Focus on this artwork and explore the Origin.
The Persian term Kaman stands for Bow and one theory of etymology refers to the earliest painters of the art belonging to a category of Bow makers who were primarily Muslims and had migrated to the Kutch region in 18th century, the period which is contemporaneous to the emergence of this art form. According to this theory, the Bow makers though Muslim were well aware of the Hindu as well as Jain tradition and  were patronised by the local Bhatia and Jain community who assigned them the duty to perform the art for them.However there are other tradition as well and according to one such tradition the word "Kamangiri" has roots in the word Kaam, in kutchi dialect which stands for work. This tradition describes the Kamangars as the class performing any kind of art work and most probably the painting. The class of painters initially remained Muslims by faith but later absorbed Hindu artists from 'Gujjar Sutar' and 'Rupgada Salat' communities as well. The Kamangars are said to be proficient in the architectural works apart from their proficiency in Bow making and Shield making. The work of the Kamangars influenced other communities in the region as well. Some of these include the "Soni" community, who worked on gold and silver and were associated with making of ornaments while the other being " Mochi" community of the leather workers, and ivory carvers.There were two kinds of Kamangars. One worked with the masons to paint on the walls while the other category of Kamangars produced scrolls and painting on paper for the ruling class. Apart from Jain and Bhatias of Gujarat the other communities who patronised them were Jadeja Rajputs and "Mistry" community. The Kamangars despite their artistic excellence, were not given proper importance in the society and once the contract was over they resorted to the traditional works like "toy making".
Shield Bow Muslims Bhatia Hindu Muslim Jain Gujarat Mochi Jadeja