Ancient Indo-Iranian origins:

Boteh Jehgeh, or "ancient motif" more commonly known as paisley has a mysterious origin causing much speculation for its early meaning and mythology surrounding its symbolism.^[1] With experts contesting different time periods for its emergence, to understand the proliferation in the popularity of Boteh Jehgeh design and eventually Paisley, it is important to understand South Asian history. The early Indo-Iranian people flourished in South Asia, where, they eventually exchanged linguistic, cultural, and even religious similarities.^[2] The ancient Indo-Iranian people shared a religion called Zoroastrianism.^[3] Zoroastrianism, some experts argue, served as one of the earliest influences for Boteh Jegeh's design with the shape representing the cypress tree, an ancient zoroastrian religious symbol.^[3] Others contest that the earliest representation of the patterns shape comes from the Sassanid Dynasty, who lived in modern day Iran, dating to more than 2,200 years before the common era and remained in power until the 3rd century common era.^[4] The design was representative of a tear drop.^[4] Some will argue that Boteh Jehgeh's origins stem from old religious beliefs and its meaning could symbolize the sun, a phoenix, or even an ancient Iranian religious sign for an eagle.^[1] Around the same time, a pattern called Boteh was gaining popularity in Iran, the pattern was a floral design, and was used as a high class decoration, mostly serving to decorate royal items that belonged to those of high status.^[4] It was said to have been a pattern worn to represent elite social status, such as that of nobility. The pattern was traditionally woven onto silk clothing using silver and gold material.^[4] The earliest evidence of the design being traded with other cultures was found at the red sea, where it is predicted that the earliest trades took place as far back as the 15th century, with both Egyptian and Greek peoples.^[5]

Islamic and Persian Control in South Asia and spread in popularity of Boteh Jehgeh:

In persian language, Boteh can be translated to shrub or bush, while in Kashmir (India) it carried the same meaning but was referred to as Buta, or Bu.^[6] . One of the earliest evidence of the pattern as it relates to Islamic culture has been found at Noh Gumba mosque, in the city of Blakh in Afghanistan, where it is predicted that the pattern was included in the design as early as the 800s when the mosque was built. In early Iranian culture, the design was woven onto Termeh, one of the most valuable materials in early Iran where the design served to make clothing for the nobility. At this time, the Iranian nobility wore distinct uniforms called Khalaat, historically, the design was commonly found on the Khalaat uniforms.^[7] It is stated that at some point in the 15th century, Boteh was transported from Persia to Kashmir.^[6] In the same century, in the 1400s, some of the earliest recorded Kashmir shawls were produced in India, records from the 1500s, during Emperor Akbar's reign over the Mughal people in this area indicate that shawl making was already fashionable in India prior to Mughal conquest which took place in the early 1400s.^[8] It has been stated that during Emperor Akbars reign over the Mughal empire, Boteh Jehgeh shawls were extremely popular and fashionable. While one shawl was traditionally worn previously, it was during the rule of Emperor Akbar that the emperor decided to wear two shawls at a time to serve as a status symbol. Along with wearing the shawls frequently, Emperor Akbar also used the shawls as gifts to other ruers and high officials.^[8] It is believed that by the 18th century, Kashmir shawls were produced in the image that someone today would associate with modern paisley.^[6]

Introduction of Boteh Jegeh to western culture:

