The first time a karigar in Lahore let me run my thumb across an unfinished mukaish panel, I expected thread. What I felt instead was metal, a fine flattened wire, cool and slightly rough, worked directly into the weave rather than stitched on top of it. That single detail is the whole history of mukaish embroidery in one sensation: this was never decoration added to fabric. It is metal, physically pulled through fabric, which is why it has survived four centuries when so many other court crafts did not.
At a glance: Mukaish, also called badla, is a metallic embroidery technique that emerged in the Awadh region of the Mughal empire and reached its height in Lucknow under the Nawabs. It uses flattened gold or silver wire twisted directly into fine fabric rather than embroidered thread. The craft travelled to Punjab and Sindh with artisan families after Partition and continues today in ateliers across Lahore and Karachi, now usually worked in silver-toned metal rather than pure gold. It matters to anyone buying hand-embroidered Pakistani pieces because mukaish cannot be faked by printing or machine work.
Where Mukaish Embroidery Actually Began
Mukaish work traces its roots to the Awadh region of northern India, with some accounts of metal thread embroidery in the area going back as far as the 3rd century BCE, though the technique most people mean by mukaish today took shape much later, under Mughal patronage. The Mughals brought sophisticated metal embroidery traditions with them in the 16th century, and Persian court influence shaped much of the vocabulary of technique that followed.
What turned mukaish from a court curiosity into a defined craft was the rise of Lucknow as a cultural capital under the Nawabs of Awadh. By the 18th century, Lucknow's karkhanas were producing mukaish at a scale and refinement that made it one of the defining textile crafts of the region, alongside chikankari embroidery, which developed in the same ateliers around the same period.
How the Technique Actually Works
Mukaish is created by threading a thin, flattened strip of metal wire through the fabric and twisting it on the reverse side to lock it in place, rather than stitching with a needle and thread in the conventional sense. The two main patterns are fardi ka kaam, small dot-like clusters of wire that catch light across the fabric, and kamdani, where the metal wire is attached to a short length of thread first, allowing for finer, more controlled line work.
Originally the wire itself was real gold or silver, reserved for royalty and the very wealthy who could afford both the material and the hours of skilled labour it demanded. A single dupatta done in dense fardi ka kaam could take a karigar days to complete, working strip by strip under close light so the metal caught evenly across the fabric.
Why It Reads as Shimmer, Not Sparkle
The specific shimmer mukaish produces is different from sequin or crystal embellishment because the light is bouncing off flat metal rather than faceted glass. I have noticed this at almost every dholki I have styled for in Defence: a mukaish dupatta photographs with a soft, moving shimmer under any light, while sequin work either flashes too hard under flash photography or goes flat under warm ambient light.
How Mukaish Reached Pakistan
Mukaish work moved from Lucknow into what is now Pakistan primarily through the migration of artisan families around Partition in 1947, part of the same broad movement of skilled karigars that carried zardozi, gota and other Mughal-era hand embroidery traditions from northern India into the karkhanas of Lahore and later Karachi. These families brought technique, not just finished goods, which is why mukaish continued as a living craft rather than becoming a museum piece.
The material itself changed along the way. Pure gold and silver wire became impractical for anything beyond bridal commissions, and most mukaish work today uses a silver-toned metal alloy that keeps the same twisted-wire technique and the same visual shimmer at a price a much wider range of clients can actually afford.
Why the Craft Nearly Disappeared
Mukaish went through a long period of decline through the mid-20th century as court patronage disappeared and cheaper machine-made embellishment became widely available. Hand mukaish is slow, and slow work loses out commercially the moment a faster, cheaper alternative exists, which is exactly what printed and machine-embroidered imitations offered for decades.
What kept it alive was a small number of karigar families who continued teaching the technique within their own households, generation to generation, largely for bridal and high-occasion commissions where clients specifically wanted the real thing. That narrow but committed demand is the reason mukaish is having a genuine revival now rather than existing only in archives.
How to Tell Real Mukaish From an Imitation
Genuine mukaish has a slightly raised, textured feel under your fingers because it is actual wire worked into the fabric, while printed imitations of the mukaish pattern lie completely flat and often have a slightly plastic sheen under direct light. Turn the fabric over. Real mukaish shows small twisted knots on the reverse where the wire has been locked in place, and a printed version shows nothing at all.
Mukaish in Pakistani Luxury Fashion Today
Mukaish now appears most often on sheesha silk and fine georgette dupattas, chosen specifically because both fabrics are sheer enough to let the metal wire's shimmer read clearly against the light. It pairs naturally with other hand techniques like naqshi outline work and light zardozi detailing along a neckline, without competing with either for visual attention.
At the last few PFDC-adjacent shows I have followed closely, mukaish has been showing up again on runway pieces after years of being treated as a strictly traditional, older-generation technique. That shift matters because it signals the craft is being chosen for its texture and history again, not just kept alive out of nostalgia.
| Aspect | Mukaish (Badla) | Common Imitation |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Real flattened metal wire | Printed pattern or plastic thread |
| Feel | Slightly raised, textured | Completely flat |
| Reverse side | Visible twisted knots locking the wire | Nothing, since there is no wire to lock |
| Light behaviour | Soft, moving metallic shimmer | Flat sheen or none |
| Typical fabric pairing | Sheesha silk, fine georgette | Any fabric, since it is printed on |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is mukaish embroidery made from?
Mukaish is made from flattened metal wire, historically real gold or silver and today usually a silver-toned metal alloy, worked directly through fabric and twisted on the reverse side to hold it in place.
Where did mukaish embroidery originate?
Mukaish developed in the Awadh region of northern India and reached its peak refinement in Lucknow under the patronage of the Nawabs during the Mughal and post-Mughal period.
How did mukaish embroidery reach Pakistan?
Artisan families carried the technique from Lucknow into Punjab and Sindh around Partition in 1947, continuing the craft in the karkhanas of Lahore and Karachi rather than it disappearing with the migration.
What is the difference between mukaish and kamdani?
Kamdani is one of the two main mukaish patterns, where the metal wire is attached to a short length of thread for finer line work, while fardi ka kaam, the other main pattern, uses small dot-like clusters of wire on their own.
How can you tell real mukaish from a printed imitation?
Real mukaish has a slightly raised, textured feel and shows twisted metal knots on the reverse of the fabric, while printed imitations lie completely flat with nothing visible on the reverse side.
Which fabrics is mukaish embroidery typically used on?
Mukaish is most often worked onto sheer fabrics like sheesha silk and fine georgette, since their translucency lets the metal wire's shimmer read clearly, especially on dupattas.
Our Abresham Embroidered collection and Muse Embroidered collection both feature hand embroidery techniques rooted in this same tradition. Browse the full range on our homepage, and for more on related techniques, read our guides to what mukaish work actually is and what zardozi embroidery is. Further reading: Vogue and The News on Sunday.
