The Paisley On The Khanga
Origin and History
There are a variety of postulations around the genesis of Khanga textiles (National Museums of Kenya, N.D.). One of them is that affordable unbleached, white cotton fabric was in demand in East Africa in the 19th century. There were a variety of these available, such as ‘Merikani’, a colourful fabric which originated in the United States of America and was popular among women, who called the Khanga produced from it, ‘Khanga za Mera’. Similar colourful fabric from India, was called ‘Kaniki’. With time, merchants began to dye these fabrics a deep black or blue. Block print designs incorporating spotted black and white motifs, soon appeared on the fabrics, giving rise to the name Kanga, Swahili for the guinea fowl (National Museums of Kenya, N.D.).
Another theory proffers that the khanga, a vibrantly coloured East African cloth (Ressler, 2014), often linked to Swahili culture on the East African coast, debuted in the early 1880’s (Ressler, 2012), on the island of Zanzibar. This printed cotton fabric is a unique mix of colours, designs, and messages. Its design genesis is marked by a blend of cultural designs from the communities trading in and around and bordered by the Indian Ocean. It is worn by many people across Sub-Saharan Africa and continues to have a special place in the cultural history of Kenya (Ressler, 2014).
The standard Kanga “is approximately 45 x 65 inches in size, is usually sold in pairs known as ‘gora’. A khanga can be identified by its distinctive design or motif (Ressler, 2012). Khangas are often distinguished by a border along all four sides (pindo in Kiswahili), a central design (mji), and a written message (jina), typically a line of text is printed along the border (Ressler, 2012; 2014). They are popular for their many uses: as skirts, shawls, turbans, blankets, and even baby carriers. Although generally associated with women, khangas can be worn by men as well (Ressler, 2014). Kangas are found all over the world. Japan, Lamu, the Rift Valley, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, the Comoros islands, Mozambique, eastern DRC, Oman and Dubai (Ressler, 2012).
The talking cloth loved by all
Text, originally scripted in Arabic, was first included in the khanga in the early 1900s. It later morphed to Kiswahili “text messages”. They are an essential part of the material’s allure. Khanga text is imbued with levels of social and cultural meaning. They are sayings, proverbs, memes or religious messages among others used to pass on messages, chastise or share an idea. Commemorative moments, both local and global, are recorded on the khanga. These may be election events or candidates, political messages. Khangas are now important mobilizing tools, akin to electioneering T-shirts in the United States (Ressler, 2014). A good example, is the “Obama khanga design”, made to honour the former president of the USA.
The late, “Kawira’s project, ‘To Revolutionary Type Love’, creates a dialogue between these two creative scenes, as she uses traditional East African khangas to celebrate LGBT turning points from around the world. Kawira created a new khanga for every country in the world, all 196. Each design combines that country’s flag, with a depiction of a pivotal moment in that country’s fight for LGBT rights (WePresent, 2017).”
![Kawira Mwirichia, [Antigua barbuda kanga], from the kanga series "To Revolutionary Type Love", 2017. Courtesy the artist.](https://i0.wp.com/undameta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-10-at-11.17.46.png?fit=1024%2C672&ssl=1)
Kashmiri shawl with paisley pattern
The Khanga design is influenced by a blend of oceanic cultures. These are Persian, Turkish, and Indian designs and motifs going back centuries (Zahra & Fatemi, 2021, p. 87). The Kashmiri shawl, which is a woollen “shawl is usually constructed in one of two styles: one is border style, in which the motifs are composed on the shawl’s border with other supporting design components, and the other is irregular composition, without the boarder design (Kallan, 2018),” forms a basis for the structure of the khanga and was adapted for Khanga design (National Museums of Kenya, N.D.).
Production and distribution
“From the early days, Kangas were largely produced in Europe and India. Throughout the 20th century, British, American, Dutch, and Japanese imported cloth continued to dominate the market. But, in the 1970s, textile mills were set up in Kenya and, in 1985, Tanzania, a neighbouring country became one of the largest producers of the Kanga. Today, Kangas are produced in Kenya, Tanzania, Oman, India and Pakistan. China has recently become the largest producer (National Museums of Kenya, N.D.).”
Paisley the motif
The Indian subcontinent has for centuries produced and provided textiles of a range of qualities to consumers that domiciled beyond the Indian Ocean. These included West Africa, south east Asia, the Mediterranean region, and lands as far as the Americas and north-western Europe (Machado, 2009). Along with these fabrics, came the strong influence of Indian design created on the textiles. “Paisley is one of the most well-known patterns that originated in Iran and has since migrated to other countries. Paisley, which the Persians name “bute-jegheh,” means “crown” or “something resembling a crown” and refers to the highest part of the cap. Historically, Iranian rulers wore a plume on their crown as a symbol of their power, sincerity, and lowliness (Zahra & Fatemi, 2021).” “There are many theories on the origins of Paisley pattern. According to some experts, paisley is the emblem of cypress, which is a symbol of masculinity and flourish… Paisley’s wellspring had previously been associated with an animal form, according to some researchers. Paisley is said to have originated from the form of a feather bird. Meanwhile, other researchers think that Paisley extract comes from the drawing in the silkworm’s body (Zahra & Fatemi, 2021, pp. 82 – 83).”