In the 18th and19th centuries, the British East India Company was using old silk road routes to trade goods between India and Great Britain, Kashmir shawls from India eventually made there way to England and Scotland where they were extremely fashionable and soon duplicated.^[9] The first place in the western world to imitate the design was the town of Paisley in Scotland, Europe's top producer of textiles at this time.^[10] Before being produced in paisley, thus gaining its name in western culture, the paisley design was originally referred to by westerners simply as just pine and cone design.^[6] Technological innovation in textile manufacturing around this time made it so that western imitations of Kashmir shawls became competitive with Indian made shawls from Kashmir.^[11] With the industrial revolution taking place in Europe, paisley shawls were manufactured at an industrial rate, and while the shawls from India could be quite expensive at the time, factory manufactured shawls made it so that the fashion became common place amongst middle class people, thus boosting the designs popularity even more.^[6] While the western world appropriated much of eastern culture and design, the Boteh design was by far the most popular.^[11] Records indicate that William Moorcroft, an English businessman and explorer visited the Himalayan mountains in the mid 19th century, upon his arrival he was enthralled by Boteh designed Kashmir shawls and tried to arrange for entire families of Indian textile workers to move there lives to the United Kingdom.^[8] The earliest paisley shawls made in the United Kingdom, in Paisley Scotland were made out of of fleece, a material that is put together in such away that one side can be described as containing a soft, fluffy texture. When introduced into western culture, the paisley shawls were primarily worn by males and were worn for ceremonial purposes. As time went on and the paisley shawls began to integrate more into western culture, the design was worn less for ceremonial purposes and came to be seen by society more as a fashionable style of clothing. With the shift in how western cultures wore paisley, it eventually became a style primarily worn by women instead of men. While still holding an accurate resemblance to it's original influence, the paisley design would begin to change once it began to be produced in western culture, with different towns in the United Kingdom applying their own spin to the design. ^[7] Strangely, in what baffles some historians and experts, paisley fell out of fashion in the 1870s and did not come back into style for years to come.^[12] Some believe that especially in the beginning of the early 20th century, widespread "orientalism" lead to many seeing the paisley shawls as that of uncivilized.^[12] The 1960s proved to be a massive revival for the paisley design in western culture, in the 1960s, popular culture in the United States developed a sort of fixation on eastern cultures in which many traditionally Indian styles became popularized. Paisley served as one of the styles to be revived, being worn by the likes of The Beatles, even the guitar company Fender used the design to decorate one of their most famous guitars, the Fender Telecaster. Today, the design can be found in all aspects of our culture, for example the design appears on jewelry, wedding gloves, suit ties, pocket books, cake decorations, tattoos, mouse pads for computers, scarfs, and dresses just to name a few things, the list goes on and on. The pattern also influences furniture design internationally, with many countries using the paisley design for things such as wallpaper, pillows, curtains, and bed spreads to name a few.^[6]

Paisley Bandanas:

While today, we associate paisley bandanas with cowboys, paisley bandanas served an integral item in American fashion history. The paisley bandana as we know it today was made popular during the late 1700s and there popularity in the United States coincide with the American revolution. George Washington is said to have worn a paisley bandana as a scarf, the popular way of wearing bandanas at that time. Eventually in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, paisley bandanas were being printed containing political and military advertisements on them. Bandanas became an increasingly utilized tool in the spread of pro war propaganda during the early and mid 20th century when World War 1 and World War 2 were being fought. It was thought that by purchasing and sporting your pro war paisley bandana, you were helping to support your country in winning the war.The paisley bandana was also seen as a symbol of women's sufferance in the Unite States, with the famous "Rosie the Riveter" poster model wearing a paisley bandana in the poster. The Paisley bandana started to feature in countless numbers of western movies and thus took on the symbol of the American west. Previous to the 1970s, paisley bandanas were worn many blue collar and labor workers in an effort to keep dust away from there mouths and noses, the bandana's symbolism once again shifted in American minds, being associates with hard work. In the 1960's, famous country singer Willie Nelson adopted the paisley bandana style, and the trend soon become popular with men who rode Harley Davidson motorcycles. It was not until the 1970s that the paisley bandana would be associated with United States gang culture. It was around this time that paisley bandanas were starting to become popular amongst gangs in California, predominantly with two opposing gangs, the bloods who would wear red bandanas and the crips who would wear blue bandanas.^[13]

Source Links:

1. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/itaa_proceedings/2017/posters/102/

2.https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7oyiAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=zoroastrian+religion+cypress+tree&ots=PKIeLhJHTG&sig=8bfIiFVy105vofUn2em-Bmb_gPU#v=onepage&q=zoroastrian%20religion%20cypress%20tree&f=false

3.https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GXzycd3dT9kC&oi=fnd&pg=PA357&dq=indo+iranian+peoples&ots=vDyy6GxOr4&sig=Qh_6kB7S7ObfWLIViQClQi895Rc#v=onepage&q=indo%20iranian%20peoples&f=false

4.http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/paisley

5.http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151021-paisley-behind-rocks-favourite-fashion

6.https://pdfslide.net/documents/buta-to-paisley-an-ongoing-journey-laureate-legal-terms-andpaisley-a-motif-.html

