History of Batik

Batik has come a long long way. The history of batik is not very clear still – for although the countries in the nusantara claims it originated from here, but there are other countries that have been practising batik as well. Samples of dye resistance patterns on cloth can be traced back 1,500 - 2000 years ago to Egypt and the Middle East. Samples have also been found in Turkey, India, China, Japan and West Africa from past centuries.

Apparently, batik was introduced to Holand in the seventeenth century and later in early twentieth century, it caught on to Germany. Currently, batik is also known in other parts of Europe and America, though they are more in the form of paintings and not like their counterparts in South East Asia who uses them in fashion.

This site aims to give reference to the history of batik for the countries with strong batik history. It is hoped this will broaden the view of batik history.

From: http://historyofbatik.com/