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Indus Valley Civilization 3000-1500B.C

This was the first civilization in India and it occurred simultaneously with the Egyptian and the Sumerian civilization.

This occurred around 4000yrs from now in the city of Harappa and Mohenjodaro.

What was the clothing like of the people in those days?

The silhouette worn by men and women in those days was unstitched and mostly similar for both men and women. Men and women wore colorful robes. Both men and women adorned them selves with jewellery. Nothing more is known about the people in those days.

Aryan Civilization 1500-500 B.C

In the Vedic age men and women’s clothing seemed to be similar there tied a cloth around their waist which resembles to the present day dhoti and similarly wrapped apiece of cloth on the upper part of the body many people left the upper part of their body bare they did not cover it with anything.

The fabric which was mainly used in those days was cotton, lion cloth and they also covered themselves with animal skin.

Mauryan and Sunga period 321-72 B.C

The Costumes of this period began to be divided in three parts:
• Antariya
• Uttariya
• Kayabandh
These three terms were widely being used the Antariya is the lower piece of garment, which was made up of white cotton or linen. It was an unstitched piece of cloth tied around the waist in the kaccha style i.e. it passed from between the legs and extended upto the hips or ankle according to their occupation.

Kayabandh was a sash which was placed to keep the Antariya in place. In modern terminology we call it a belt. It was given different names like kalabuka, muraja, pattika all these were tied in different manner around the waist.

The Uttariya draped the top half of the body it was usually made up of cotton and very rarely silk and was worn in many different ways it was wrapped around either the shoulders or only on one shoulder and tied at the waist with a knot. The peasant tied the Uttariya around their head so that it does not interfere with the work they do.

The Uttariya, Antariya and the Kayabandh were the three pieces of unstitched garments that came from the Vedic times.

Satavahana (Andhra) period 200 B.C 250 A.D

After the Mauryan Empire the next great empire which we had been, the satavahana’s which ran for a period of 460 years.

The people of the Deccan were a hybrid race they were basically Dravidians and their costumes were indigenous and were also inspired by the foreign influence.

The garments that were inspired by the foreign influence was Kancuka, this was a mid thigh length tunic with short or long sleeves with an opening at the front or on the left side of the garment. The neck shape would differ.

The garments that were inspired by the foreigners were mainly stitched garments; the concept of stitched garments came into India along with the foreign invaders.

Along with the Kancuka, Kayabandh was tied at the waist and with the foreign influence the women started wearing short Antariya and long Uttariya which covered their back.

The indigenous people continued to wear the Uttariya, Antariya and the Kayabandh.

Kushan Period

It was established in the first century and for some time it ran simultaneously with the Satavahana kingdom.

With the Kushans the Concept of stitched garment entered India.

The Kushan costume was divided into five categories:

• Uttariya, Antariya and the Kayabandh were worn by the local people of that period.

• The guardians and the attendants wore a sewn Kancuka which was usually brown in color.

• Foreign Kushan rulers also wore a Tunic.

• Grooms traders and other foreigners they wore mixed garments.

• This last category is important as it shows how the indigenous garments were replaced by cut and sewn garments.

 The clothes that the Kushan wore were inspired by the Scythian, Iranians and mainly the Parthian. There clothes were so designed so that they could ride on the horse back comfortably. The tunic was a long sleeves ruched one with an opening at the front which was made up of leather also and on top of that they wore an overcoat which was known as Chugha.

The trouser worn by them was a loose fitting or a close fitting one. The clothes worn by them were simple but often they would be adorned with gold or metal plated or squares.

In the Gandhara School of art we find a woman wearing a sari like garment which could have evolved from the pure roman dress or the graeco-roman dress.

The sculptures at the Gandhara School of art show us the evolution of sari.
This was the first attempt made by the people to cover their breast.

Gupta Period 4th – mid 8th century

The Gupta period is known as the Golden age because it was a very prosperous period in which trade and commerce flourished and it lasted for more than two century it was a very vast kingdom which covered most of the north and the west of India.

The costumes worn during the Gupta period was mainly stitched. Stitched garments began to be linked with royalty and in the gupta coins also we see the king in the Kushan dress that was a coat, trouser and boots.

But the influence of stitched garments was in the north only the people of the Deccan continued to wear unstitched garments and even the indigenous people of the Gupta period.

The Brocade tunic was worn by the ministers, door-keepers and guards and a simpler version of the tunic which was white calf length tunic was worn by the chamberline and with it chaddar was worn.

Below the Kancuka Antariya was worn. Kayabandh and ushnisa (turban) continued to be worn.

Female costumes exact source is not known as there was a wide variety in it.

The Antariya was 4-8 yards long and 18-36 inches wide and was worn in several different ways. It was worn in the kaccha style and the lehenga styles in the lehenga style it dint pass from between the legs. It was widely worn as calf length,it was wrapped around at the right side of the waist  and tucked in at the left side of the waist.Ankle length Antariya was worn by the nobility.

Another form of wearing the Antariya was in the form of the Indonesian sarong. Another was a skirt known as Bhairnivasini which was stitched from one side and was gathered at the waist and was tabular in shape.

Flared skirt known as Ghagri was also seen, which is mostly worn by lambadan today.

Women wore drawers which were langoti type and were known as Ardhoruka. This was introduced by women aesthetics and Jain nuns wore four of these which acted like the “chasity belt”.

In this period women started covering their upper half of their body this also could be because they might have seen foreigners covering their breasts and they seemed to look more attractive by covering it rather than exposing it. So they started wearing different types of choli with back open or strings attached at the back.

The Uttariya continued to remain but it became sheerer during this age.

Medieval and the Mughal period

What the people wore during the medieval times can be seen in the figurative sculptures which are there in Khajuraho and Konar the clothing in these sculptures are highlighting the body rather than concealing it.

Unstitched garments still prevailed which is seen in the southern and central parts of India. The dancing Apsaras were seen in transparent uttariyas and antariyas. The cut of the fabric differentiated the clothing of the Aristocrat and the common people. In some courts the common man was not suppose to wear fine fabrics.

Stitched garments also prevailed like tunics, skirts, trousers and the mention of Petticoat was during this period.

Stitched garments had become an intregal part of India before the Mughal came into India. The costumes are sumptuous and the work is elaborately done .so what ever information we got of the clothing of the Mughals we got it from the paintings so from the paintings it is difficult to decipher where the fabric embroidered, woven or printed.

Ikat and tie and dye paintings were very much advanced during this period. We also see block print fabrics during this period. Bandhini, Lehariya and mothra was also seen.

Indian cotton and silk was supposed to be the best and India also had very good craftsmanship so most of the fabric was exported.

Filed under: History of Indian costume, Indian Fashion News