Precious Threads and Precarious Lives

This book studies the hitherto unexplored history of the shawl and silk industries of Kashmir, India.

Amit Kumar is Assistant Professor of History at School of Arts and Sciences, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India

List of figures Acknowledgements Glossary Introduction 1 Present historiography and its critique 2 Kashmiri shawls and their history 3 Shawl-wool trade and the creation of Jammu and Kashmir, 1819-1846 4 De-industrialisation, globalisation, and the crafts 5 Silk industry of Kashmir 6 Identity of the textile artisans 7 The Resilient Artisan: Weavers' exploitation and resistance Conclusion Bibliography Index