Indian Fabric Discovery Corporation

The story of textiles in India is one of the oldest in the world. The earliest surviving Indian cotton threads date to around 4000 BC and dyed fabrics from the region are documented as far back as 2500 BC. India’s textiles were so central to its identity abroad that in ancient Greece and Babylon the very name ‘India’ was shorthand for ‘cotton’. India’s textiles are embedded in every aspect of its identity. Courtly splendour was proclaimed by magnificent fabrics and religious worship still finds expression through cloth. Global trade systems were formed on the export of Indian fabrics, and the hand-making of cloth continues to shape India today.