Shahdad family has been associated with the business of Pashmina Shawls for centuries. Our recent family memories narrate to us our heritage in the Pashmina Business. In the article on the right side that was produced after a study done by the Wildlife Trust of India after the ban of Shahtoosh in Kashmir, a local weaver of Kashmir mentions "Amel Shahdad" as one of the only two leading dealers in Pashmina in Kashmir in the early 1940's. By "Amel Shahdad", the local is referring to Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad also known to the locals in Kashmir by "Ahmed Joo Shahdad" or to his family members as "Taeth Saeb".
Category: Weaver
My father was a pashmina weaver, as are two of my three sons. My wife helps us by doing pherai (thread processing) work. I began working as a weaver in 1941, when I was about 15. I learned to weave from a neighbor; then went to train under an expert weaver, Naber Nar, with whom I worked for 10 years. After I was recognized as an expert, I shifted home, and began teaching others the art.
I learned the skill for six years before I wove my first shahtoosh shawl in 1955. At that time, the wages for weaving a 1.5x7 yard shawl were as low as Rs 100-125. Over time, the wages rose to Rs 200, then to Rs 400, and reached a level of Rs 600 about 20 years ago.
During my early years in this profession, shahtoosh would come from Tibet via Ladakh, and a group of Kashmiri dealers (known as bota-wanees) would buy the shahtoosh from the Ladakhis. Two of the better-known dealers were Amel Shahdad and Rishi. Shahdad would bring apricots, pashmina, and small quantities of shahtoosh from Ladakh to Kashmir. The price of shahtoosh was Rs 300 per kg in 1947-48, but the supply of shahtoosh ceased entirely when China invaded Tibet. At this point, a new supply route opened up, with shahtoosh moving from Tibet to Nepal, from there to Delhi, and onwards to Amritsar; Sikh traders would then bring the wool to Kashmir. Before the advent of militancy in
The quoted snippet is taken from the website for the Wildlife Trust of India. The entire article can be accessed by clicking here.
Some other mentions of our family history with Pashmina Business go back to the narrations that Mir Mohammad Shahdad used to travel with his sons, Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad, Mir Ghulam Rasool Shahdad and Mir Abdul Ali Shahdad on horse back from Srinagar to Ladakh and all the way to Tibet. These journeys would last about 6 months. They would buy the Pashmina from Ladakh and would bring back horse back full of Pashmina, apricots and small quantities of Shahtoosh. According to some narrations within our family, when their caravans used to reach the city of Srinagar, there would still be a line of horses laden with the Pashmina up to Soura.
A number of other narrations relating to our family business with the people of Ladakh are mentioned. Among one of them was that when Mir Abdul Ali Shahdad would have to buy something in Ladakh, and the local Ladakhi seller would be travelling to Srinagar, he would give the local seller a piece of paper addressed to his elder brother Mir Ahmedullah Shahdad in Srinagar, which this local Ladakhi would then take to his elder brother in Srinagar and get his money. Such was the trust that the Shahdad family demonstrated in the business.