Figure 1.--These children were from a village of farming and fishing people in Kerala taken about 1965. Notice that they do not wear Western-styles clothes. Since this photograph was taken, Western clothes have become much more widely worn. |
|
India is one of the most populace countries on earth. It is composed of a large number of
ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. Many of these groups have their own destinctive clothing styles and cultural traditions. The British colonial Raj also was very influential. India is a very large country when regions that have different climates which has also affected fashion and clothing. At this time we have very limited information on Indian boys' clothes. Hopefully our Indian readers will provide is some information to understand boys' fashion trends in this important country.
key concern in an assessment of Indian clothing, both ancient and modern, is climate. The majority of India - at least the populated areas - is tropical or subtropical. In moist hot climates, it is difficult to keep the skin dry all the day, especially during working or playing. A HBC reader reports, "My experiences stem from South India. I experienced such climate in Kerala about 10° North of the equator - in moist climate in Kerala and more dry climate in Tamil Nadu. I have heard that when in the 18th century British soldiers lived in this area, many died as a consequence of the too tight uniforms in fashion in those days. More died from overheating, permantly too much moisture on the body including growth of fungi and other parasites than of combat. The skin could not breathe and be kept dry. So the body was left in a totally unnatural and unhealthy condition." The dress of ancient Indians, still commonly worn in many areas, was much more adapted to the climate. Although much has changed in India, the climate has not changed and because the heat is such a major factor, this has been an importnt factor in the perpetuation of ancient styles.
India has an extraordinaryly colorful history in which the sub-continent's geography has played a central role. The Indus Valley was one of the great cradles of civilization. Less is known about the Indus Valley civilization than the other early civilizations, byr they are believed to have had contacts with Mesopotamian civilizations. Historian debate the role of Aryan invadrs. A succession of Hindu kingdoms fighting wars with each other dominate the history of India. Invaders have at times played in mportant rokles, but the Himilayas has effectively isolated India and its people from outside influence. In that environment two of the world's great religiins developed: Hinduism and Budhism. Invaders intriduced a third--Islam. Many invaders have fought to enter the mountain passes that connected India with the Middle East: Persians, Greeks, and Mongols. Other foreigners took sea routes: Arabs, Portuguese, French, and British. Hindu kingdoms resisted Alexander, but finally fell to the Moguhls and then go the British. Both empire have left a lasting imprint. One of the ironies of history is that the principal national elements that unite this vibrant, diverse countey come from the British Raj: democracy, law, and the English language. They are also key factors in the emergence of India as an economic powehouse in the 21st century.
HBC has not yet developed detailed information on chronolgical trends in Indian fashions. We have begun to develop a basic outline of Indian history. India has a marvelously colorful history which is not well known in the West. We do have some information on ancient India, the Mogul Empire, the British Raj, and the modern independent Indian Republic. Even at the time of independence, Western clothes were not widely worn in India, but that began to chsange in the late 20th century.
We do not have much information about boys' activities in India like art, dance, nusic, and sports. We do have a school uniform section. A reader has sent us some information on outings to Indian parks.
Since the environmental situation has always been the main factor to define the type of clothing, grown ups and children wore - and in many cases still wear - similar clothes. Only school uniform has created a new style like in many countries influenced by the British and Iberian culture: boys wear kakhi or blue shorts and white shirt, girls a similar short skirt and white blouse. This is true only for higher schools, not for everybody. New is that
boys do not wear some kind of skirt to school but short pants, and girls´skirt is much shorter than in traditional - and still home- - clothing. In small
village schools they wear ther common clothes: the girls a long skirt, a sari or the Punjabi dress plus blouse, the boys the lungi as usual. When the children come home from school, they have to take a shower, often meaning dosing themselve with water kept in a cool spot in the home, and put on traditional clothes - at least in more traditional families and casts such as brahminical casts. This may create a feeling af safety in the social layer they belong to. In villages and the common and mostly low cast-families this is not taken that much serious: children wear a piece of cloth (white or patterned) wound around the waist. For girls it resembles a real skirt, but for boys it is rather this piece of cloth which can be folded up as can be seen in some of my photographs to make it shorter and more comfortable and cooler for play. Often when a stranger appears thy let the lungi fall to full length.
Traditional clothes men and boys wear are normally a lungi and at the most a towel hung over one shoulder, and women also a lungi plus a short blouse. You see there is not much difference between children´s and grown ups´ clothes - apart from a little more freedom children observe. Here school is often an influence promoting Western dress. HBC plans to develop a glossary of Indian garments and plan to create a garments page soon. Traditional clothing was still commonly worn in the 1960s, especially in regional areas. We note that by the 21st century that Western-style clothing is becoming increasingly common, even in rural areas. Traditional clothing has not disappeared, but is much less common than it once was. This seems even more the case for children, in part because Wedtern styles are normally worn at school. We are not sure if the children's preferences are a factor here.
We have only limited information on this time on India's various regions and states. One HBC reader has provided us information about clothing styles in one state, Kerala, which is a southwestern state on the Arabian Sea.
