Charpai (khaṭvā, South Asian rope bed)
Charpai (khaṭvā, cama de cuerdas del sur de Asia)
- Date
- c. 500 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Ganges Plain, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Credited to
- Peoples of northern India
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A light bed with four turned wooden legs and a stretched weave of rope or fibre tape. It airs the body in hot weather, is easily re-strung and is carried into the courtyard by day.
The word khaṭvā appears in Vedic and Buddhist texts, suggesting very ancient origins; the date is that of those mentions, not of an archaeological find.
What it led to
- basic furniture across India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
- village seat and gathering table
- varied regional versions in Nepal and Bangladesh