The
turban (from
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
,
dulband) is a
headdressHeadgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head.Headgear serve a variety of purposes:...
consisting of a long
scarfA scarf is a piece of fabric worn on or near the head or around the neck for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons.-Uses and types:In cold climates, a thick knitted scarf, often of wool, is tied around the neck to keep warm...
-like single piece of cloth wound around the
headIn anatomy, the head of an animal is the rostral part that usually comprises the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth...
. The word "turban" is a common
umbrella termAn umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of related concepts, also called a hypernym.
For example, cryptology is an umbrella term that encompasses cryptography and cryptanalysis, among other fields.
...
, loosely used in English to refer to several sorts of headwear.
In Western countries, men wearing turbans in public are likely to be
SikhsSikhism, founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab, is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat or the Sikh Dharma...
, whose religion requires them to cover their uncut hair.
Overview of styles
Contemporary turbans come in many shapes, sizes, and colours. Youth turbans are called "turbs" as they are only half a turban.
- Middle Eastern, Central Asian, South Asian, and Sikh
Sikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
turban wearers usually wind it anew for each wearing, using long strips of cloth. The cloth is usually five meters or less. However, some elaborate South Asian turbans may be permanently formed and sewn to a foundation. Turbans can be very large or quite modest dependent upon region, culture, and religion.
- Turbans are worn as woman's hats in Western countries. They are usually sewn to a foundation, so that they can be donned or removed easily. Now that fewer Western women wear hats they are less common. However, turbans are still worn by female cancer
Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
patients who have lost their hair to chemotherapyChemotherapy, in its most general sense, is the treatment of disease by chemicals especially by killing micro-organisms or cancerous cells. In popular usage, it refers to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into a cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen...
and wish to cover their heads. Some women use wigs; others prefer scarves and turbans.
- Women in many parts of Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
and the West Indies often cover their heads with intricately tied scarves which may be called scarves, head wraps, or turbans. In contrast, men of the TuaregThe Tuareg are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa...
, BerberBerbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke various Berber languages, which together form a branch of the...
, SonghaiThe Songhai are an ethnic group from western Africa akin to the Mandé. The Songhai language group, however, has been connected with the Nilo-Saharan language family, unlike their neighboring counterparts...
, WodaabeThe Wodaabe are a small subgroup of the Fulani ethnic group. They are traditionally nomadic cattle-herders and traders in the Sahel, with migrations stretching from southern Niger, through northern Nigeria, northeastern Cameroon, and the western region of the Central African Republic. The...
, FulaniFula or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group of people spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
and HausaThe Hausa are a Sahelian people chiefly located in the West African regions of northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. There are also significant numbers found in regions of Sudan, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Chad and smaller communities scattered throughout West Africa and on the...
peoples of NorthNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
and West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
wear turbans, often veiling the face to deter dust.
Sikh turbans
The turban is closely associated with the
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
faith and the vast majority of people who wear turbans in Western countries are Sikhs. Those who undergo initiation,
Khande di Pahul (a type of
baptismIn Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted to membership of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered.The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the...
) to join the
KhalsaKhālsā is a term of Persian origin which refers to the collective body of all baptized Sikhs. The Khalsa was originally established as a military order of "saint-soldiers" on March 30, 1699, by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru...
, are forbidden to cut their hair as well as non-baptised Sikhs. Such men are required to wear a turban to manage their long hair and also a Sikh turban is a distinct symbol of the Sikh identity. Most baptised women also wear turbans; however, non-baptised Sikh women usually do not wear turbans. Un-initiated Sikhs are still required to leave their hair unshorn.
Afghan turbans
Afghan men wear a variety of turbans, known as lungee. Lungee is also worn in the north west of Pakistan, especially in the tribal areas. The lungee is usually worn in tribal meetings, but a majority of Afghans prefer to wear it in everyday life.
Rajasthani turbans
Jats and
RajputA Rajput is a member of one of the major Hindu Kshatriya groups of India. They enjoy a reputation as formidable soldiers and it is common to find many of them serving in the Indian Armed Forces. The British Government also accepted them and recruited them heavily into their armies...
s from the
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n state of
RajasthanRājasthān is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan...
wear distinctive turbans. Rajputs traditionally wear coloured turbans whereas Jats wear white turbans. The
MarwariMarwari may refer to:* Marwar, a region in Rajasthan, India* Marwari language, a language of the Marwar region* Marwaris, people from the Marwar region* Muslim Marwaris, Muslim people from the Marwar region living in Karachi Pakistan...
s wear light coloured turbans. Many styles of turbans are found in Rajasthan; it is said that the style of the turban changes with every 15 km you travel. In some areas, especially in
RajasthanRājasthān is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan...
the turban's size may indicate the position of the person in society. Royalty in different parts of India have distinctly different styles of turbans, as do the 'peasants', who often just wear a small piece of cloth wound around the head.
