History of Batik

If we try to find the origin of the Batik process as an oldest from of craft we will see that it would be at least 2000, years old.  People of Egypt, Persia, China, Japan, India and other countries of the east knew this special technique of decorating fabrics.  In Africa, batik occurs 

symmetrical patterns.  It is said that by 12^th century batik had reached Java and had become an integral part of Indonesian stages people found that finely woven fabrics is best suited of batik design.  Ladies of Javanese court had the suited of batik design and people felt proud to wear batik clothes in social gatherings.  In these designs the motifs used were mainly birds, flowers, fruits, foliage, fish etc.

No evidence of very old cotton batiks have been found in India but frescoes in the Ajanta caves depict head wraps and garments which could well have been batiks. In Java and Bali temple ruins contain figures whose garments are patterned in a manner suggestive of batik. By 1677 there is evidence of a considerable export trade, mostly on silk from China to Java, Sumatra, Persia and Hindustan. In Egypt linen and occasionally woolen fabrics have been excavated bearing white patterns on a blue ground and are the oldest known and date from the 5th century A.D. They were made in Egypt, possibly Syria. In central Africa resist dyeing using cassava and rice paste has existed for centuries in the Yoruba tribe of Southern Nigeria and Senegal.

With the development of international trade, Javanese process was introduced to many other parts of Europe.  It became a challenging subject to the designers used batik for their own in original.  Batik designs were not only used as clothing but also for lamp shades, screens, postilions etc.