Myrobalan
The dried fruit of a tree, rich in tannin, used to prepare cloth before natural dyeing.
Also: harad, harda, kadukkai, Terminalia chebula
Myrobalan is the dried fruit of Terminalia chebula, known as harad or harda in Hindi and kadukkai in Tamil. It is rich in tannin, a plant chemical that helps dyes and mordants take hold on cotton. Cloth is soaked or boiled in a myrobalan bath before it is mordanted or printed. In Ajrakh and kalamkari printing this step is done several times over the work. Myrobalan on its own gives a pale yellow or cream, which is why cloth prepared with it can look slightly warm before any dye touches it.