Ajrak

By Peer Bux

November 16, 2020

Ajrak is the culture of Sindh but many people do not know about the story behind the origin of Ajrak especially our youth may be due to their occupation and the daily emerging international brands their interest has switched and may be because they can find Ajrak anywhere in Pakistan and even across Pakistan too so they may not find it important to explore the history behind it. Pashtuns have their own identity, Punjab stands at its own specialty, just like that Ajrak is an essential part of the Sindhi attire but the origin of the Ajrak can be marked out from the ancient times around 2500 BC – 1500 BC when a statue of King- Priest was quarried from Mohenjo-Daro which had draped a shawl over his shoulder – adorned with a trefoil pattern (like a three leafed clover) sprinkled with small circles filled with a red color.

There are also some interesting facts about the use of Ajrak including the Egyptians. They used to clothe their mummies with Ajrak, imported from Sindh which they called Sindhi In 500 BC, the Ajrak was also presented to Persian King Dara (first) at his crown ceremony.

Status of Ajrak industry in Pakistan

Unfortunately, on the other hand the real local Ajrak industry is declined rapidly, which can be evidently noted from different researches and reports narrated that due to negligence of people, more than 30 ajrak factories have been demolished and replaced by iron steel and other industries. It occurs may be due to the unfavorable wages to the workers. Wholesalers pay very low prices to the craftsmen to keep their profit margin high, due to which no credit facilities are available to the workers resulted in decline of real Ajrak and weaning of traditional sources of livelihood. This situation eventually leads to the replacement of original Ajrak to the quicker printing method of the copy and fake Ajrak pattern. But the trends have changed again and young generation is very eager to save its heritage and they value this treasure. This can be seen from the celebration of Ajrak Day• at individual and institutional level.