Islamic embroidery

Embroidery was an important art in the Islamic world from the beginning of Islam until the Industrial Revolution disrupted traditional ways of life.

Early Islam took over societies where the embroidery of clothes for both sexes and other textiles was very popular. Both the Byzantine and Persian Sasanian empires used clothing embroidered with designs including rather large human figures as well as animals, with effects comparable to those of modern teeshirts. The exterior of the Kaaba in Mecca was already before Islam "covered on the outside with multi-coloured textile hangings", very likely including embroidery as their modern Islamic equivalents often have. Muhammad objected to animal designs, perhaps embroidered, he saw on cushions when visiting his wife Aisha's house. These types of design largely disappeared under Islam, though plant-based motifs often remained acceptable.

The 17th century Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi called embroidery the "craft of the two hands". Because it was a sign of high social status in Muslim societies, it had long been widely popular. In cities such as Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul, embroidery was visible on handkerchiefs, uniforms, flags, calligraphy, shoes, robes, tunics, horse trappings, slippers, sheaths, pouches, covers, and even on leather belts. Craftsmen embroidered items with gold and silver thread. Embroidery cottage industries, some employing over 800 people, grew to supply these items.

In the 16th century, in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, his chronicler Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak wrote in the famous Ain-i-Akbari:

...
Wikipedia