''Qutni'' ''(cuttanee, couthnys, Koetnies, Kutni)'' is an old silk and cotton mix cloth with a striped pattern. Qutni is a satin weave structure with silk in warp and cotton in the weft. It was made 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. Qutni was also produced at

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

Types

Qutni or Cuttanee

Cuttanee () was related to silk alachas Qutni of

was a Satin weave with silk threads in warp and cotton in the weft. Gujarat was exporting Qutni in large to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and much appreciated for quilts.

Rich Qutni

Damascus designed various silk cloths where Qutni and Alza were significant. They were making two types of Qutni, simple and rich, both with the same quantity of silk and cotton. The rich Qutni (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: manqusheh) is a silk

satin A satin weave is a type of Textile, fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamen ...

stripe patterned cloth in which weft is a foundation and warp creating the patterns. It is a superior fabric to simple Qutni. Qutni was weaved as per market specified dimensions; for example, Length 6.13 meters width 0.7 meters was for

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. But for

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, the length was slightly more, i.e., 6.83 with the same width.

Mashru

Mashru silk samples in

John Forbes Watson John Forbes Watson (1827–1892) was a Scottish physician and writer on India. Life Born in Scotland, Watson was the son of an Aberdeenshire farmer, George Watson and his wife Jean McHardy. He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where he ...

book elicits Qutni as Roques reports cottonis variations including stripes of cotton and silk that insinuates Mashru, the most related cloth from Gujrat, i.e., Qutni while J. Irwin compared ''alaja'' to Qutni.

Mentions

* Persian merchants introduced many

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 ...

n cloths in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, The 1640 price list from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

mentions qutni from Yazd made ''like the Indian''(''qutni-i Yezd manend-i Hind'') or the Persian qutni 'in seven colours made in the Indian style (manend-i Hind heft-renk qutni-i agemi). * Abu'l-Fazl mentions Qutni as a mix of silk and wool with a price of 1.5 to 2.0 R per piece in the

Ain-i-Akbari The ''Ain-i-Akbari'' (), or the "Administration of Akbar", is a 16th-century detailed document regarding the administration of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'l Fazl, in the Persian language. It forms ...

. * Bouiteneige is another word for a silk and cotton mix.

References