->BD2412: Fixing links to disambiguation pages, replaced: Varna → Varna

2021-04-18T21:47:41Z

Fixing links to disambiguation pages, replaced: Varna → Varna

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Weaving and cloth trading communities of Western India particularly of [[Gujarat]] are called '''Vankar/Wankar/Vaniya'''. The four major woven fabrics produced by these communities are [[cotton]], [[silk]], [[khadi]] and [[linen]]. Today majority of these community members are not engaged in their ancestral weaving occupation still some population of these community contribute themselves in traditional handloom weaving of famous [[Patola cloth|Patola]] of [[Patan district|Patan]], [[Kachchh shawl]] of Bhujodi in [[Kutch]], '''Gharchola''' and '''Crotchet''' of [[Jamnagar]], [[Zari]] of [[Surat]], '''Mashroo''' of [[Patan district|Patan]] and [[Mandvi]] in [[Kutch]], [[Bandhani]] of Jamnagar, [[Anjar, Gujarat|Anjar]] and Bhuj, [[Motif (textile arts)|Motif]], [[Leheria]], '''Dhamakda''' and [[Ajrak]], '''Nagri sari''', [[Tangaliya Shawl]], [[Dhurrie]], [[Kediyu]], '''Heer Bharat''', '''Abhala''', '''Phento''' and art of '''Gudri'''.
Vankar is described as a [[caste]] as well as a [[community]].

==History==
A block printed and resist-dyed fabric, whose origin is from [[Gujarat]] was found in the tombs of [[Fostat]], Egypt. Indian textiles especially of Gujarat have been praised in several accounts by explorers and historians, from [[Megasthenes]] to [[Herodotus]]. [[Marco Polo]] a Venetian merchant on his visit to [[India]] in '''13th century''' Gujarat observed that ''brocading art of '''Gujarat weavers''' is par excellent''. During [[Mughal Empire]] India was manufacturing 27% of world's textile and Gujarati weavers dominated along with Bengali weavers in Indian textile trade industry overseas. Even the archaeological surveys and studies have indicated that the people of [[Dholavira]], [[Surkotada]]. [[Kuntasi]], [[Lothal]] and [[Somnath]] of Gujarat regions in [[Harrapan civilization]] were familiar with weaving and the spinning of cotton for as long as four thousand years ago. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the [[Vedic Literature]].

As weaving is an art and forms one of the most important [[artisan]] community of India. Since Vankars were involved in production and [[business]] they were known as '''Nana Mahajans''' or small merchants. They have been grouped in [[Vaishya]] category of [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]] system.

===Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries===
Britain's [[Industrial Revolution]] was built on the de-industralisation of India - the destruction of Indian textiles and their replacement by manufacturing in [[England]], using Indian raw materials and exporting the finished products back to India and even the rest of the world.
The handloom weavers of '''Gujarat, Maharastra and Bengal''' produced and exported some of the world's most desirable fabrics. Britain's response was to cut off the thumbs of weavers, break their looms and impose duties on [[tariffs]] on Indian cloth, while flooding India and the world with cheaper fabric from the new steam mills of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]].
The arrival of the [[East India Company]], however sounded the death knell for the Indian textile industry. The weavers were forced into selling exclusively to the British at extremely low rates, pushing them into poverty. The decline was further accelerated by the industrial revolution. Advances in manufacturing technologies flooded markets in India and abroad with cheap, mass produced fabrics that Indian handlooms could no longer compete with.
Weavers became beggars, manufacturing collapsed and the last 2000 years of Indian textile industry was knocked down. So instead of a great exporter of finished products, India became an importer of British, while its share of world export fell from 27% to two percent.

===Twentieth century===
The freedom struggle brought the Indian handloom sector back to the fore, with [[Mahatma Gandhi]] spearheading the [[Swadeshi]] cause. In no other nation has something as basic as one’s clothing or an act as simple as spinning cotton become so intertwined with a national movement. The humble [[Charkha (spinning wheel)|Charkha]] (spinning wheel) and khadi became a dominant symbol of self-reliance, self-determination and nationalist pride.

==Occupation==
The main occupation of Vankars was the weaving of cloth. Since after expansion of British textile markets and decline of Indian textile industry Vankars suffered a lot. Hence started farming and small scale business in the [[British Raj]] to thrive better conditions ahead to maintain their livelihood.<ref name=GujaratXXI>People of India Gujarat Volume XXI Part Three edited by R.B Lal, P.B.S.V Padmanabham, G Krishnan & M Azeez Mohideen pages 1126-1129</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Social groups of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Hindu communities]]
[[Category:Tribal communities of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Scheduled Castes]]

Vankar - Revision history

->BD2412: Fixing links to disambiguation pages, replaced: Varna → Varna