Mohammed Bilal Khatri Biography 
Mohammed Bilal Khatri is a craftsman from Bagh of Madhya Pradesh best known for his contributions towards Bagh printing in the present times, and he belongs to the third generation of craftsmen dedicated to the art of Bagh Printing. He is the grandson of Ismail Sulemanji Khatri, a renowned painter and internationally acclaimed artist and craftsman from Madhya Pradesh who re-invented and re-established Bagh print, a part of the centuries-old hand block printing practice. Ismail Sulemanji Khatri revolutionised the art of Bagh printing taking inspirations from Taj Mahal and common jali patterns, used on bed sheets, saris and fabrics and also improvised and discovered new colour shades of dyes used for this purpose. His father Mohammed Yusuf Khatri is also associated with the world of crafts, and is credited to colours on bamboo mat, which was the first recorded sample in the world of art.
This young Master craftsman was born on June 10, 1987, in Bagh village, Madhya Pradesh as the son of Mohammed Yusuf Khatri. Among his 3 paternal uncles, Mohammed Rafik Khatri and Mohammed Dawood Khatri are leading names in this field. After his grandfather employed numerous people in this industry, his uncles carried forward the tradition which has popped up to multiple proportions from hundreds in the 1970s to 12,000 in Dhar district alone. Mohammed Bilal Khatri is the latest member from Khatri family linked to the art.
Earlier the family prefabricate different traditional dresses for different groups of people based on caste, religion, tradition etc and they used to be identified by the type of dress design chosen. In the 1990s, his father started experimenting with foreign clothing as well for international market. Some of his experiments include incorporating modernity in the wooden blocks and colours, block printing with hand and designing cultural clothing firstly, printing on bamboo mat, leather, jute etc.
Mohammed Bilal Khatri is also a recipient of numerous awards and scholarships in the state level and national level. He received National Merit Award 2011 given by Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. He also received many international awards from World Crafts Council, JNCC Russia etc.
Published: January 22, 2019
Updated: January 22, 2019
