Ikat is a technique that combines dyeing and weaving. A type of resistant dyeing is used, where the bundles of yarn are tied super tightly and then dyed in as many colors as necessary to create the design in question. Different from tye&dye and Batik which is dyed after the fabric has been made on the loom.
Once the threads have been dyed, the artisan stretches them on the loom in the warp and as he places the weft threads, the design appears. This process is incredibly complicated and requires enormous experience and knowledge of the technique, as the weaver has to dye the threads at the correct points and place them on the loom so that the design makes sense when it is woven. Reiterating the difficulty of this process, to replicate the same pattern across many meters of fabric the artisan has to dye the other threads in exactly the same spots, THEN place the threads on the loom in the same place AND weave in exactly the same way as before!
This technique is passed from parents to children in small villages through many generations. Even though it is a very complex technique, it is believed that it developed simultaneously in different parts of the world. It was brought to Europe by the Dutch from South Asia at the same time as the Spanish brought it from South America and the Silk Road explorers. It has been found for millennia from Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia and Central America to India, Indonesia and Japan. Double ikats of countless colors are the most prestigious and expensive.