Colonial Identities

I. Dress as an expression of nationalism


A. Zanibar--an island city-state on the African east coast, was an important trade port of the Indian Ocean.

1. By 1600s, Zanibar was populated by the Swahili people.

2. During the period in history, the kingdom of Oman began challenging the control the Portuguese exercised over the Indian Ocean; the Swahili of Zanzibar became an important ally in this endeavor, and Zanzibar increased in importance as a port city.

3. The Omani expansion of trade helped to create a multi-cultural society; the Omani expansion of the slave trade meant that class differences became expressed in the manner of dress.


4. When the slave trade was finally abolished, and the slaves emancipated, former slaves sought to express their new freedom by creating a new style of dress, which spurred the sale of imported cloth.

B. India

1. The early traders from the East India Company sought to learn about--and many emulated--Indian culture.

2. By the late 1700s, however, the British sought to distance themselves from through clothing.

3. Indians seeking to ingratiate themselves with the British therefore adapted various items of British clothing.


4. When the Indian independence movement began to gain momentum, allegiance to the movement was signified by the way one dressed oneself. Mohandas Gandhi personified this movement, with his insistence that his followers dress themselves in "homespun" in the "traditional" manner--which the nationalist movement re-defined.