Ismail Sulemanji Khatri Biography 
Ismail Sulemanji Khatri was a renowned painter and internationally acclaimed artist and craftsman from Madhya Pradesh. He re-invented and re-established Bagh print, a part of the centuries-old hand block printing practice. A pioneer of art, he received the prestigious Shilp Guru Award from then President of India Pranab Mukherjee from Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi in 2012. He also received National Award from former President of India, Gyani Zail Singh in 1984. He received Lifetime achievement awards for Handicrafts in 2013, State award in 1978, State Santavna Award in 1976 and many more honours.
Ismail Sulemanji Khatri was born on 12 August 1937 in Manawar, Madhya Pradesh. He moved to Bagh post-independence in the 1950s, and started block printing after that. Initially he used traditional blocks of 200-300 years old and later introduced his own blocks as well. He was inspired by the common jali patterns and also those found at the Taj Mahal to design such blocks. Not only that, he also brought reformation in the dyes used for the purpose. He developed new vegetable-based dyes and also improved previously used red and black ones. Initially Bagh was limited to orange, red, maroon, black and yellow shades.
Later he started accepting the concept of his block designs on bed sheets, saris and fabrics, and very soon his work got noticed. He was a perfectionist and technically very sound. He gave Bagh print a distinct identification and made it a fashion statement. In the 1970s this technique employed only hundreds of people. But now this population has multiplied to 12,000 in Dhar district alone and its credit goes to Ismail who revolutionized this dying art. Towards the end years, he was working on introducing green and yellow colours to bagh.
Many of his successors are now related to the field of Bagh printing. Among his 5 children, Mohammed Yusuf Khatri, Mohammed Rafik Khatri and Mohammed Dawood Khatri are leading names in this field. His grandson Mohammed Bilal Khatri is the successful person from his family belonging to this generation.
Published: January 22, 2019
Updated: January 22, 2019
