Unknown Maker, Nuristani

Each jumlo is unique, typically handstitched by the woman who wears it. This maker embroidered sun and geometric motifs in silk on the arms and bodice, embedding mother-of-pearl, metal buttons, and coins around them. The silver coins date from both before and after Britain’s 1947 Partition of India, a traumatic event in the subcontinent. This jumlo was made in what is now northeastern Afghanistan, though the area historically has been part of northern Pakistan and Kashmir. Previously called Kafiristan, the region was renamed Nuristan in 1895 by Pashtun conquerers who converted the people there from age-old polytheistic religions to Islam.