Highlighting whimsical design ideas, borrowed or otherwise, the talk, titled From Mughal Whimsicality to Sikh Ostentation, will journey though the shawl’s early Mughal period before reaching the Sikh imperium era of India’s last great Maharaja, Runjit Singh (1799-1839). During this era of Punjab, India’s colorful history, a variety of complex and enigmatic patterns emerged in the shawl – some purely geometric, others symbolic. Maharaja Ranjjit Singh’s takeover of Kashmir in 1819 had an extraordinary impact on the fashion of legendary Kashmir shawls, giving rise to an outburst of artistic expression on the sub-continent.