Skip to content
Indic Handlooms
File № 15 Silk-cotton Not registered

Mashru.

Mashru · મશરૂ
Definition

Gujarat's silk-faced cotton — silk on the outside, cotton against the skin — historically woven for Muslim communities whose religious code restricted pure silk on skin.

Town Patan
State Gujarat
First woven 16th c.
GI status Not registered
Active weavers ~50 (endangered)
Painting: Edwin Lord Weeks (c. 1885) · Public domain (via Wikimedia)

Gujarat's silk-faced cotton — silk on the outside, cotton against the skin — historically woven for Muslim communities whose religious code restricted pure silk on skin.

01 Section 01 · Origin

Silk that the sacred law permitted.

The name Mashru — from the Arabic mashru, "permitted" — tells the textile's social origin. Orthodox Islamic tradition forbids pure silk against the skin for men. Mashru, woven so silk threads form only the outer face of the cloth while cotton threads form the back, gave Muslim weaver communities a way to wear lustrous fabric within religious tradition.

The craft thrived from the 16th to early 20th century across Patan and Surat in Gujarat. Today fewer than 50 specialist weavers remain — the textile is critically endangered. There is no GI registration on record.

02 Section 02 · Technique

Satin weave: silk on top, cotton on the back.

Mashru is a satin-weave construction. The silk warp threads pass over multiple cotton weft threads at a time, leaving the silk almost entirely on the outer face. The cotton weft sits against the skin.

Traditionally the silk was hand-spun; today the more endangered Patan workshops still use silk warps, while Surat versions have largely switched to rayon. Patterns include vertical stripes, ikat-resist motifs (ikkat-mashru), and woven jamewars. A skilled weaver produces about 1 metre per day on a pit loom.

03 In-store authenticity

How to spot a real one.

Field check · five checks
  1. 01 Two-face structure Real Mashru has a glossy silk face and a matte cotton back. Both fabrics are visible from their respective sides.
  2. 02 Slubs Hand-woven Mashru has natural slubs in the weft. Machine-made imitations are uniform.
  3. 03 Burn test A loose silk-warp thread burns slowly with a hair-burning smell. A modern rayon-warp version (cheaper "Mashru") burns fast and smells like burning paper.
  4. 04 Patan vs. Surat Patan Mashru is the traditional silk-warp craft, identifiable by the slubs and unevenness. Surat Mashru is often rayon-warp — still mashru-structured but synthetic.
  5. 05 Source Buy from Patan or Mandvi workshops directly, or via certified Gujarat handicraft outlets. Online "Mashru" without provenance is usually printed cotton.
04 Care & storage

Living with it.

Dry-clean preferred
The mixed silk-cotton + slub structure responds poorly to home washing. Dry-cleaning preserves the satin face.
Iron from the back
Iron on the cotton side only. Direct heat on the silk face dulls the lustre.
Avoid wringing
If washed at home, never wring. Press flat between towels.
Store rolled
Roll on a cotton tube to preserve the smooth silk face.