Question
Mention the clothing pattern of Indians during the British rule in India.
Solution
During the period of the British Raj, different sections of people dressed differently.
(i) A poor villager puts on dhoti up to the loin and a gamchha on his shoulder. The rich zamindars put on dhoti, kurta and a turban, with leather shoes and rode on horses.
(ii) Educated Indians put on coat-pants/suits/trousers-shirts of fine imported cotton. Dresses varied from region to region and also from one religion to another.
(iii) Muslim women were draped in burkas from tip to toe. Hindu women put on sarees with a part of it drawn on their faces, to work as purdah.
(i) A poor villager puts on dhoti up to the loin and a gamchha on his shoulder. The rich zamindars put on dhoti, kurta and a turban, with leather shoes and rode on horses.
(ii) Educated Indians put on coat-pants/suits/trousers-shirts of fine imported cotton. Dresses varied from region to region and also from one religion to another.
(iii) Muslim women were draped in burkas from tip to toe. Hindu women put on sarees with a part of it drawn on their faces, to work as purdah.
(iv) Indian cotton mills produced coarse clothes which were worn by lower and middle-class people. The upper-class put on fine and costly imported clothes and shoes and consumed foreign liquor.
(v) Most of the workers / leaders of the Congress and freedom-fighters wore hand-spun (Khadi) dhoti, kurta and a Gandhi cap with locally made leather shoes or sandles. Gandhiji dressed himself like a poor peasant a dhoti worn up to the knee and a cloak dangling at his waist and a locally made leather chappal.
