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ZardoziZari and Zardozi Crafts of India
An Online Guide

January 2018
Compiled by Shaista Anwar Khan

Gold and silver embroidery styles traditionally made on dresses in some towns of India and elsewhere are known as Zardozi. Zar in Persian and Arabic means gold while dozi is Persian for ‘embroidery’. The art of zari has been associated with the aristocratic and royal class in India for a long time. Zardozi was used to adorn walls of the royal tents, scabbards, wall hangings and the paraphernalia of regal elephants and horses. The work involves making elaborate designs, using gold and silver threads. Further adding to the magnificence of the work are the studded pearls and precious stones. Zardozi embroidery work is mainly a specialty of Lucknow, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Delhi, Agra, Kashmir, Mumbai, Ajmer and Chennai. For the time being, Surat and Banaras remain the principal suppliers of Zari material and Zardozi crafts. Delhi is also one of the most important center for this craft because presence of large number of Zardozi artisans.

Historically, Adiparva and Sabhaparva of the Mahabharata give interesting accounts of costly cloths embroidered with gold. Valmiki’s Ramayana also speaks about cloths embroidered with gold and silver. Jain literature gives interesting information about silver and gold work on cloths. Moreover there are several Greek traveller accounts that describe Indian embroidered cloths in 4th century BC. There are several sources that mention embroidery work during the Sultanate era in India, but Ibne Batuta who traveled in India during 1287-1290, extensively wrote about gold and silver embroidery. The word appeared for the first time in the autobiography of Firoz Shah Tughlaq “Futuhat-e-Firozshahi.” It has elaborate descriptions of the dresses of Sultans. During the British era, the Zardozi craft got a setback since the British wanted to promote European goods including textile in India. Karkhanas and Riyasati Karkhanas were shut down. Many craftsmen left Delhi and went to the courts of Rajasthan and Punjab in search of work. With 18th and 19th century bringing industrialization, the craft suffered another setback. Here are some online resources about zari and zardozi:

Charu Smita Gupta, "Zardozi: Glittering Gold Embroidery", Abhinav Publications: 1996. https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Zardozi.html?id=ylDrAAAAMAAJ

Jayatra Mandal, "Zari-work and it's issues and challenges: a case study of part of Udaynarayanpur block, Haora, West Bengal".
https://academia.edu/25516754/ZARI-WORK_AND_IT_S_ISSUES_AND_CHALLENGES_
A_CASE_STUDY_OF_PART_OF_UDAYNARAYANPUR_BLOCK_HAORA_WEST_BENGAL

Virendra Singh Rawat, Lucknow zardozi gets GI registration, Business Standard, 24 April, 2013.
http://business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/lucknow-zardozi-gets-gi-registration-113042400432_1.html

CM Announces Marketing Hubs for Weavers, Zardozi Artisans, The Pioneer, 26 August 26, 2017.
http://dailypioneer.com/STATE-EDITIONS/lucknow/cm-announces-marketing-hubs---for-weavers-zardozi-artisans.html

Shailvee Sharda, Lakhnavi zardozi to get GI tag soon?, The Times of India, Jun 10, 2010.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Lakhnavi-zardozi-to-get-GI-tag-soon/articleshow/6030212.cms

Suzanne Pennell, “The Art of Gold Embroidery from Uzbekistan”, Story brifge Press: 2015.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=x8O4CgAAQBAJ

Ambedkar Hastashilp Vikas Yojana (AHVY), Ministry of Textiles,
http://craftclustersofindia.in/site/index.aspx?Clid=728

Cultural India, Indian Crafts, Zardozi in India
http://culturalindia.net/indian-crafts/zardozi.html

Encyclopedia of Intangible India, Zari, Zardozi and Tinsel Embroidery,
http://craftrevival.org/CraftArtDetails.asp?CountryCode=India&CraftCode=002944

The fascinating heritage of Zardozi Embroidery, Heritage India - Vol 3 Issue 4,
Ranadeep Bhattacharyya and Judhajit Bagchi.
https://behance.net/gallery/13385795/Zardozi-Embroidery-of-India-Threads-of-Gold-Silver

Zari Zardozi - Varanasi, Golden Embroidery By Prof. Bibhudutta Baral and Rakshitha, NID, Bengaluru
http://dsource.in/resource/zari-zardozi-embroidery-varanasi/introduction

Zari-Zardozi, Varanasi, Dsource Ekalpa India
https://youtube.com/watch?v=V_cEWP2JDlI

Wikipedia on Zardozi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zardozi

Zari Zardozi, AIIS/Columbia University video
https://youtu.be/xx5MN_LubWA

Ari Embroidery (video), Victoria and Albert Museum
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kbyE1JEJug0

This list is in progress. Please let us know if you know of some good archive on the Internet which concerns us and we may have missed. Please report if you find any dead links.

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