The Origins of Indigo: A 4,000 Year History

Indigo is one of the oldest dyes to be used for textile dyeing and printing. Many Asian countries, such as India, China, Japan and South East Asian nations have used indigo as a dye for centuries. The dye was also known to ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Britain, Mesoamerica, Peru, Iran, and Africa. India is believed to be the oldest center of indigo dyeing in the Old World. It was a primary supplier of indigo to Europe as early as the Greco-Roman era.

At Mishkaya, we honor this heritage by continuing to use natural indigo in our block printing process, creating rich, deep blues that synthetic dyes simply cannot replicate.