In ancient times, artists came up with the designs and patterns, then workmen with immense skills crafted them into temples and objects. Before that, the master craftsman would outline details of shape, colour and proportion of the design. Then each specialist craftsman would be assigned his own specialised part of the design. These ideas of designs were under the huge influence of local and Persian cultures. And this can be reflected in many indian handicraft, textiles and stone inlays.

Indian gem stone jewelry

The beginning of the Indian gem stone jewelry from when the Stone Age Man started using hammer stones to make smaller tools. Today, tools used by craftsmen are the same as those used in ancient India. The skills were passed on from generations to generations except that the purpose of such craftsmanship in the past was solely for survival.

Indian Textiles

The skill of weaving has at least 5000 years of history in India. In fact, Indians started their textile exports as early as the second century B.C. Evidence of this can be found in the tombs of Fostat in Egypt. In the 13th century, textiles were used to barter fro herbs and spices in the western countries. Before machines were introduced, khadi, a kind of handmade jewelry and hand-spun fabric was very popular.

Indian Carpets

The history of Indian carpets can be traced back to 500 B.C. But it started to gain its popularity since 16th century in the reign of Akbar when he led some carpet weavers from Persia to India. At that time, wool and silk were the two materials used and floral, animals and geometric patterns were common. During Jahangir’s reign (1556-1605), silk and pashima were used so that more knots could be woven making it more smooth and designs were more naturalistic. During Shahjahan’s reign (1628-1658), an even higher quality of carpets was reached allowing 2000 knots per inch giving the carpet a velvet texture. Now flowers were the mainstream design. However, from 1658 onwards, all crafts in India faced a crisis except carpet craft. Due to its religious and daily use in India, this is the only craft survived the difficult times.