Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s6.8

c17.s6.8

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.