Sindhi Mojari (or simply Mojari) is a type of

handcrafted A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

footwear produced in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. They are traditionally made by

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

s mostly using tanned

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

. The uppers are made of one piece of leather or

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

embroidered and embellished with brass nails,

cowry Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The term ''porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana'') d ...

shells, mirrors, bells and

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

bead A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...

s. The bonding from the upper to the sole is done by cotton thread that is

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

and enmeshes the leather

fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...

s to strengthen the bonds. Some product range also uses bright and ornate threads. As it evolved through the centuries and is being produced by individual artisans, products vary in designs and colours. It encapsules

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different c ...

, local ethos and ethnicity.

History

It is believed that one of the earliest examples of footwear worn on the Indian subcontinent is a sandal of wood, datable to circa 200 BC. During the 3rd and 4th Centuries in the Buddhist period, it was quite common to wear strapped sandals, and Indian kings wore sandals ornamented with precious jewels. Jain literature shows that leather was used for the making of shoes, which protected the toes from getting injured. Hides of cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep and other wild animals were used.

Origin

The Mojari originated under the Muslim rule in the Mughal Empire where it was decorated with colours, gems, and other ornaments. They are said to have been popularized under the Mughal King

Saleem Shah Saleem Alam Shah (December 2, 1931 in Allahabad, India—November 25, 1992 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States) was an Indian-American psychologist known for his work regarding mental health and the law. He has been credited with helping to esta ...

as a result.{{citation, url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1133238, title=The shoe fits, author=Shazia Hasan, date=21 September 2014, publisher=Dawn, access-date=12 November 2015, archive-date=4 March 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060926/http://www.dawn.com/news/1133238, url-status=live In Pakistan, they are also commonly worn with Pakistan's national dress Shalwar Kameez.

References

External links

BBC Culture - Includes image of golden mojari of a 19th-century Nizam of Hyderabad

Khussa Shop - One of the oldest Khussa Store
Folk footwear Indian footwear Pakistani footwear Mughal art Sindhi culture Indian leather industry

History

Origin

See also

References

External links