Still Heard: Echoes from a Colonial Past

In the 19th century, Parsi women started wearing elaborately embroidered saris known as garas. What is not generally known is that these beautiful textiles were imported from China. Their arrival in India forms a little known sub-plot in the wider saga of British imperialism and the unique Parsi response to the imperatives of foreign rule. When new marketing opportunities opened up in China for the East India Company in the second half of the 18th century, the Parsis were well-positioned to take advantage of them. By the 1830s, the Parsis had become leading players in the China trade. Clothing, that very visible marker of social status, was part of the wider process through which the Parsis came to identify themselves with the ruling elite. While Parsi women continued to wear saris, they achieved a modern and sophisticated look by adding elements of Western fashion to their clothing. It is reasonable to conjecture that the appeal of Chinese embroidery was a reflection of prevailing fashion trends in Britain. Parsi clients selected designs for their garas from the same generic pattern books used as sources for other Chinese export embroideries, including those that went to Europe and America. Workshops producing 'Chinese' embroidery sprang up in Surat and, in time, Parsi housewives, especially in smaller towns, also took up the craft, their embroidery skills providing a welcome source of income. This article traces the history of the gara and its association with imperialism as well as trade with China.