Pastoral Landscapes, Living Cloth

Cloth as Connection: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Pastoralists and Vankar Weavers in Kutch

Across the arid and semi-arid regions of western India and eastern Pakistan, pastoralism has long shaped daily life. In landscapes where rainfall is erratic and agriculture unreliable, communities have historically depended on livestock - sheep, goats, camels - not only for sustenance, but for mobility, trade, and resilience. Movement is central to this way of life: seasonal migration between grazing grounds, temporary settlements, and a constant negotiation with climate.

Pastoralist groups across this region, including the Maldharis of Gujarat, the Rabari, the Jat and Baloch communities of Sindh and Balochistan, developed cultures organised around adaptability. Belongings needed to be portable, durable, and repairable. Clothing, in particular, had to perform across extremes of heat and cold, protect the body during travel, and withstand repeated use. Textiles were never secondary objects. They were infrastructure.

Wool, shorn from local desi sheep breeds, became one of the most valuable materials in pastoral economies. It insulated against cold desert nights, breathed during the heat of the day, and could be spun, woven, and repaired within the community. Cloth was not only decorative; it was protection, currency, and continuity.

The Vankar Weavers and Pastoral Communities

Within this broader pastoral landscape lies Kutch, a region defined by salt deserts, grasslands, and long histories of migration across what is now the India–Pakistan border. Here, weaving traditions evolved in close relationship with pastoral life, responding directly to the needs of nomadic and semi-nomadic communities.

Among the most enduring traditions here is extra-weft weaving, practiced by the Vankar community. The Vankars are a hereditary weaving community whose presence in Kutch dates back over six centuries. Though not pastoralists themselves, their craft has long been intertwined with the lives of nomadic herders, such as the Rabaris. Oral histories and historical records trace their migration from the Marwada region of Rajasthan into what is today Gujarat, where they established village-based weaving centres that were supplied by and served surrounding pastoral populations. Over generations, technical knowledge - loom setup, fibre handling, pattern memory - was passed within families, embedding weaving deeply into social life.

This relationship was deeply symbiotic. Rabari families provided wool to specific Vankar weavers, often maintaining family-to-family connections that lasted for generations. In turn, Vankars spun and wove this wool into durable fabrics, such as dhablas (thick shawls), blankets, wraps, and garments designed to withstand the harsh desert environment. Another community, the Khatris, acted traditionally as dyers of the yarn. Their work was not made for distant markets or seasonal trends, but for use within a lived environment - textiles designed to be worn, wrapped, carried, and relied upon.

Village-based weaving centres, like those in Sarli, served as hubs where pastoralist needs and artisan skill converged. Over generations, technical knowledge - loom setup, fibre handling, natural dyeing, and pattern memory - was passed down, embedding weaving deeply into social and cultural life.

Textiles in Pastoral Life

To understand Vankar weaving, it must be seen through the lens of pastoralist use. Garments were designed around movement and layering. Cuts were generous, often planar, allowing cloth to drape freely and accommodate different bodies and climates. Oversized forms could be worn over multiple layers, shared within households, or adapted as needs changed. Precision fit was less important than versatility.

Colour carried practical intelligence. Earthy browns, greys, indigoes, and muted reds and yellows reflected the availability of natural dyes and fibres, and aged well under constant use. Decoration, when present, was symbolic rather than ornamental, woven directly into the cloth. Extra-weft techniques allowed patterns to emerge without compromising strength. Motifs such as Chomukh (four-pointed cross), Dhunglo (mountains), and Saat-Kanni (eyes) acted as visual language; markers of identity, protection, and belonging embedded directly into the textile.

Crucially, weaving was never isolated. It formed part of a wider ecosystem: farmers cultivating cotton, shepherds raising sheep, spinners preparing yarn, khatris dyeing the yarn with local plants and minerals. The loom sat at the centre of this network, but it did not stand alone. Men were typically involved in door activities, like shearing, dyeing and the actual weaving, while women engaged in spinning, preparing the loom and embroidery.

Continuity and Contemporary Challenges

In pastoral societies, textiles carried memory. They absorbed the rhythms of daily life - the weight of repeated wrapping, the softening of fibres, the marks of repair. Value accumulated not through novelty, but through duration. Garments respected the integrity of the textile, allowing its width, structure, and surface to remain legible.

Today, both Vankars and pastoralists face new pressures. Restrictions on grazing and mobility, changing climate patterns, and centralised markets have altered traditional livelihoods. Domestic production and use of textiles has shifted: fewer households spin, dye, and weave for themselves, and artisan-made fabrics increasingly compete with machine-made alternatives. Yet the tradition endures—kept alive by communities and individuals, such as Rajan Bhimji Vankar, a fourth-generation weaver from the village of Sarli, who carries forward the skills, knowledge, and values of his forebears, balancing preservation with adaptation in a rapidly changing landscape.

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Pastres: https://seeingpastoralism.org/India