Vocational education

Crafts had their own way of teaching, with hands-on training that started young. Weaving shows how it worked.

India has a long weaving tradition, and every region has its own speciality. The old weaving communities come under one broad name: the Koshtis.

Skills were passed on through apprenticeship, either within the family or with a master in the guild. No school and no exam: you learned by working beside someone who already knew.

Then something new arrived. Weavers from Gujarat moved to Banaras, encouraged by Akbar, and brought their skills.

The Mughals introduced zarī or zardozī (embroidery with gold or silver thread) and brocades.

A brocade is a rich cloth woven with a raised pattern, usually with gold or silver thread.

These became part of the 'signature style' of Banarasi silk saris, along with designs from nature and geometric patterns. And they survived "through the same traditional training system".

Today Banarasi saris have a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Only brocades from certain districts may be called 'Banarasi', and the area's weavers have rights over their knowledge.

Chemical dyes have polluted the Ganga, so there are efforts, supported by universities, to replace them with vegetable dyes.

Pashmina shawls are woven from cashmere, the soft wool of goats from Ladakh and Kashmir. With Mughal support they became a sign of nobility, were exported across Asia, and were loved by fashionable Europeans.

Their embroidery shows Persian influence: the buteh or būtā, the paisley, shaped like a teardrop with a curved end.