Product Description
INDIA - 5 RUPEES - First Khadi Hundi money.Date: 1955-57 - Grade: Au. (Original scan)
Unsigned reminder. - No pinholes
General information:
Khadi Hundis were issued as promissory notes and were used as an exchange medium for khadi cloth.
They could only be redeemed at a KHADI BHANDAR (hand woven cloth outlets).
Several colours and designs have been seen, a sample of which are shown above.
These issues also commemorate Mahatma Ghandi for his dedication to poor women who spun Khadi cloth to improve their lives.
History: In India, khadi refers to handwoven and hand spun cloth. Weavers prefer yarn produced by mills because it is more robust and consistent in quality.
The Swadeshi movement of boycotting English products during the first two decades of the twentieth Century was popularised by Mahatma Gandhi and Indian mill owners, who, backed by Nationalist politicians, called for a boycott of foreign cloth. Gandhi argued that the mill owners would deny handloom weavers an opportunity to buy yarn because they would prefer to create a monopoly for their own cloth. However, handspun yarn was expensive and of poor quality.
Thus Mahatma Gandhi started spinning himself and encouraging others to do so. He made it obligatory for all members of the Indian National Congress to spin cotton themselves and to pay their dues in yarn. He further made the chakri (spinning wheel) the symbol of the Nationalist movement. Initially the Indian flag was supposed to have a chakri, not the Ashoka Chakra at its centre. Mahatma Gandhi collected large sums of money to create a grass-roots organisation to encourage handloom weaving.
This was called the 'khaddar' or 'Khadi' movement.
