Bafta

What is Bafta?

Bafta is a plain cotton cloth of the calico family, calico being everyday woven cotton rather than decorated silk. It came off the loom in long, narrow pieces with a closed plain weave, the simplest interlacing of threads, which gives an even, closely woven surface. Weavers made it in many grades, from coarse and cheap to fine, in plain cotton or with silk mixed through. The cloth hangs well and feels comfortable, which made it a popular dress fabric. In its home region of Gujarat, bafta was the general word for plain calico. Working women wore it dyed in different colours, while richer households chose silks and muslins.

Where does Bafta come from?

Bafta was first woven at Bharuch in Gujarat, a city the old trade records call Broach. The town sat close to the Narmada river and within reach of the port of Surat, which helped its cloth travel. From 1500 to 1700 Bharuch was a major centre of cloth making, sending bafta to markets in West and Southeast Asia. The older Bharuch baftas seem to have been a fine cloth. In the 18th century it was among the leading cottons shipped from western India to Europe, where the plain ground was printed with patterns. The French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier described the Broach baftas in his account of India.

How is Bafta made?

Bafta is a woven cloth with a closed plain weave, worked into long, narrow pieces. Cotton was the main fibre, though some varieties had silk added. Grades ran from coarse to fine, and price moved with them: Tavernier records Broach baftas selling for anywhere from four to a hundred rupees a piece. Cloth in its natural shade had its own names. Off-white lengths were called malti, mansuri or kham, and white cotton of this sort was called baft. Bengal's trade lists for the Cape market name further sorts, such as Chittabully Baftaes and Callapatty Baftaes.

Colours, motifs and borders

This is a cloth of plain surfaces, not patterns. Its appeal lay in an even, close weave, and lengths were dyed in different colours for everyday clothes. Off-white and white bafta carried names of their own: malti, mansuri and kham for the off-white, baft for the white. Much of what left India for Europe went undecorated, since printing happened abroad. The old Bharuch baftas were counted a fine stuff among these cottons.

How Bafta is worn

In the early 1600s bafta sat in the middle of the price range as a dress fabric. The sources picture it on working women, whose clothing was cut from coarser cottons such as this and dyed in different colours, while wealthy women wore silk, fine cotton and muslin. Its draping quality suited many kinds of dress. No special drape is recorded for it; it was cloth for ordinary clothing rather than ceremonial wear.

When Bafta is worn

Bafta was everyday cloth. It was a mid-price dress fabric in the 17th century, and working women wore it most, in coarser grades and dyed shades. Wealthier women kept to silk, fine cotton and muslin for their own wardrobes. The sources record no festival or ritual role for it; its place was in ordinary dress at home, and in the trade where it was sold by the piece.

Styles of Bafta

Grades and names varied a lot. The cloth ranged from coarse to fine, in cotton alone or with silk added. Place names marked the sorts: Broach Baftas from Bharuch, and in Bengal's shipping lists for the Cape market, Chittabully Baftaes and Callapatty Baftaes. Colour had its own vocabulary, with off-white cloth called malti, mansuri or kham and white cotton called baft. Tavernier noted how wide the price spread was within one town's output, from four rupees to a hundred.

What Bafta means

Bafta's story is one of trade. Bharuch's position by the Narmada and near Surat's port let the city build a cloth industry that supplied West and Southeast Asia for two centuries. In the 18th century it stood among the chief cottons exported from western India, sent plain to Europe for printing. Travellers like Tavernier recorded its prices and the customs paid at Baroche on goods coming in and going out, a sign of how regular this commerce was. The weavers of Bharuch, unnamed in the records, made the cloth that carried their town's name abroad.

Questions people ask about Bafta

Good reading and sources

• The saga of Indian hand-woven fabricsThe Hindu, Article

• Bafta cloth on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data