The Origin of Cambodian Ikat
When you make a visual comparison of contemporary Cambodian ikat (hol) to Indian ikat, there can be no doubt that the first evolved from the second. And there is a linguistic clue. I believe that the Khmer word “hol” came from the Sanskrit “paṭola”. (Where did the “h” come from? The “ṭ” in “paṭola” is aspirated.) Loan words in the Khmer language are often a shortened version of the Sanskrit source word. Examples: Kalinga (the name of an ancient kingdom on India’s east coast —> Kling. Chandra (moon) —> chan. Chatra (parasol) —> chat.
But there was influence on the Cambodian civilization from several areas of the Indian subcontinent, each of which had its own unique culture. And then there were all the other players: China. Java. The Cham people in what is now Vietnam. Persia (through India). Greece (through Gandhara, in what is now northwest Pakistan). Even Madagascar, as you read in the section entitled, “The Pattern in the Sister Queens’ Skirts” (my research suggests that the Royal Poinciana tree went from Madagascar to India, and the pattern based on its flower was developed in Gujarat).
I interviewed Kikuo Morimoto every year for several years. He agreed that contemporary Cambodian ikat evolved from Indian ikat, but thought that it shows influence from as far away as South America. He traced one pattern to China. Others to the Cham people. But he had his hands full, trying to keep Cambodian ikat from dying out after the Khmer Rouge genocide; he had little time to try to trace the origins of the patterns.
I thought that most of the patterns originated from Patan paṭola. Until I visited Patan. The paṭola patterns we see carved into a wall of the Rani ki Vav step well don’t look familiar. Neither do the patterns made today that had their origin in early Patan paṭola. But the best evidence is in the pattern known in Cambodia as “Chan Flower”. It was so important at Patan that it is one of the patterns we see at the step well - it was literally “carved in stone”. We see it in the Ashavali brocade worn by the elite of Angkor, and it is still a favorite in contemporary Cambodian chorabab brocade. But do we see this pattern in Cambodian ikat? Almost never, except for modern pieces made for the tourist market.
Ikat may have reached Cambodia in the form of the central field of Ashavali saris. But, to be honest, this theory needs a lot more work; I will continue my research in 2026. My main problem in 2025 was that I was able to get only one interview with an Ashavali producer in India. (That person was Paresh Patel of Royal Brocades, to whom I am very grateful.)
The Cham have been making silk for hundreds of years. In 2017 I interviewed the head of the family who owns Phamai Baan Krua in Bangkok, who told me that Cham plaids and stripes were the prototypes for Jim Thompson’s Thai Silk. He said that the Cham in what is now Kampong Cham Province (Cambodia) learned to make these products from the Vietnamese. But, to my knowledge, the relationship between ikat silk made in Cambodia by the Cham minority and ikat silk made by the Khmer majority has not been studied. I have not found Cham ikat in any museum in Cambodia, so this makes comparison difficult. Misconceptions complicate study; it is believed that the Cham make ikat only to sell it to Khmer. I saw a group of Cham in Phnom Penh one day; two of the ladies were wearing ikat. I asked them if Cham make ikat for their own use. They told me that, yes, Cham do make ikat for their own use, as evidenced by what they themselves were wearing. But, was it twill weave, like Khmer ikat? I examined the two pieces - yes, it was twill weave. This proves a connection between Cham and Khmer ikat. The connection would be an excellent topic for study by another scholar.