Family portrait provide useful insights as to how the entire family dressed. Many JBC images are of a single noy. It is interesting to see how boys of different ages, sisters, and parents dressed so we know what fashions were worn at the same time and how trends fluctuated over time. . It is interesting to see in India how Western abnd traditional clothing was mixed. Here we will include images of the entire family as well as just the children of the family.
India is the second most populace country in the world, second only to China. There are more than a million people in the country. The population is higly diverse ethnicity, religion, caste, social class, and other factors. Traditioinally Indian society has been strictly sepsrated into castes based on Hindu teachings, with untouchables at the bottom ostrcized by the higher classes. This situation was an important part of the appeal of Islam to many Indians. Since independence, the Government has tried to remove the stigma of untouchibility with some success, but the problem persists. India upon becoming independent made a number of important choices. Unlike many British colonies, they decided to implement a democratic, parlimentary system and the British legal system. They rejectd, however, free market ecinomics and persued Soviet style planning. The result was a stagnant economy and limited economic progress. Indian politicans in the 1990s began to implement free-market economic polices which has brought dynamic economic growth. Studies of countries around the world show that the poorest countries tend to be those with dictatorial government and socialist command economies. The most properous tend to be denocratic countries with free market economies. The progress India has made is yet another confrmation of that basic dynamic, namely that people want to be free and it is political and economic systems offering that freedom that unlock the mnate capabilities and energy of human beings. The result has been a huge expansion of the country's middle class. Government studies suggest that about 30 ercent of the country now belong to the middl class. Many are nw entrants to the middle class from humble origins. The country still has a terrible poverty problem with huge numbers of people living in abject poverty. India has higher rates of malnourished children than sub-Saharan Africa. One study shows that 46 percent of Indian children under the age of 3 years suffer from malnutrition. That figure, however, is an improvement and the country's increasing economic success apears to be bringing prosperity to more and more Indians. In many ways life in traditional India was much less complicated than in our more socially mobile western societies, and the habits of clothing were much less compulsory. A rapidly growing economy, however, is creating tensions among the more traditional elements of Indian society.
Many English people were enamored by the exotic sights, tastes, and smells of India, the jewl in the British crown. One of the activities they encountered in India was a huge garment/cloth industry. England at the time they seized control of India froim the French and Moguls was just beginning the industrail revolution. English mills were to drive the Indian garment./fabric infistries to bankruptsy, but still large numbers of Hindu terms assocated with clothing entered the English language through the British Raj. Some terns came from other colonies, but India was the primary source. Some but not all were eventually exported to Amnerican English as well.
A HBC reader writes, "Especially in Tamil Nadu, another south Indian state, I have observed that younger boys often wear white or pastel coloured shirts printed with pink rose flowers and other sweet patterns. The white lungi is folded up, and thus the boys look sweet as is loved by the mothers, sweeter than their daughters. Black or dark colours are seldom worn in everyday´s attire (different to recent days habits in the west). Only for certain religious procession men wear totally black lungi and shirt."
India has a fascinating religious history. Two of the world's great religions rose in India. The principal religion of India is Hinduism. Hinduism is a religion almost uniquely associated with India and neigboring Nepal as well as the East Indies (especially Java) where it was carried by Indian traders. For a range of historical reasons it has not spread to other countries. There are Hindus in other countries, but almost always restricted to Indian emmigrants. A more recent religion rising out of India is Budhism, but it was so effectively destroyed by Hindus, even before the Islamic invasions. that its origins were almost unkown even in the early 19th century. Islam enter India with the Mongol warriors in the 16th century. As in so many counties it was introduced by conquest. There are large numbers of Muslims in India, even after the partition that createrd Pakistan. While Muslims are a minority, India is in fact the world's most populace Muslim nation. The primitive people of India were animists, but much of this was incorporated into Hinduism and survives as a range of local traditions. There are small numbers of other religions. Europeans introduced Christianity to India.
One of the most notorious Indian cults is the Thugees--the inspiration for the English word "thug". Their patron godness was Kali who represented "wild female power". They actually existed, but there numbers and effectivness may have been exagerated by the racist English army officer William Sleeman who hunted them down in the 1830s. [Rushby]
At this time we have little information on Indian youth groups. I believe the Hindu nationalists have a youth group. The only page we have on Indian youth groups is the Boy Scouts.
We have no information on Indian literature at this time. Hopefull our Indian readers will provide us some information on Indian literature with boy characters. Of course the story of Buddha is about the transformation of a spoled young prince. Today Budahism is associated more with Tibet, China (before the Revolution), and Southeast Asia, but it originated in India before it was virtually iradicated by Hindus. We do know of two books about English boys in India. The first is Kipling's classic Kim. The other is a beautiful, but less well known Old Mali and the Boy.
Rushby, Kevin. Children of Kali: Throughout India in Search of Bandits, the Thug Cult, and the British Raj (Walker, 2003), 304p.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main countries page]
[Australia]
[Belgium]
[China]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[]
[Indonesia]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[Korea]
[Malaysia]
[Mexico]
[The Netherlands]
[Portugal]
[Scotland]
[Spain]
[United States]