Cover
Halftitle page
Frontispiece
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Description of the project
Material culture: History and function
Trauma, activism, and economic benefit
Preservation of national heritage
Audience and readership
CHAPTER 1 TEXTILES AND SYMBOLS: A MÉLANGE OF CULTURAL SIGNIFIERS
Kanga: Cloth with A Message
Lion of Persia: From pre-Islamic to contemporary Iran
Felt and fabrics under domination: Central Asia
Ram's horn: Central Asia and Iran
CHAPTER 2 TALISMANIC TEXTILES: GENDER, STATUS, AND THE SUPERNATURAL
Protecting fiber and livelihood: The Ladakh
Blessed looms, blessed fibers
Sacred colors: Red, white, and light blue
Beyond the loom
Amulets: Protection against the unseen
Inscribed talismanic shirts
Gendered looms
Gendered looms: Iran
CHAPTER 3 THE POLITICIZATION OF TEXTILES: COLONIALISM TO THE PRESENT
India and cotton: Rejecting colonial rule
United we stand: India's Muslim weavers
West African wax cloth
Calico: The forbidden Indian cotton
Indian cloth in Southeast Asia
Keffiyeh: From functional to symbolic
The effect of Russian colonization on Central Asian textiles
Tajikstan: Textiles and national branding
Soviet symbols on woven carpets
CHAPTER 4 REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS: TEXTILE SIGNATURES
The Siddis of India
Afghan refugee women: Embroidered lives
Weaving and war: Carpets depicting a nation under siege
Iraqi refugees: Textile arts of the past
Syrian and Iraqi refugees: Embroidered quilts and the charuga
Syrian refugees: The Ana Collection
Weaving timeless symbols: War's impact on non-Muslim communities
CHAPTER 5 TEXTILES AND DEATH RITUALS INISLAMICATE SOCIETIES
The burial garment for Muslims: The kafan
Piecing together the past: Tiraz and halaqa
Tomb covers for the Prophet Muhammed: Kiswa
Tomb covers: Signifiers of status
Indian and South Asian tomb covers
Egyptian funeral tents: The art of Khayamiya
CONCLUSION
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX