suggest that it is
almost impossible for grown women to learn a
skill that little children would learn from their
mothers.
Intervention Problems
• Husbands were unhappy and even angry
that the women were not earning ready
money. The hundred taka wages they got
working in the fields was more important to
many husbands than the training
programme.
Intervention Problems Contd.
• More important perhaps is that the skill the women
acquired was not often marketable.
• The women did not know how to price their products and
often asked higher prices than buyers were willing to pay
• Many women do not have access to markets and sold
their products at ridiculously low prices.
• Too many women concentrate on the same product. A
shop in Shailaprapat sells blankets as does a store at
Farookpara and a bus stand next to it. was selling
blankets.
• Diversification is in order for promotion of handicraft
products.
Interventions contd.
• Another programme, more successful than the
attempt of the Tribal Institute was that of Viator,
which arranged a training programme, in their
words, for eleven indigenous groups in the
Bandarban region. Viator’s programme was
perhaps more successful, partly because they
gave suggestions for products that may appeal
to the tourist. The beautiful wanklai, for example,
is no longer worn today, but squares of wanklai
“embroidery” form the centre of attractive
cushions for the modern household.
Suggestions
• Manjulika suggests that weaving skills
must be imparted from a young age. In
Finland, where women weave, a small
loom is given by a mother to the daughter
who then weaves on her loom in imitation
of her mother. Perhaps, weaving should
be an option in the school curriculum and
not left to government organizations,
NGO’s, and donors.
Suggestions Contd.
• Most backstrap weaving that is being done in the
Sylhet region or in the Chittagong Hill Tracts has
been functional.
• A few expensive pinons are being woven but
these are difficult to sell because local people do
not often have the means to buy these
expensive garments
• And where inexpensive articles are woven, there
is a tendency for quantity rather than quality.
• In order to preserve the rich traditions of
backstrap weaving, it is necessary to explain the
value of fine work.
Suggestions contd.
• While some articles are firmly rooted in tradition--as to
colour and design—
• Others, such as the alam allow for a play of the
imagination.
• A finally worked alam, or a finely worked Khyang khrang,
can retail at a high price as a work of art.
• The difference between the Asian craftsperson and the
western one—though Japan has long understood the
value of the master craftsman– is that the former
produces several articles of the same type.
• While there will be a need for functional crafts, it is
possible to raise the craft of backstrap weaving to an art
form and pay the backstrap artist what her work is worth.
Suggestions contd
• When people see the craftsperson at work, there
is a personal rapport as well as an
understanding of the value of the work.
• Exhibitions while good in their own way do not
always serve the purpose. Visitors to exhibitions
are not always prepared to pay a lot of money.
• However, visitors to exhibitions by “fine artists”
expect to pay a lot.
• Perhaps it is necessary to have special
backstrap exhibitions where “tourist” objects may
be sold as well as one-of-kind pieces that art
connoisseurs would be proud to display.
Suggestions contd.
• But because the art of fine weaving is not
something that can be acquired by study,
apprenticeships should be encouraged.
• There are still some master weavers and they
should be sought out—not to give short training
to older women—but to mentor young weavers.
• Because educated women often give up
weaving, if weaving is considered as much an
art form as painting or sculpture, recognition
would come to an art form that is at present
often treated as an equivalent of a small factory
churning out one blanket or shawl after another.