7.https://www.paisley.org.uk/2013/01/roots-of-the-paisley-pattern/

8.https://www.sid.ir/en/seminar/ViewPaper.aspx?id=8597

9.https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/952/

10.http://www.homesciencejournal.com/archives/2018/vol4issue1/PartC/4-1-17-924.pdf

11.https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UZBMu-VzAgQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=boteh+paisley+design&ots=PNiXjZQu9M&sig=USqWcVTUP90P_tWYGWlIwMHuWIo#v=onepage&q=boteh%20paisley%20design&f=false

12.https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7oyiAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=zoroastrian+religion+cypress+tree&ots=PKIeLhJHTG&sig=8bfIiFVy105vofUn2em-Bmb_gPU#v=onepage&q=zoroastrian%20religion%20cypress%20tree&f=false

13. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vandana_Narang/publication/285753971_Co-Design_initiatives_Linking_crafts_and_fashion_for_sustainable_practices/links/566308ce08ae192bbf8eebe0/Co-Design-initiatives-Linking-crafts-and-fashion-for-sustainable-practices.pdf#page=521

14.https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/indian-boteh-motif

15.http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2018/07/chapter-92-history-of-paisley-or-boteh.html

16.Maskiell, M. (2002). Consuming Kashmir: Shawls and Empires, 1500-2000. Journal of World History, 13(1), 27-65. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/20078943 Karpinski, C. (1963). Kashmir to Paisley. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 22(3), 116-123. doi:10.2307/3258212

17.Karpinski, C. (1963). Kashmir to Paisley. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 22(3), 116-123. doi:10.2307/3258212

18. Lynch, A., & Strauss, M. D. (2015). Ethnic dress in the United States: a cultural encyclopedia. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield

Annotated Bibliography:

1.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/itaa_proceedings/2017/posters/102/

Second Chances for Paisley Shawls discusses the history of shawls that contain the paisley or butah design.  The publication discusses the introduction of the paslay design in Western fashion, its origins in India, as well as the ways in which the design was loomed.  This study, addresses aspects of history, material, construction, design, and function of paisley shawls.

2. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7oyiAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=zoroastrian+religion+cypress+tree&ots=PKIeLhJHTG&sig=8bfIiFVy105vofUn2em-Bmb_gPU#v=onepage&q=zoroastrian%20religion%20cypress%20tree&f=false

This publication provides information regarding Zoroastrian religion of the Iranian people and their connection to paisley.   It serves to inform the reader of paisley’s cypress tree design and its significance to the zoroastrian religion. The profound significance of the cypress tree represents eternity and became the paisley that today’s society is familiar with. The cypress is derived from a Zoroastrian religious ninth century legend.

3. http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/paisley

This source provides a working definition of paisley patterned cloth inspired by an ancient Persian design of curved, teardrop shapes and identifies Scotland as the world’s leading designer of shawls that utilize the paisley design.  It further discusses the differences in paisley manufacturing asserting that while some weavers included only two to four colors in their paisley design, Scotland was incorporating up to 15 colors.  

4. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151021-paisley-behind-rocks-favourite-fashion

This resource chronicles the aspects of the history of paisley including its roots spanning the original boteh or buta droplet-like shape in Persian history, the cypress tree and idea of eternal life  associated with Zoroastrianism, the idea of Hinduism’s connection between paisley and fertility. The resource further chronicles the history of paisley in fashion to include bandanas, neckties ties and bandanas while also being said to have influenced the rock and roll generation of the 1960s.

5. https://pdfslide.net/documents/buta-to-paisley-an-ongoing-journey-laureate-legal-terms-andpaisley-a-motif-.html

In this study of paisley, Jasleen Dhameja, a well known curator of Indian textiles, researched the history of paisley in India informing that it was brought from India from India in Kashmir in the 15th century, eventually making its way to Brittain by way of the EastIndia Company in the 1800s.  Citing evidence from Victoria and Albert Museum of development, the research shows that paisley changed over time from a cone shape also known as boteh to the more exaggerated paisley pine that contains the elongated curve that we are familiar with today.

6. https://www.paisley.org.uk/2013/01/roots-of-the-paisley-pattern/

The research presented here traces the origins of paisley back to 221AD to the Sassanid Dynasty of Persia.  It also provides the terms boteh jegheh and discusses the association with the religious movement known as Zoroastrianists and everlasting life.  Additionally, it provides information regarding the Tamil culture and the paisley design called Mankolam. In the Tamil culture, paisley emulated the shape of a mango, which was a symbol of health, peace, and prosperity.  The article further affirms that buteh, or paisley, was used to decorate crowns and clothing worn by royalty and was woven from gold and silver threads.

