The same source states that such cloth is dyed "with five colors" and that something called "speckled cloth" is also made. While such Chinese sources provide general descriptions of Cham clothing (Maspero, pp. 2-3, 16, 18) and weaving (Cham weavers "knew how to mix gold thread into the weft and weave, wrong or right side out, a different pattern on each side" and they "embroidered complicated motifs made more dazzlingly luxurious with gold, silver, pearls, and gemstones", Maspero p. 20), there is no specific mention of Ikat patterning.

It is perhaps not surprising that early Chinese accounts fail to mention Ikat patterning.

Contemporary warp Ikat patterns woven by the Cham in the Phan Rang area consist of dashes running across fairly narrow bands. Such patterns are far less eye-catching than the various supplementary weaves, especially those employing gold thread. Nevertheless, such patterns appear to represent the survival of a very ancient weaving tradition among the Cham- one that they may well have brought with them when they arrived on the shores of Vietnam.

There are three distinct weaving traditions among Vietnam's roughly 120,000 Cham, only the first two of which are of relevance here. These are associated with the three main regions where the Cham live today. The first is of these is that of the Cham of Ninh Thuan and neighboring Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan provinces, where more than two-thirds of the Cham live. The center of this tradition is the Phan Rang area; with most weaving today being done in the village of My Nghiep (located south of Ph an Rang). The second of these is centered in the Chau Doc area of An Giang province, near the Cambodian border. The third tradition is associated with the Cham subgroup known as Cham Hroi who lives in Phu Yen Province. Their dress is essentially indistinguishable from that of the neighboring highland Rade (Ede) and their weaving repertoire does not include Ikat patterning.

Let us turn to the textiles of the Phan Rang area first. The Cham of Phan Rang include both Hindu and Old Moslem (or Bani) Cham, as well as a small number of so-called New Moslem Cham. There are some differences in the ceremonial dress of the Hindu and Old Moslem Cham, but in general the dress of the two groups is similar. The traditional dress of the Cham in this area is largely fairly plain. It consists mainly of various styles of long-coat and wrap-around skirt made of plain white cotton cloth, sometimes with strips of decorative silk cloth along some of the edges. In addition, women also sometimes wear more decorative wrap-around skirts made of cotton and/ or silk. It is these that occasionally feature warp Ikat patterning. Skirts with warp Ikat patterns, however, at present are only worn by older women and never by young women.

The Cham in this area weave on two types of loom. The plain white cloth as well as the larger pieces of patterned cloth are woven on a back-strap loom, while the narrow strips of decorative cloth are woven on a distinctive type of long and narrow frame loom. Thus, warp-Ikat patterned cloth is only woven on the back-strap loom. Such warp-Ikat patterning consists of narrow bands of white and red dashes. The dashes are a good deal wider than those found on Tai cloth and come in a variety of shapes, but do not form distinct motifs and the images do not appear to have special names.

 

The Cham of the Chau Doc area migrated there from Cambodia in the nineteenth century (a large number of Cham having fled to Cambodia from Vietnam originally in the eighteenth century following the final conquest of the Cham by the Viet). Oral tradition has it that in the past these Cham wove with a backstrap loom. but at present they only weave on a frame loom, which appears to have been adopted from the Cambodians. All of the Cham in the Chau Doc area are New Moslems and their style of dress is influenced by Malay Moslem dress. Chau Doc Cham attire includes clothing made of white cotton cloth as well as colored cotton and silk cloth. Men dress includes colored cotton or silk and cotton sarongs.

 

These often feature checks in Malay fashion, but sometimes also have warp Ikat patterning as well. The cloth may be woven entirely of cotton or a mixture of silk and cotton. For religious reasons, males never wear pure silk cloth. Women's dress includes a variety of sarong or tube skirt styles.

Among the styles of skirt is one made from silk with weft Ikat patterning resembling cloth made by the Khmer.