What Real Zardozi Gold Wire Actually Was
The gold wire in Mughal-era zardozi was not decorative in the way we use that word now. It was currency. Artisans in Lucknow and Agra worked with badla, flattened strips of real gold or silver wound around a silk core, and the finished garment held its metal value. Noblewomen could, and did, have embroidered dupattas unpicked and the metal sold. The wire was called kalabattu when it was pure silver, and the gold-alloy version sat above it in both weight and cost. A heavily worked sherwani from the 17th century could carry several tolas of actual metal in its surface alone.
