Salu (variously transcribed in English as sālū, saloo, and archaically, shallee, shalloo, shella, and sallo)[a] is a type of twill cloth, woven from cotton and dyed red, originally made in India.
Prior to the introduction of modern industrial techniques, it was produced exclusively hand spun (khaddar) yarns with locally-available dyes.
[2] Salu is one of seven cotton cloths explicitly mentioned in the 16th century Mughal record Ain-i-Akbari, together with khasa, tansukh, doriya, bafta, dupatta, and panchtoliya.
[3][4] Salu appears to be an ancient fabric; trade references to the Persian market from Hindustan in the 14th century are documented in the Divan-i-Albisa by Mawlānā Mahmud Nizan Qari.
[11][12] Baden Henry Powell mentioned salu as a madder-dyed cloth in his book Hand-book of the economic products of the Punjab, with a combined index and glossary of technical vernacular words.