Engendering Women in Work Spaces: Household and Economy in Nineteenth Century Kashmir

Abstract

The region of Kashmir has long been in the news for armed conflicts and for the constant political disturbances in the area. This meta narrative of dispute and contestation overshadows the rich cultural heritage that Kashmir and its people own. For instance, textiles (in particular Kashmiri shawls), paper mache, stone artists, and sericulture industry are few to name and what is even lesser known is the fact that Kashmiri Women are the major contributors in all these industries. It is evident from the literature produced in the nineteenth century that apart from doing household chores most Kashmiri women were either involved in working on the fields or helped males of the family in the production of handicrafts. Hand spinning was the basic occupation of Kashmiri women with around 80% of women being involved in spinning. However, very few sources written in the period give women their due credit. Their work is either mostly mentioned being clubbed with that of the men in their house or completely invisibilized. The nineteenth century was a period when the British had started getting a stronghold over the economy of Kashmir by controlling the then present political dispensation of the Dogras. This led to an export of Kashmiri shawls to Europe and other countries in large numbers. However, the major force behind this prosperous international trade, the Kashmiri women artisans neither got an appropriate share in the revenue generated nor the recognition due to them. This paper, therefore, attempts to look at the contribution of women artisans of Kashmir in the handicraft industries in the nineteenth century. It will try and mainstream the contribution of these women both to the household as well as to the economy of Kashmir in the nineteenth century.