Mysori turbans
The people of the Indian districts of
MysoreMysore is the second-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division and lies about southwest of Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. The name Mysore is an anglicised version of Mahishūru, which means the abode of Mahisha...
and
KodaguKodagu is a district of Karnataka State in southern India. It is also known by its anglicised name of Coorg. It occupies about 4,100 square kilometers of land in the Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka. As of 2001, the population was 5,48,561, with some 13.74% of the population residing in...
wear turbans called
Mysore peta. Distinguished people are honoured by the award of a Mysore peta in a formal ceremony. In Kodagu district people wear it with traditional dress on special occasions such as marriages.
Uttarakhand (Kuamaon)
Now going extinct and worn generally during religious functions the
Taanka of the
KumaoniFor the people of Kumaon see Kumauni PeopleThe Kumaoni are a people of the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand, a region in the Indian Himalayas...
Rajputs or
Thakur*Thakur Marathi / Hindi surname*Thakur Bengali surname*Thakur Hindu /Muslim surname*Thakur one of the scheduled tribes of India.Thakur may refer to:*Hindu deities: In Bengali, deities are refer to as Thakur....
s is a reminder of their long martial history and valour. It is now, however, hardly seen.
Turbans as hats in Western countries
Turbans have been worn by men and women since the 17th century, without ever becoming very common. Poet
Alexander PopeAlexander Pope is a famous eighteenth century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson. Pope is famous for his use of the heroic couplet.-...
is sometimes depicted wearing a turban.
Now that hats are infrequently worn, turbans too are relatively uncommon. They are worn primarily by women of West Indian descent and by female cancer patients. Some women wear them to make a statement of individuality, such as the British social entrepreneur
Camila BatmanghelidjhCamila Batmanghelidjh is a psychotherapist and social entrepreneur whose work focuses on children marginalised by society. She is the founder and director of Kids Company, a charity based in south London devoted to 'lone' children, i.e...
, who usually wears a colourful matching turban and robe.
Although the turban is mentioned in the Bible, Christians in general do not see wearing turbans as part of their religious practice. However in some Christian countries, particular
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, the majority of all
ArmenianThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
men do actually wear turbans, but they mostly wear them during celebrations and festivals, rather than as part of their own daily clothing.
Headdress in Muslim majority countries
The men of many Islamic cultures have worn or wear a headdress of some sort that may be considered a turban. Islam, however, does not require any sort of head wrap or headdress for men. Head wraps that men wear are called several names and worn in different ways dependent on region and culture. Examples include
Amamah in Arabic, and
dastār in Persian.
- Many types of head wrap are worn by Islamic scholars in many Muslim countries. Islamic scholars meaning specifically Muslim scholars who study the religion of Islam, most likely being Sheikh
Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, Šeih, Šejh and other variants , is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "elder". It is commonly used to designate an elder of a tribe, a revered wise man, or an Islamic scholar...
s or ImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question...
s.
- In Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam , is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'as or Shi'ites....
, wearing a black head wrap, around a small white cap is a claim to status as a descendant of Muhammad.
- Green turban is a distinctive feature of a Hajji
Hajji , or El-Hajj, is an honorific title given to a Muslim person who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca, and is often used to refer to an elder, since it takes time to accumulate the wealth to fund the travel. The title is placed before a person's name...
.
- In Sudan
Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest country in Africa and in the Arab World, and tenth largest in the world by area...
, large white headdresses are worn; they generally are meant to connote high social status.
In modern
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
countries, the head wrap has been replaced by the plain or checkered scarf (called
keffiyehThe keffiyeh ), also known as a shmagh , ghutrah , ' , mashadah or shemagh is a traditional headdress typically worn by Arab men made of a square of cloth , usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles around the head...
,
ghutrah or
shumagh), though the Arabic Amamah tradition is still strong in
OmanOman , officially the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab country in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates on the northwest, Saudi Arabia on the west and Yemen on the southwest....
(see Sultan
Qaboos of OmanQaboos bin Said Al Said is the Sultan of Oman. He rose to power after overthrowing his father, Sa‘id ibn Taymur, in a palace coup in 1970. He is the 14th descendant of the Al Bu Sa‘idi dynasty.-Early life:...
).
History of turbans
People first began to wear Turbans in the Sudan according to Leo Frobenius a German historian.
The revelations of fifteenth and seventeenth century navigators
furnish us with certain proof that Negro Africa, which extended
south of the Sahara desert zone, was still in full bloom, in the
full brilliance of harmonious and well-formed civilizations. In
the last century the superstition ruled that all high culture of
Africa came from Islam. Since then we have learned much, and we
know today that the beautiful turbans and clothes of the Sudanese folk were already used in Africa before Muhammad was even born or before Ethiopian culture reached inner Africa. Since then we have learned that the peculiar organization of the Sudanese states existed long before Islam and that all of the art of building and education, of city organization and handwork in Negro Africa, were thousands of years older than those of Middle Europe.
- The ancient Persians
History of Iran has been intertwined to the history of a larger historical region, Greater Iran, which consists of the area from the Euphrates in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of...
wore a conical cap sometimes encircled by bands of cloth.
