• Dr. T. GNANAVEL

This article traces the historical trajectory of traditional Indian craft production from the archaeologically documented bead- and shell-working economies of the Indus Valley Civilization through the political and economic transformations of the colonial period to the contemporary institutionalization of craft heritage through geographical-indication law. Drawing on archaeological, economic-historical, and legal scholarship, the article argues that Indian craft production has, across this long historical arc, been repeatedly caught between its function as a livelihood for artisan communities and its symbolic mobilization by external political and commercial actors - colonial administrators seeking evidence of economic backwardness, nationalist reformers seeking symbols of self-reliance, and contemporary intellectual-property institutions seeking to formalize cultural heritage. The article concludes that this recurring tension between symbolic recognition and substantive economic benefit for artisans should inform the design of contemporary craft policy.

Indian crafts; Indus Valley craft production; colonial deindustrialization; geographical indication; artisan heritage; history of craft

"Traditional Indian Crafts A Historical Perspective", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 9, page no.c569-c572, September-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2609262.pdf

"Traditional Indian Crafts A Historical Perspective", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 9, page no. ppc569-c572, September-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2609262.pdf