Chakwal is famous for making Zari Shoes. Khes weaving is also an important traditional craft of the district.

Handicraft is the main “traditional” sector of crafts. It is a work in which useful and decorative devices can be made entirely by hand, or with simple tools. This term usually refers to traditional methods of making goods. It is important to consider the individual craftsmanship of each item. These items can often have religious or cultural significance. Handicraft goods are not made from mass-produced or machine-made items. Handicraft products are made using craft production processes. Tradesperson is someone who is skilled in one trade or craft. A tradesperson is a skilled worker in a particular trade or craft. They are considered both a laborer and professional economically and socially. There can be a shortage in skilled manual workers in cultures that value professional careers, which can lead to lucrative niche markets for those trades. Famous for his Zari Shoes, Chakwal is also known. Khes weaving is another important tradition craft from the district. It is easy to understand why shoes were created and why we still wear them. In the past, shoes were not required by nature. Nature did not provide humans with hard hooves like horses or study pads like cats. Human ingenuity created the shoe to protect the feet from cold, hot, or wet environments. Shoes became more than just practical applications. They were also essential fashion accessories and objects of beauty. While shoes have been essential for our well-being and basic needs, they also provide fascinating information about the human history. What we wear on our feet communicates silently, but clearly, who we are and what we do.

The Ice Age is the time when footwear was first used by humans. Unkind weather conditions are believed to have led to the need for footwear. shoes were invented around in the Middle Palaeolithic period approximately 40,000 years ago. But, footwear wasn’t worn consistently by people until the Upper Palaeolithic. The first shoe prototypes were made of wraparound leather and were soft. They resembled sandals or moccasins. These sandals made from rope were discovered in Oregon, USA. In 2008, the oldest known leather shoe was discovered in Armenia. It was approximately 5,500 years old. These shoes were made from a single piece leather and stitched with leather. They were stuffed with grass. Hikers found another example of an ancient shoe near the Italy-Austria border in 1991. They discovered the remains of a man who was buried beneath a glacier for over 5,000 years. 251 Otzi, still wearing leather foot covering stuffed with straw, it is few hundred years more recent than the Armenian Shoe. Paleolithic caves contain many utensils made of rock that can be used to scrape the skins. This indicates that tanning is a very ancient art. As you can see, early footwear consisted of wraps made mostly of leather or dried grasses. Later, footwear evolved to be an oval piece made of leather and bound with strong leather thongs. Britain’s earliest footwear must have looked a lot like the Pam-pootie, an Irish papootie. Although a few pieces of Bronze Age footwear from this period can be considered functional, there is not much evidence that they were socially controlled. Britain started producing its own styles after the Romans had left. These were usually closed-toe leather shoes with an oval- or round-toe shape. In the 19th century, the ankle shoe became very popular. It was a turn shoe, meaning that the sole and upper were thonged. (Thong is a thin strip of leather or another material used especially to fasten or whiplash.) Then, the shoes were turned inside. These shoes could be worn on either one foot and were usually straight in shape.

The medieval age saw many changes in footwear styles. The sole and upper of the shoe were no longer thonged, but instead, they were sewn together with thread. The toe became a sharp point known as a “Scorpio tail”. In 1320’s shoes became longer and were called ‘pikes, crackows, or poulains. A person’s status was determined by the length of their toe. The longest toes were worn by the king and his court. This style was not worn in women because it indicated their social status. The ankle shoes remained popular and were usually side-laced with three pairs of holes. At the end of Middle-Ages, the pointed-toe was gone and was replaced with square and round toe shapes. These toe shapes started out being a reasonable size, but they grew larger over time. The toe area of the shoes, known as ‘footbags’, reached 6 1/2 inches during Henry VIII’s reign. The widespread use of lasts, or as they were called ‘laests’, was evident during this period. However, there is evidence that the Romans used lasts to make their shoes. Flat wooden slippers were first worn in the central and southern regions of the west. This tradition was probably inherited from China. These slippers did not protect the feet from dirt or cold weather. 255 Historians report that the tradition of using leather for shoes was founded in agrarian society after it was invaded by Alexander the Great.

The Stone Age markings, which are all known to us, indicate that prehistoric man was not familiar with shoes. The cave paintings found in Spain from the Palaeolithic period (around 14,000 BC), show Magdalenian men wearing fur boots. Father Breuil (1877-1961), a French Palaeontologist and Prehistorian, stated that Neolithic man covered his feet in animal skins to protect himself from harsh environments. Although there is no evidence that the shoes were ever made, it seems that man has covered his feet instinctively to move about. Shoes from prehistoric times would have been utilitarian and rough in design. Otzi, the ice-man who discovered an Alpine glacier in his boots, is a great example. From the first great civilizations flourishing in Mesopotamia and Egypt in th