An Iranian Shawl from the 19th Century

From early history, textiles have woven together the tapestry of humanity. The Parsi Zoroastrians, now a tiny minority of under 65,000 individuals in India, have saved in their cupboard and trunks this proof of our world’s multicultural history. Complex roots and routes lie behind what we call ‘Parsi Embroidery’ today. The tradition grew from Achaemenian Iran, through the Silk Route into China and then came with Indian and European influences to its originators, the Parsi Zoroastrians of India. This photograph is courtesy Elizabeth Gersivitch. It depicts a 19th-century wedding shawl collected from Iran and carefully preserved.