Shahtoosh (also written Shatush) - a Persian word meaning "Pleasure of Kings" - was the name given to a specific kind of shawl, which was woven with the down hair of the Chiru or Tibetan Antelope, by the weavers of Kashmir. These shawls were originally very few and it took very skilled artisans to weave the delicate hair (which measured between 9 and 11 micrometres). These factors made Shahtoosh shawls very precious. Hesquiat woman keeping warm with a thick shawl A shawl is an extremely simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, sometimes also over the head. ... Binomial name Pantholops hodgsonii Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), also commonly called the chiru, is a medium sized antelope which is about four feet in height, native to the Tibetan plateau. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ...

Chiru live in one of the harshest environments on earth, at an altitude of over 5,000 meters. Their special type of down fur, which is both very light and warm, allows them to survive in the freezing conditions of the plateau where they gather at one point of the year. They are migrating animals - moving down from Mongolia to Tibet - and traditionally followed closely by the nomads who also make that journey every year. The nomads would hunt the antelope for all that it provided them - hide, meat, bones, horns and fur pelts - in short, everything that the nomads needed to sustain them through their journey. The antelope does shed its down, once it nears the Tibetan Plateau, and it is here that the nomads would gather the down and also any surplus pelts, bones, horn etc that they would then trade with the people of the Kashmir Valley.

The nomads had no use at all for the soft down - its incredible fineness making it virtually impossible to handle - and this is where the weavers of Kashmir played their role. With their experience in handling the finest hand-combed Pashmina wool, they could weave shawls of the most exquisite quality, and thus the Shahtoosh Shawl was born. Genera Many:see text The Weavers are small passerine birds related to the finches. ... Shown in green is the Kashmiri region under Pakistani control. ... A pashmina is a type of goat endemic to Kashmir (India). ... Hesquiat woman keeping warm with a thick shawl A shawl is an extremely simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, sometimes also over the head. ...

When the British (when colonising India) travelled to Kashmir in Summer, they realised the worth of Pashmina and Shahtoosh shawls and introduced them to the world, which led to greater demand for these products. Subsequently, the antelope was hunted down specifically for its fur and this led to it now being listed as an endangered species and given the highest possible level of legal protection, whereby no commercial trade in Shahtoosh is permitted. The American bison there are as few as 750 in 1890 due to extreme overhunting. ...

This also led to the unfortunate demise of the skill of the Kashmir weavers, who were the only ones in the world who could handle the fibre, and now were left with no source of income. So both the antelope and the weaver have been victims in this rampant commercialisation of what was a mere trade between cultures to sustain themselves.

The selling or owning of Shahtoosh was made illegal in all countries that signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Many countries including the USA, China and India are cracking down on those involved in the Shahtoosh trade. Although Shahtoosh is banned under the agreement, illegal hunting and selling of Shahtoosh is still a serious problem in Tibet. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between Governments, drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). ...

External links

• Traffic Network | Shahtoosh: the lethal cost of luxury (Warning: contains graphic image)
• Wildlifetrust of India | Save the Chiru - Shun the shahtoosh