Sahib Dino Mallah, weaver of the khes, keeper of the loom, dies at 66

Sahib Dino Mallah, one of Sindh’s extraordinary master weavers and a recipient of the President’s Award for Pride of Performance, passed away on Thursday evening in the village of Anb Sharif, Tehsil Sobho Dero. With him, we have lost not simply a maker of beautiful textiles, but a remarkable repository of knowledge about khes and lungi weaving, the construction and adaptation of the pit loom, and a technological tradition sustained and transmitted through generations.

Only a day ago, while he was in hospital, I was gathering the scattered records of his life and work for a nomination recognising more than fifty years of him as a master weaver.

Sahib Dino was born in 1960 and began learning from his father as a child before he went on to work independently in 1975. All these years, he practised, developed and taught his craft from his village in Khairpur, Sindh. His knowledge extended far beyond weaving a finished cloth. He knew how to construct the loom, make and modify its tools, configure it for different structures, solve........

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