Mohammed Bilal Khatri

Shilp Guru Ismail Sulemanji Khatri

Ismail Sulemanji Khatri was an Indian craftsman, especially known for his invention of the Bagh print, a part of the centuries-old hand block printing practice. He started block printing having moved to Bagh in the 1950s. As well as using traditional blocks, some 200–300 years old, he had new blocks made with designs inspired by the jali patterns found locally and at the Taj Mahal. He improved upon the red and black dyes previously used and developed new vegetable-based dyes. Success came particularly when he started printing on bed sheets, saris and fabrics.

Shilp Guru Mohammed Yusuf Khatri

Mohammed Yusuf Khatri is an Indian master craftsman in the village of Bagh, Madhya Pradesh, who had learnt the traditional Craft of Bagh Print at a young age by his father Ismail Khatri and mother Mrs Jetun Khatri. His family has been working in the trade of traditional Alizarin Bagh print since the 7th century. As he began early in life, most part of his life is experienced for Bagh hand block printing. Earlier Mohammed Yusuf Khatri and his family used to prefabricate different traditional dresses for the persons belonging to different castes living in the tribal area of Bagh block of Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. Because the people of different castes and families had different dresses like Maroo, Jat, Meghwal, Mahajan, Bhil, Bhilala society and they were identified with their dresses. After 1990 Mohammed Yusuf Khatri did new experiments on the clothes for the urban market. He did block printing with hand and designed cultural clothing firstly. He also experimented incorporating modernity in the wooden blocks and colours in such a way that its fame and popularity could be established for a long time on the national and international level. He proved his imagination true by making craft on a bamboo mat, leather, jute etc. besides cloth, Bagh Print was engraved with natural colours on the bamboo chick. This was the first experiment of the world which was completed with colours on a bamboo mat. It is notable that before or after the popularity of Bagh print in the world, no example of such kind is recorded. Hence it is the first sample of such art in the world.