7. https://www.sid.ir/en/seminar/ViewPaper.aspx?id=8597

This study gives a plethora of information regarding the ancient symbolism of the Boteh Jegheh design.  The study delves into the Iran’s ancient cultural and religious past, citing evidence for different early interpretations of the pattern.  Contrasting different articles with similar information, this study dives deeper into ancient Iranian peoples religions and how it may have influenced early patterns.

8. http://www.homesciencejournal.com/archives/2018/vol4issue1/PartC/4-1-17-924.pdf

This journal article explores the history of the Boteh Jegheh design as an ancient, high class fashion.  The article discusses the intricate nature of the pattern, and its proliferation throughout South Asia pre and post Islamic rule.

9. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UZBMu-VzAgQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=boteh+paisley+design&ots=PNiXjZQu9M&sig=USqWcVTUP90P_tWYGWlIwMHuWIo#v=onepage&q=boteh%20paisley%20design&f=false

The research in this resource informs that the misuse of boteh was claimed to have contributed to the collapse of the Kashmir shawl industry.  It defines boteh as a teardrop or cone motif in India, while symbolizing fertility and creativity in Asia. The research further concluded that buta is describes as paisley.

10. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vandana_Narang/publication/285753971_Co-Design_initiatives_Linking_crafts_and_fashion_for_sustainable_practices/links/566308ce08ae192bbf8eebe0/Co-Design-initiatives-Linking-crafts-and-fashion-for-sustainable-practices.pdf#page=521

The research conducted in this study explains the history of shall making as a practice throughout South Asia and the Middle East.  The authors explore how the struggles for power, along with different de facto rulers being put in place at different times helped to spread the popularity of shawl making.  The research also makes assumptions about the fashionability of shawls throughout different time periods.

11. https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/indian-boteh-motif

This research, conducted by RSID museum can help someone to understand the broad number of cultures who have had some type of association with Boteh Jegheh and eventually paisley.  From ancient people of the middle east, to middle aged Indian people, to industrial revolution Europeans, and even modern day Americans, paisley serves as a common stylistic design.

12. http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2018/07/chapter-92-history-of-paisley-or-boteh.html

The research conducted in Guity Novins A History of Graphic Design informs that Boteh Jegheh patterns used in Iranian design were often done so using high-quality hand-woven cloth called Termeh and was often worn by high officials. Additionally, Novins asserts that the use of the patterns also adobe mosques, such as the mosque of Nasir-ol-Molk in Shiraz.  The research further asserts that historically, the asymmetrical design and geometrical pattern signified an elite social status, such as that of nobility and was a focal point in the headdress design for Iranian kinds during the Safavid Empire of Iran.

13. Maskiell, M. (2002). Consuming Kashmir: Shawls and Empires, 1500-2000. Journal of World History, 13(1), 27-65. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/20078943 Karpinski, C. (1963). Kashmir to Paisley. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 22(3), 116-123. doi:10.2307/3258212

Michelle Maskiells book, Consuming Kashmir: Shawls and Empires, provides readers with an extensive history of not only Buteh Jegheh, but also a look into colonialism as it relates to commodities.  For years, paisley shawl makers were exploited throughout the middle east and south asia while producing one of the most popular clothing commodities.

14. Karpinski, C. (1963). Kashmir to Paisley. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 22(3), 116-123. doi:10.2307/3258212

Karpinski’s Kashmir to Paisley provides ample information on everything from the formative years of Buteh Jegheh to modern day paisley.  Karpinski’s research serves as an amazing foundation for researching further information regarding the change from buteh to paisley.  The research also explores the shift in Boteh from an eastern to a western style.

15. Lynch, A., & Strauss, M. D. (2015). Ethnic dress in the United States: a cultural encyclopedia. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield

Ethnic Dress In The United States is a great tool for exploring the popularity of the paisley bandana in the United States.  Lynch & Strauss conduct research that provides concise a backstory for the paisley bandana’s spread in popularity across the United States.  The research explores Americans thoughts regarding the symbolism of paisley bandanas from the American Revolution through the 1980s.

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