A shout out to Samba Sakhi a District Samba community project where 30 women artisans have been trained by Maansi Rattan and her design school in an endeavour to preserve the famed traditional calico printing of Samba.

Calico printing of Samba, in Jammu, was so famous that the city was known by that craft - “शीटें ‘आला शैह् र”

At a time when printing was not developed in India, Samba was producing calico prints in natural dyes haldi (yellow), indigo(blue), majith (Indian red) & navtati (red). Sunehri (Golden) & Rupehri (Silver) printing was also done by master craftsmen using golden & silver leaves/foils.

The local craftsmen who block printed sheets in Samba known as “Chhimbas” refused to move to Amritsar as desired by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and stayed on in Samba continuing the thriving printing industry.

Calico Prints from Samba were also exhibited in 1903 in the Indian Art Exhibition, 1903. George Watts and Percy Brown who prepared catalogue for exhibition thus described them as, “the best known calicos in Jammu kashmir are those of Samba in Jammu..”

TN Mukherjee in his book “Art Manufacturers of India” (1888) says that Jammu Kashmir printed fabrics, that were made in Samba, in foothills of Jammu, gained a richly deserved reputation both in India & England.

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