Also Charpoi, Charpoy, Charpaya, Khat, Khatia, Manju Manji; the root sources all  describe ‘four feet’.

 

Khaat provide  welcome spots in the shade.

The day bed is an ancient model, known from Egypt and Mesopotamia from approx. 3000 BC and undoubtedly an idea passed through the ancient trade routes.

The charpoy the quintessential day bed of the Indian subcontinent is itself thought to be at least 5000  years old.  As with all great design that has stayed the test of time, it’s very simple, very clever in it’s construction, does what it sets out to do, looks beautiful and allows for artistic licence in the detail. It can be rustic, even crudely made for country use up to  the very fine workmanship and high decoration afforded by courts and palaces.

Charpoi or khaat, are found  in homes and courtyards, on the streets and in public spaces; being so light  and portable, charpoi or khaat are pretty much everywhere that people are. They take up little space, charpoi are stored by leaning  against a wall.

The frame of four horizontal timbers  is jointed into four corner posts, turned legs, or posts, which finish  just a little higher than the sides.  The sizes vary to suit the purpose and but  a single bed  size would be around  50 cm high , 90 cm wide and 170 – 180 cm in length.

The bed ’canvas’  or ‘net’ is always woven onto the frame and there are as many variations of the material as the local materials can offer and as many designs and colours as the weaver can create and imagine. The idea works so well because the construction and the materialsyou fee cause it to be self levelling.

Cotton ropes and tapes, strings and ropes of hessian, jute, abaca, coconut fibre sisal, hem, musa basjoo, agave, date palm. The weave patterns must be strong enough to increase the stability of the frame , to hold the weight of those sitting or sleeping on it; by these criteria there are certain weave patterns that are more successful than others, and therefore more commonly seen; a good charpoi weaver will adapt  the design to the feel and tensile strength of the material in his hand.

Charpoi standing against the wall in the day time to make a clear and open covered space; this taken at our Dhurrie maker’s home in Rajasthan. 

Traditionally the  string nets are woven in a cross weave for the most part, leaving a narrow section of ‘warps’ at one short end and tied off in such a way that they can be adjusted to control the sagging of the net over time.

This is less so today, perhaps because the materials are more stable or perhaps the lessons  of the experienced  artisan have been compromised on the alter of efficiency?

Either way, the designs are sculpturally stunning in one, two or more colours and many form of lattice, criss-crossing, diamonds, double diamonds and multiple diamonds, herringbones and plaiting, basket weave and traditionally webbed, single material or multiple material; very clever, very beautiful.

Blankets, soft mattresses, bedrolls and pallaises are  also used to sleep on and to cover. In many homes we find the  charpois are in a semi enclosed courtyard and a pile of thin bedcovers folded or rolled up inside.

Indians took their beds with them when they  moved to other countries for work, and they remain a common sight throughout Southern Asia and into Africa. The traditional Sudanese bed, for example, the Angareeb is very similar, the local version of the Indian model, with leather and rope used  for the webbing or stringing.  The idea of the construction has spread across the globe and spawned high sided benches, consoles, foot stools, coffee tables and open bedheads.

A contemporary take on the charpoi uses metal and plastic straps. They are smart  and chic, more formal and urban. Very different pieces in every respect and each has it’s  place in a culturally inclusive  and explosive global environment.

This re-thinking of an ancient design is typical to the growth of modern India and a  development  in line with the huge increase in wealth and technology. A perfect  bridge between  new living and old tradition.

They will  age well, can be re-painted and re-webbed, and if in urban areas eventually re-cycled.

 

 

Natural ageing:

Commercially made and chemically resolved items undoubtedly will not age as beautifully  or enter into the natural environmental processes of decay;  recycling works when there are re-cycling centres. In the countryside metal and plastic can easily become a problem before a solution; the pieces  can be collected and recycled commercially into other forms and the metal elements  will eventually decay back to the ground  but most plastic won’t. If, in the countryside, these new  charpois will be left to rust in a  dump or at the roadside, they could become an ugly scourge from a beautiful idea.

One thing is sure,  the natural materials  of traditional charpoi, for example, will gradually wear, fade, break down and return to the earth as part of  the natural  cycle of death and resurrection; on the way homes and food are provided for many tiny creatures.

The  news of how different cultures live and function travels along trade routes but makes huge leaps by the reports from the adventurer, explorer and traveller.

The  14th Century Moroccan Berber, and legal scholar, Ibn Battuta, experienced  the medieval world, dictating an account of his travels at the end of his life  entitled “A Gift to those who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvel of Travelling.”

“ I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveller in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries.”

He joined the court of Turkic Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq, captivated  by  Indian culture- the life, the food, the  dance, the music. In 1530 he wrote these  well known lines to describe the charpoi:

“ The beds in India are very light. A single man can carry one and every traveller should have his own bed…. The bed consists  of four conical legs on which four staves are laid: between they plait a sort of  ribbon of silk or cotton. When you lie  on it, you need nothing else to render the bed sufficiently elastic

 

 

 

 

References:

Susan Corinne Jamart (1978). Charpai: Indian Cot Filling, a Visual and Technical Documentation. University of California, Berkeley.

Battutah, Ibn (2002). The Travels of Ibn Battutah. London: Picador. pp. 185, 317. ISBN 9780330418799.

 

An article for www.scroll.in  “Cot in action: A Short History of the Indian Khaat, from Ibn Battuta to Rahul Gandhi.”  Sunaina Kuma 08.08.2016

www.opiumshop.co.uk

 

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