As we all know, “cashmere” is a kind of precious fiber from goat, and interestingly, in English, “cash” means money. So it is more easily understanding for the premium “cashmere” to be called the “soft gold” now.

Back to the topic, so what is the relationship between the “cashmere” and “Kashmir”? Let’s start it with the following question first:

Which Chinese explorer in the following has mentioned that “Kashmir” in Asia region is yielding a kind of very soft shawl (it is one of “cashmere” products) in travel notes?

A. The Xuan Zang of Tang Dynasty

B. Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty

C. Xu Xiake of the Qing Dynasty

The answer is “A” actually. In fact, as early as in the Tang Dynasty, Xuan Zang monk has mentioned that in “Kashmir”, there was yielding a very soft shawl which was then called "Satus" in the "Buddhist records” and that is just the “cashmere” product.

According to his record, some regions in northern ancient India, there has been a custom that parents who have daughter kept hard working for many years to save money and buy a “shahtoosh” for their daughter as the most valuable dowry, in order not to let her husband's family despised their beloved daughter.

As mentioned above, the “Kashmir”, which is a region in the Northwest of the South Asian subcontinent (at the junction of the western and the South North of Qinghai Tibet Plateau), and it ever belonged to the British as a state. And initially, the “cashmere” fiber originated in “Kashmir”.

So, the “cashmere” turns out to be a homonym of the “Kashmir”. And many people often write the “Kashmir” just instead of the “cashmere” when searching in Google.