The subjoined remarks on the manufacture of Cashmere shawls were furnished in the report by the Central Committee for the Punjab, Lahore, to the Exhibition of 1862:—

This is now by far the most important manufacture in the Punjaub: but thirty years ago it was almost entirely confined to Cashmere. At the period alluded to, a terrible famine visited Cashmere; and, in consequence, numbers of the shawl-weavers emigrated to the Punjab, and settled in Umritsur, Nurpûr, Dinangar, Tilaknath, Jelalpûr, and Loodianah, in all of which places the manufacture continues to flourish. The best shawls of Punjab manufacture are manufactured at Umritsur, which is also an emporium of the shawl trade. But none of the shawls made in the Punjab can compete with the best shawls made in Cashmere itself; first, because the Punjab manufacturers are unable to obtain the finest species of wool; and, secondly, by reason of the inferiority of the dyeing, the excellence of which in Cashmere is attributed to some chemical peculiarity in the water there. On receipt of the raw pashum or shawl-wool, the first operation is that of cleaning it: this is done generally by women; the best kind is cleaned with lime and water, but ordinarily the wool is cleaned by being shaken up with flour. The next operation is that of page 51 separating the hair from the pashum; this is a tedious operation, and the value of the cloth subsequently manufactured varies with the amount of care bestowed upon it. The wool thus cleaned and sorted is spun into thread with the common "churka" or native spinning-machine. This is also an operation requiring great care. White pashumeea thread of the finest quality will sometimes cost as much as £2 10s. a lb. The thread is next dyed, and is then ready for the loom. The shawls are divided into two great classes—1. Woven shawls, called "Teliwalah." 2. Worked shawls.

Shawls of the former class are woven into separate pieces, which are, when required, sewn together with such precision that the sewing is imperceptible. These are the most highly prized of the two. In worked shawls, the pattern is worked with the needle upon a piece of plain pashumeea or shawl cloth.

A woven shawl made at Cashmere of the best materials, and weighing 7 lbs., will cost in Cashmere as much as £300; of this amount, the cost of the material, including thread, is £30, the wages of labour £100, miscellaneous expenses £50, duty £70.

Besides shawls, various other articles of dress, such as chogas, or outer robes, ladies' opera-cloaks, smoking caps, gloves, &c., are made of pashumcea.

Latterly great complaints have been made by European firms of the adulteration of the texture of Cashmere shawls; and there is no doubt that such adulteration is practised, especially by mixing up Kirmanee wool with real pashum. In order to provide some guarantee against this, it has been proposed that a guild or company of respectable traders should be formed, who should be empowered to affix on all genuine shawls a trade-mark, which should be a guarantee to the public that the material of the shawl is genuine pashum, especially as the Indian Penal Code provides a punishment for those who counterfeit or falsify trade-marks, or knowingly sell goods marked with counterfeit or false trade-marks.

At Delhi shawls are made up of pashumeca, worked with silk, and embroidered with gold lace. A very delicate shawl is made of the wool of a sheep found in the neighbourhood of Ladak and Kûlu: the best wool is procurable in a village near Rampûr, on the Sutlej; hence the fabric is called "Rampûr chudder." Other woollen manufacturers in the Punjab are Peshawur chogas, made of the wool of the Damba sheep, and of camel's hair, and chogas made of Patti, or the hair of the Cabul goat.