The Embroidery of Indian Banjaras as an Expression of Their Style of Life

The embroidery of the Banjara people makes an important part of Indian culture, The Banjara are a previously migrating non-hinduistic ethnic, today mostly settled and merging with the hinduistic population which represents the majority. We still have very scarce information about this distinctive textile production. This theses is based on mostly Indian studies, as well as on field-work which was carried out in fourteen Banjara communities living in two Indian states, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Another source of information were several collections of Banjara textile in important European museums and a collection of more than 550items in the Czech Republic. The theses focuses on five subjects: 1. The typology of the fourty most common and traditional types of textile pieces made by Banjara women, 2. The description of the material and embroidery techniques, 3. The attempt of the iconography analysis of the Banjara embroidery, 4. The provenience of the Banjara traditional pieces, and 5. The description of the state of art of the mbroidery which still exists in the present day Banjara communities. Vast photodocumentation made during the field-work is included in the theses and a catalogue of typical examples from studied collections. A side product has evolved during the study of the Indian literature - an..