Bafta (baft, baftae, bath, bufta or bafetta) is a kind of
calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
, initially made in India.
Characteristics
Bafta is a coarse, cheap woven material made in long, narrow pieces, chiefly of
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
. It has a closed
plain weave
Plain weave (also called tabby weave, linen weave or taffeta weave) is the most basic of three fundamental types of textile weaving, weaves (along with satin weave and twill). It is strong and hard-wearing, and is used for fashion and furnishi ...
structure, and has been made in many varieties, from coarse to fine, and made from cotton only or with silk added. It was an affordable, comfortable material with draping qualities suitable for various
dress
A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece outer garment that is worn on the torso, hangs down over the legs, and is primarily worn by women or girls. Dresses often consist of a bodice attached to a skirt.
Dress shapes, silh ...
es. Bafta was a generic term for plain calico from Gujarat.
Etymology
The name ''bafta'' was derived from the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
word , meaning "woven, wrought".
History
Bafta was originally produced in
Bharuch
Bharuch () is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.
The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since times of antiquity. It was a shi ...
, a city previously known as Broach, in
Gujarat
Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. The old Bharuch baftas seems to have been a fine stuff. Bharuch was a major textile manufacturing hub from 1500 to 1700, known for producing bafta for the West and Southeast Asian markets. Bafta was among the leading textile products exported to Europe from Western India for printing in the 18th century. The city's location near to the port of
Surat
Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...
and close to the banks of the
Narmada River
The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...
helped Bharuch to exploit its potential.
Bafta was a mid-price dress fabric during the early 17th century. Where wealthy women used to wear expensive clothes made of
silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
, fine
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
and
muslin
Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It is commonly believed that it gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq.
Muslin was produced in different regions o ...
, working-class women wore clothes made of coarser cotton fabrics, such as bafta,
dyed
Dyeing is the application of dyes or pigments on textile materials such as fibers, yarns, and fabrics with the goal of achieving color with desired color fastness. Dyeing is normally done in a special solution containing dyes and particular ch ...
in different colors. Off-white cloth was known as malti, mansuri, or kham, and white cotton cloth was known as "baft".
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605–1689) was a 17th-century French gem merchant and traveler. Tavernier, a private individual and merchant traveling at his own expense, covered, by his own account, 60,000 leagues in making six voyages to Persia ...
(1605–1689), traveler and French pioneer of trade with India, described "Broach Baftas" in his account of his travels to India.
Bengal's description of piece goods for the Cape market includes different variations of Bafta such as "Chittabully Baftaes, and Callapatty Baftaes".
See also
*
Dosuti
*
Dorea (cloth)
*
Gurrah (cloth)
*
Khasa (cloth)
Khasa (Cossa, Cossaes) was a high-quality variety of calico cloth that was manufactured and used for clothing in the Mughal Empire.
Name
Khasa or means special. Khasa was termed “kashak” in the Ain-i-Akbari, and was also known as 'jangal ...
References
External links
The saga of Indian hand-woven fabrics
Woven fabrics
Textile arts of India
{{Textile-stub