Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s6: Dress
Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s6
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Dress
c17.s6.1
As noted earlier, the standards of culture of a people are best reflected in the life of the cities. In the cities were to be seen costumes and dresses of various kinds. The Sultan, the nobles, all the inmates of the harem, and even the servants wore clothes of good quality.⁷³ The dress of the Sultan and the *élite* consisted of a *Kulāh* or head-dress, a tunic worked in brocade and long drawers. On official occasions the Sultans wore a four-cornered head-dress (embroidered with gold thread and studded with jewels), long Tartaric gowns and Qabā—(which for winter was stuffed with cotton and was called Dagla)⁷⁴ all buckled in the middle of the body.⁷⁵ The Hindu aristocracy dressed like the Muslim aristocracy,⁷⁶ except that in place of *Kulāh* they used a turban, and in place of long drawers they wore *dhoti* trimmed with gold lace. The Muslims all over the country dressed heavily but the Hindus were scantily dressed. "They cannot wear more clothing," says Nicolo Conti, "on account of the great heat, and for the same reason only wear Sandals, with purple and golden ties, as we see in ancient statues."⁷⁷ The south Indian kings and nobles also wore long hair. "Some tie their hair at the back of their head with a silken cord, and let it flow over their shoulders. . . ." but they shaved their beards. "The men resemble Europeans in stature and the duration of their lives".⁷⁸
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⁷³ Every dancing girl wore on the occasion of the 'Id festival absolutely new apparel costing 40,000 *tankās* each. T.F.S. (A), 263.
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⁷⁴ T.F.S. (B), 273-74.
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⁷⁵ Alqal., 69, 70.
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⁷⁶ J.R.A.S., 1895, 88.
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⁷⁷ Nicolo Conti, 23. Also Abdur Razzāq, 17 and Nikitin, 12.
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⁷⁸ Nicolo Conti, 22.
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There was no special uniform for any one, not even for soldiers.⁷⁹ Religious groups of the Hindus and Muslims put on various types of clothes. The orthodox Muslims wore clothes of simple material like linen; they put on a long turban or a tall *darwesh* cap, loose gowns and wooden sandals. The Hindu ascetics wore a simple loin cloth or wrapped a sheet of unsewn cloth round themselves. Scholars wore the Syrian *jubbāh* and the Egyptian *dastār*.⁸⁰ The poor classes believed in reducing their clothing to a minimum. They usually went bare-headed and bare-footed. A single *dhotī* was considered a sufficient and respectable dress. In the villages the peasants sometimes put on only a loin-cloth (*langota*) which Bābur takes pains to describe in detail.⁸¹ That was due both to climatic conditions as well as poverty.
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⁷⁹ W.M., 32-33.
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⁸⁰ *Dīwān-i-Mutahhar* quoted in K.A. Nizāmī, *Studies in Medieval Indian History*, Aligarh, 1956, 90. This dress was worn at the Fīrōz Shāhī Madrasā.
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⁸¹ B.N. (B), II, 519.
c17.s6.12
Of women's clothes there were usually two varieties. One consisted of a long *Chādar*, not unlike the modern *sārī*, a bodice with long sleeves and a brassiere (*angiya*) for grown up maidens and married women. The other variety, which was more popular in Uttar Pradesh, consisted of a *lahngā*, a long and loose skirt, an *angiya* and a long scarf to cover the head. Muslim women of the upper classes usually wore loose drawers, a shirt and a long scarf with the usual veil. In some places, especially in Gujarat and the Deccan, women wore shoes made of leather, ornamented with gold and silk.⁸² Besides women all over the country wore all kinds of ornaments, the rich of gold and the poor of silver. Hindu women did not put on gold ornaments below the waist.
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⁸² Nicolo Conti, 23.
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In spite of the variety of dresses for Hindus and Muslims, a common type of Indian dress had emerged by the fifteenth century. The Hindu turban was quite popular among the Muslims of the upper classes, and the Hindu aristocracy adopted from the Muslim nobility the use of tight-fitting drawers and loose coat.⁸³ Right from the kings and the nobles at the top, down to the humblest citizens, the Muslims had become thoroughly Indianized. The costly royal dresses, the gilded and studded swords and daggers, the parasols (*chhatra*) of various colours etc. were all typically Indian paraphernalia of royal pomp and splendour. The use of rings, necklaces, ear-rings and other ornaments by men was also due to Indian influence; they are forbidden under Islamic law. Similarly tight-fitting cloak for men and tight-fitting trousers for women (often worn underneath the *lahnga*) were adopted by the Rajpūts from their Muslim neighbours.⁸⁴ It may also be pointed out that although European trousers have become common in India, the older male and female dresses have survived to this day.
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⁸³ Ashraf, 277 and n. 2.
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⁸⁴ *The Delhi Sultanate*, 609.