Bidar Bidriware Zinc Alloy Inlay Karnataka

Bidriware, the distinctive black zinc-alloy metalwork inlaid with pure silver wire and sheet in intricate floral and geometric patterns, is produced exclusively at Bidar in Karnataka, where the craft was introduced by Persian craftsmen under the Bahmani Sultanate in the fourteenth century and developed into the characteristic Bidriware style over the following centuries, with the technique now practiced by both Muslim and Hindu artisan families of the Bidar city workshops. The Bidriware casting process uses a specific alloy of zinc (92 percent) and copper (8 percent) that is cast in clay molds, then chased and engraved to create channels and grooves into which pure silver wire or sheet is hammered and pressed flush, and the whole surface is then treated with a paste of sal ammoniac and soil unique to the Bidar fort area that turns the zinc alloy permanently matte black while leaving the inlaid silver bright, creating the dramatic black-and-silver contrast. Bidriware products include huqqa bases, jewellery boxes, vases, trays, and wall panels. Bidriware holds GI status and the Karnataka government has established the Bidar Craft Development Society for artisan support.