Mughal period
This period was marked by “a graceful naturalistic rendering of the flowers of the boteh, and a carefully constructed Hashia which served as a fame around the boteh itself. The Mughal boteh stressed the realistic representation of nature, along with an extremely delicate harmony of design (Kallan, 2018, p. 175).”
“Paisley as a traditional element utilizes for decorating varied things such as: carpet, tablecloth, textiles, and tiling. But the most popular utilizing of paisley is in carpet (Zahra & Fatemi, 2021, p. 84).” In Kenya, the most common use of the paisley motif in traditional textiles is the Khanga.
“There’s some dispute among historians over the origins of this early plant design but the general consensus is that it had Persian origins. This Persian origin was fused with the artistic themes of Mughal art and by the 18th century the motif took on a richer decorative and ornate design. More flowers were added to the design and the Persian influence became even more pronounced with the replacement of the roots with the well-known Indo-Persian decorative motif, the vase-of-flowers.
The grand Paisley design we see today emerged as a part of design inspiration of shawl makers in the 17th century. During the period of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1606), shawl making underwent a massive growth spurt (Kashmir Company, 2013).”
The paisley’s design development carried on into the 19th century. Its shape morphed into the popular Paisley pine cone. This was promoted by the widely paisley decorated acclaimed shawl and its trade in Europe and the world at large. At this point in history, the paisley motif reached the pinnacle of its artistic and design acclaim in Europe (Kashmir Company, 2013).
The Kasmiri Paisley’s is characteristically represented by a “single blooming plant with roots. This pattern evolved into an upstanding shower of flowers, and by about 1800, it had evolved into the boteh, a stylized cone-shaped motif that we now refer to as the Paisley pine. Throughout the decades, the pattern evolved from a little squat cone to an enormously extended curve” at one end of the cone. It is proffered that the pine pattern, or boteh, “may be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon, when a tear-drop form was used to represent the growing branch of a date palm (Zahra & Fatemi, 2021, p. 86).”
“Paisley is woven and embroidered all over the country but the paisleys of Kashmir are renowned for its intricacy and uniqueness. Paisley of Kashmir is an elongated tear drop used as a symbol to represent the growing shoot of a date palm. The palm provided fruits, drinks, clothing (woven fibres) and shelters so became regarded as “the tree of life” with its growing shoot being gradually recognized as a fertility symbol. It is ornamented in variety of shapes. The weavers, embroiders and the craftsmen are located on the all sides of green valley of Jammu and Kashmir i.e, Lakanpur, Kathua, Vijaypur, Udhamnagar, Srinagar, Avantipur.
Kashmir Paisley, is also called the “Ambi” or “Mango Motif” due to its shape and resemblance to the mango. It’s is also referred to as the teardrop, or tadpole pattern internationally. In native Kashmiri, where it was prominent during Mughal rule between the 15th-16th centuries it is known as “Kalanga” or “kalga” (Shoukat, Fall 2022, pp. 20-21; Kallan, 2018, p. 172).
“The first Paisley was woven and designed in Kashmir (Shoukat, Fall 2022, p. 21).” The earlier adopters of the Kashmiri paisley motif were the Persians, and later the Mughal Emperors who brought it to fame in the 15th or 16th century. Over the centuries, it has seen profound development and undergone changes. (Shoukat, Fall 2022, p. 21) “The Motif of Paisley is mixed into so many style-bound motifs that it has been given various forms and shapes, most of them resemble lotus-like shapes or lilies, iris, cherries, chinar leaf, or almonds (Shoukat, Fall 2022, p. 22; Kallan, 2018, p. 183).”
“Paisley shawl making proved so popular it eclipsed the Jacquard loom perfected in France to become the de facto name associated with the boteh. Eventually the boteh gave way to the name ‘Paisley’ and this has remained to this day. From this perspective the boteh/Paisley has come full circle and demonstrates the timeless nature of Kashmiri design and creativity (Kashmir Company, 2013).” Paisley, has become “the most common western term for the pattern, as the town of Paisley in West Scotland, was a prolific producer of imitation Indian textiles in the nineteenth century (Skarratt., 2018).
“Owing to its distinct form, clear antecedents, and specific meaning, Europeans may have reimagined this motif due to their own conceptions of oriental motifs. Consequently, Europeans reintroduced the shawl decoration back to Kashmir, with amendments to fit their consumer tastes. Paisley is more heavily stylised and less naturalistic, influenced by European, Iranian and Indian art. Until the 1800s, if patterning did exist at all on Kashmir shawls, it had been mostly limited to borders on the fabric. Western design dictated that patterning would be present all over the whole garment, likely born out of their relative familiarity with Iranian carpets, which informed European notions of oriental textiles. With the rise of the Jacquard loom, it became viable to produce shawls that resembled carpets,” that were ornately “patterning all over the fabric. With these changes, we can chart the development of the design of the Khanga, “and the contemporaneous development of the Paisley pattern” on the Khanga (Skarratt., 2018, p. 3).
