Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s2.t1.69

c7.s2.t1.69

III. Dresses and Clothes.—In matters of dressing, there was no uniformity among the various social and religious groups of Hindustan. There was a certain uniformity among the peasants and lower classes which mainly consisted in reducing their clothing to a minimum. We have referred to the State dress and other equipment of a monarch. In private, the monarch did not differ very much from other distinguished nobles in his dress, except for the quality of the material and the frequency with which he changed it. For their head-dress, the earlier Sultans of Delhi usually wore a kulah or the tall Tartar cap. Jalal-ud-din is reported to have worn a turban. For coating they used tight-fitting tunics of qaba, made of muslin or fine wool according to the season. The later day Peshwaz and Anga were modelled on it. In cold weather, the monarch sometimes wore an overcoat over the tunic, the Dagla, which was like a loose gown stuffed with carded cotton or some other material. On closer contact with western countries, Farghul or fur-coats began to be used by the monarchs. The Mughal Emperor Humayun introduced a new design of overcoat which was cut at the waist and was open in front. Humayun wore it over the qaba, in many colours according to his astrological fancies. This coat was also presented as Khil'at to the nobles and other people on various occasions. Ordinary shirts, shalwar (a kind of loose drawers) and light and beautiful shoes were in use. Separate suits of clothes were worn for the night.¹