Srinagar, Aug 22: A Srinagar artisan is attempting to give Kashmir’s fading fur-making tradition a new lease of life—without returning to the wildlife exploitation that ultimately brought the old fur trade under legal and conservation scrutiny.

Tahir Ahmad Kalwal, an artisan from Soura, has been working to revive the traditional craft by using sheepskins that are already available as a by-product, rather than killing wild animals for their fur. According to reports, Kalwal dyes and finishes sheep pelts to create products that can reproduce the appearance and texture associated with traditional fur goods.
The approach attempts to reconcile two seemingly competing objectives: preserving an old Kashmiri craft and respecting modern wildlife-protection standards.
Kashmir once had a flourishing fur industry, with skilled artisans producing garments, caps, bags and other products. The trade, however, became deeply controversial because of its links with wildlife exploitation. Government restrictions and conservation concerns eventually dealt a severe blow to the traditional industry, leaving many artisans without their earlier livelihoods. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has also upheld the legality of restrictions on the fur trade while noting the Government's rehabilitation measures for artisans affected by the ban.
Kalwal’s model seeks to separate fur craftsmanship from wildlife killing.
Instead of relying on protected or wild species, his workshop works with sheep hides that would otherwise largely go to waste. Earlier reports quoted Kalwal as saying that thousands of sheep are consumed in Kashmir every day and that their hides are often discarded. He has also been training women and young people in the craft, hoping to create a new generation of artisans.
That dimension gives the initiative significance beyond handicrafts. It represents an attempt to turn an agricultural by-product into a source of livelihood while preserving skills that were once part of Kashmir’s artisan economy.
The challenge, however, is substantial. Traditional fur craftsmanship requires specialised knowledge of tanning, sorting, dyeing, cutting and stitching. With the decline of the old industry, the number of skilled artisans has fallen sharply. Kalwal has previously estimated that only a small group of artisans remain engaged in the work in Kashmir.
The lack of appropriate infrastructure is another obstacle. Kashmir has considerable access to raw hides, but the absence of adequate tanning and processing facilities makes it difficult to develop the activity into a larger organised industry. Without investment, training, design innovation and access to markets, an individual artisan’s effort can struggle to move beyond the experimental stage.
Yet the idea fits into a broader conversation about sustainable revival of Kashmir’s traditional crafts. Other endangered crafts, including Namda, have also faced declining raw-material availability, shrinking artisan numbers and weak marketing. Government-backed training programmes have attempted to preserve such skills by bringing younger people into traditional craft production.
The future of Kashmir’s fur craft, therefore, need not be a choice between extinction and exploitation. There is potentially a third path—ethical, sustainable and skill-based revival.
If supported through modern tanning facilities, artisan training, design development, certification and responsible marketing, sheep-hide fur products could develop into a specialised Kashmiri craft without placing pressure on wildlife.
The larger lesson is important. Heritage does not have to remain frozen in its historical form. Traditions can evolve with changing laws, environmental responsibilities and consumer expectations.
Kashmir’s old fur craftsmanship may have emerged from a very different era, but its skills need not disappear with that era. By replacing wildlife dependence with responsibly sourced sheep hides and combining inherited craftsmanship with contemporary design, artisans such as Kalwal are attempting to prove that preserving tradition and protecting nature can go hand in hand.
The success of that experiment will depend on whether institutions, markets and consumers are prepared to value not merely the product, but also the ethical story behind it.