Pashmina- Do you know what it is?

In 15th century, Sultan of Kashmir (present day India/Pakistan), Zayn- ul Abidin, fell in love with a wool, precisely, Pashmina. Pashmina, which literally translates to 'made from wool' in Persian, is the other name of Cashmere. He brought few hundred workers from present day middle east and, thus, started manufacturing it in Kashmir. The wool was also already famous among the elites of the Persian empire.

In 1612, British East India Company colonized the Indian Sub-continent. Its main objective was to trade in the sub-continent, while also maintaining the British rule of the territory. At that time, the Kashmir region was very well known for its shawls among the elite families of India. It is said that George White, co founder of East India Company, was gifted with a shawl made from Pashmina. He was so impressed with the sensation and softness of Pashmina, he made it part of his trading catalogue and introduced it to the western world as Cashmere. As you might have known by now, Cashmere is named after the region Kashmir. Yes, Cashmere and Pashmina are two names for the same thing.

Wait!!!!!!

Don't rush to the store to buy that very cheap Pashmina you saw the other day. That's probably not Cashmere.

Confused?

In early 2000s, the Indian authorities were able to trademark the word Cashmere. There is now a set criteria to call something Cashmere. On the other hand, Pashmina has never been trademarked. People can sell any thing and still call it Pashmina.

So, to stay on the safe side, do not buy a Cashmere when it is labelled 'Pashmina'. The trademark also meant that many countries selling Cashmere as Pashmina suffered. Nepal is also among them.

To conclude, Let's put it as "All Cashmere is Pashmina, but not all Pashmina is Cashmere". Please share this article if you felt like you learnt something from it. Read our other articles in the blog and learn more about Cashmere. Your love is what we desire and, in return, we will give you the best Cashmere for the buck so that you can dress up like a Royal.