The Paisley pattern, unlike the shawl survived the demise of the shawls due to various historical factors including war, famine and fashion. “In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Paisley survived in a variety of formats. However, it was not until the 1960s that the pattern found favour in the world of fashion, on the back of a popular enthusiasm for flamboyant styles in men’s fashion, termed the Peacock Revolution. The Etro brand, created in Milan in 1968, became one of the most prominent fashion design companies to reintroduce Paisley to the catwalk,” through its founder, Girolamo Etro (Skarratt., 2018, p. 8).”
“The Paisley has transcended the ages too and today its timeless appeal and symbol of love can be found any everything that has a connection to high-fashion, class and extravagance (Kashmir Company, 2013).”
Contemporary perceptions of the paisley pattern
“Textile design is a major design factor during the clothing design process. In textile design, the colour and size of the motif are important design elements (Wilson, 2001), which influence the image perception of textile design. Additionally, the image perception will vary depending across different cultures. Finding out appropriate and appealing design elements when designing a textile for a certain culture will help the apparel industry become more profitable in international markets. As the fashion industry is more involved in globalization, cross-cultural studies of the image perception for textile design are necessary for the development of products.” A study was carried out by Dong-Eun Kim of California State University Long Beach and Kathi Martin of Drexel University in the United States of America, two elements of paisley textile design (colour and size of motif) were manipulated to investigate their effects on people’s perception. Korean and Caucasian American women were selected to represent Asian and Western countries to compare the differences in image perceptions of paisley patterns between two cultures (KIM & Martin, 2010, p. 1).” They found that, “that image perception can be different according to the colour and size of a motif and the perceiver’s culture. In the results, Americans perceived the paisley pattern as more preferable than Koreans did. Red background + orange motif was perceived as the most feminine and dark blue background + sky blue motif and dark grey background + gray motif was perceived as the most masculine in both cultures. Compared to the big motif, the small motif was perceived as more elegant in both cultures (KIM & Martin, 2010, p. 1).”
From its Persian origins to its Swahili coast adaptation, the paisley pattern continues to inspire. Today, you can easily browse the UndaMeta Leso category to choose a khanga design, which can be industrially printed for your event or function. Additionally, you have the option to customize the text message on the khanga or digitally print a pair (gora) of lesos, allowing you to create a truly personalized design. Explore the collection, featuring a range of unique paisley prints that are well worth considering.
References
Kallan, A. (2018). Evolution of paisley motif of Kashmir: A Report on paisley motif of Kashmir. International Journal of Home Science (IJHS), 4(1), 172-180.
Kashmir Company. (2013, February 13). Kashmir paisley shawl and its enduring contribution to the paisley motif. Retrieved from Kashmiri Company. https://www.kashmircompany.com/blog/kashmir-paisley-shawl-and-her-enduring-contribution-to-the-paisley-shawl/
KIM, D. E., & Martin, K. (2010, June). Effects of Color and Size of Motif on Image Perception of Paisley Patterns. International Journal of Human Ecology, 11, 1-10.
Machado, P. (2009). Cloths of a new fashion: Indian Ocean networks of exchange and cloth zones of contact in Africa and India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In G. Riello, & R. Tirthankar, How India Clothed the World (pp. 53 – 84). Leiden: Brill. doi:https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004176539.i-490
National Museums of Kenya. (N.D.). Kanga: A Cloth That Unites. Retrieved from Google Arts and Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/kanga-a-cloth-that-unites/fwLSRgiEQNcJLA
Ressler , P. (2012). The Kanga, A Cloth That Reveals- Co-production of Culture in Africa and the Indian Ocean Region. Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings (pp. 1 – 8). Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Ressler, P. (2014, June 19). A Cloth of Many Meanings: Khanga’s Role in Kenyan Culture. Retrieved from Smithsonian Folklife Festival: https://festival.si.edu/blog/2014/a-cloth-of-many-meanings-the-khangas-role-in-kenyan-culture/
Shoukat, A. (Fall 2022). A Tale of the Evolution and Stylized Modification of Paisley in Different Eras of the Sub-Continent. Journal of Design and Textiles (JDT), 1(2), 20-29. doi:https://doi.org/10.32350/jdt.12.02
Skarratt., B. (2018, August). From India to Europe: The Production of the Kashmir Shawl and the Spread of the Paisley Motif. Global History of Capitalism Project, pp. 1-9.
WePresent. (2017, July 21). Kawira Mwiricha: The Nairobi artist on creating a dialogue between creative scenes. Retrieved from WeTransfer. https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/stories/championing-diversity-kawira-mwirichia
Zahra, F., & Fatemi, S. S. (2021). Cultural Diversity: Aesthetic Analysis of Persian and Kashmiri Paisley Ornaments. Perennial Journal of History (PJH), 11(11), 81 – 90. doi:https://doi.org/10.52700/pjh.v2i2.61
