Mashru

Mashru is explicitly mentioned in the administrative document, the Ain-i-Akbari, of the 16th-century Mughal Empire, under silken kinds of stuff: "... the ordinary orthodox Muslim was only anxious to wear clothes of simple material like linen and to avoid silk, velvet, brocade, or fur and coloured ... Mashru."^[1] Mixed silk-and-cotton textiles were worn, because, by canon, a Muslim must not wear a dress of pure silk.^[1] Varieties containing silk and cotton admixtures gained greater currency in the empire, more particularly after the issuance of the Ain-i-Akbari.^[2] During the Mughal period, Mashru was used for the costumes of courtiers and nobles.^[3] Mashru is presumed to be an Indian innovation.^[2]

The word mashru means 'permitted', derived from mashry in Arabic, and misry (or misru) refers to a mixture in Sanskrit.^[4][5][6] These names generally mean 'permitted', but it is also related to the Sanskrit word misru, meaning 'mixed'.^[7]

Mashru has been primarily produced in Punjab, Sindh^[8] and western parts of India.^[9][10][11] It is a double-layered material with a thick cotton base and covered with an almost single stranded silken warp and woof. Mashru is a stout, silken, warp-faced fabric textile with a variegated pattern. In its weaving, the loom brings the cotton yarn down and the silk fibers up. This produces a cloth that exhibits a silk face and cotton backing.^[12] Hence it was a mix of silk and cotton, although with a satin finish. The result is a thick and heavy cloth with less lustrous and feminine-like pure silk.^[12]

Mashru with silk face and cotton inside was useful for various dresses and household items.^[10][11] Indigenous mashru was famous for its strength and aesthetics. "All 'Mushroos' wash well, especially the finer kinds..."^[11] There are varieties of mashru clothes, including gulbadan and sufi. Superior kinds of material are categorized as mashru; and lower quality are called sangi.^[13] Mashru is less expensive than pure silk.^[14]