For most of history, Indian men wore draped, unstitched clothing such as the dhoti and uttariya, suited to a hot climate.

This documentary traces 5,000 years of Indian men's clothing: patterned robes in the Indus Valley Civilisation, stitched tunics and trousers arriving with the Kushans, the fine textiles of the Gupta era, the jama of medieval courts, and the spread of Western shirts and trousers under British rule.

Chapters

• 00:00 Why did Indian men stop wearing draped clothes?

• 00:37 What did men wear in the Indus Valley Civilisation?

• 02:35 Kushan era: when stitched clothing arrived

• 03:22 Gupta era clothing

• 04:20 Medieval era: the jama and court dress

• 06:10 Modern era: how Western clothes took over

Related essay

Lessons From the Gupta Golden Age.

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