- It is believed that the Arabs of the time of Muhammad
Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
, the Islamic prophet, wore Amamah . They were very useful for fending off the desert sand and protecting the head and face from very high temperatures and strong sunlight. When the Islamic empires were established, under the first four caliphs, the Umayyads, and the Abbasids, the new rulers wore Amamah. Head wraps then diffused to populations under Islamic rule, even in countries where they were not previously worn.
- The Maya peoples of Central America
Managua
Guatemala City
San Salvador
San Pedro Sula
Panama City
San José, Costa Rica
Santa Ana, El Salvador
León
San Miguel|-|}...
are known to have used head-coverings similar in form to turbans. This is especially evident in the iconography of the Classic Period (c. 600-900 A.D.), especially from the region around CopanThe Pre-Columbian city today known as Copán is a locale in western Honduras, in the Copán Department, near to the Guatemalan border. It is the site of a major Maya kingdom of the Classic era ....
, Honduras (see depictions on Altar Q).
- Probably the largest-ever Turbans were worn by high-ranking Turk
The Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce. According to some sources , the leader of the Kayi tribe of the Oguz Turks, Ertugrul, left Persia in...
s of the OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
period, including soldiers. These were enormous round turbans, wrapped around a hollow cone or framework, that often projected at the top. Hence they were called "Sarık", meaning "wrapped". From the 19th century the Turks mostly gave up the turban for the fezThe fez , or Tarboosh طربوش , is a red felt hat in the shape of a truncated cone.-Origin:...
at the same time as they abandoned their kaftanA kaftan is a man's cotton or silk cloak buttoned down the front, with full sleeves, reaching to the ankles and worn with a sash....
tunics for more Western dress. Broad-rimmed Western hats did not meet the Islamic requirement that the forehead touch the ground during prayer and the Sultan issued a decree enforcing the wearing of the fez, applicable to all religious groups. Suleiman the MagnificentSuleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566...
was renowned for the size of his turban.
- Men in Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
, an island with Persian, Arab and Ottoman influences, traditionally covered their heads with either a headscarf (similar to a wrapped keffiyehThe keffiyeh ), also known as a shmagh , ghutrah , ' , mashadah or shemagh is a traditional headdress typically worn by Arab men made of a square of cloth , usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles around the head...
, "a form of turban") or a fezFez may refer to:*Fes, a city in Morocco**FEZ, the IATA code of Fes-Saïss Airport*Fez , a painting by an American artist*Fez , a brimless felt hat, once widespread in the Ottoman Empire...
. Turbans have been worn by Cypriot men since ancient times and were recorded by HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, during the Persian ruleThis article treats the history of Cyprus in Classical Antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the Middle Ages. The earliest written records relating to Cyprus date to the Middle Bronze Age , see Alasiya.-Assyrian Period:...
of the island, to demonstrate their "oriental" customs compared to GreeksThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
.
- Many contemporary images show European men of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
and RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
wearing headgear that looks like turbans. These hats are actually chaperonsChaperon was a form of hood or, later, highly versatile hat worn in all parts of Western Europe in the Middle Ages...
, which could look very similar. Men in Europe were expected to take off their headgear in church, and in the presence of a person of much higher rank, like a king. This is not easy with a turban. Turbans also appear in European religious art, especially in scenes picturing the Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
, then inhabited by turban-wearers. Turbans did not become a regular part of European headgear until the late 17th century. Men then shaved their heads and wore heavy wigs; when relaxing at home, they removed the wigs and covered their heads with caps or sometimes turbans.
- European women wore a wide variety of headdresses, some of which appear to be wrapped scarves or occasionally turbans. In the late 18th century and early 19th, turbans became fashionable headgear for women. http://gallery.villagehatshop.com/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=chapter11&id=183_G The first recorded use of the English word "turban" for a Western female headdress is in 1776 (OED). As with all styles, they have waxed and waned in popularity. Later Victorians wore wrapped toques; turbans were fashionable in the early 20th century. http://gallery.villagehatshop.com/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=chapter20&id=291_G , http://gallery.villagehatshop.com/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=chapter20&id=292_G. The French couturier Poiret
Poiret may refer to several people:*Jean Poiret, author of La Cage aux Folles*Jean Louis Marie Poiret, French botanist*Jean Louis Georges Poiret*Paul Poiret, fashion designer...
was known for his OrientalistOrientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists. An "Orientalist" may be a person engaged in these activities, but it is also the traditional term for any scholar of Oriental studies...
designs featuring turbans. Turbans were fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s http://gallery.villagehatshop.com/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=chapter23&id=320_G, http://gallery.villagehatshop.com/gallery/view_photo.php?full=1&set_albumName=chapter22&id=312_G; one name given them was cache-misère (FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, "hide misery"), a chic solution to a bad-hair day. http://www.fashion-era.com/hats-hair/hats_hair_8a_hairstyles_history_1930_1940.htm Costumes worn by singer Carmen MirandaMaria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha
GCIH, better known by the stage name Carmen Miranda was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer and actress popular in the 1940s and 1950s....
in several WWII-era Hollywood films featured turbans, including increasingly outrageous and oversized piles of fruit-as-headgear, supposedly modelled on those worn by Brasilian market ladies. After a precipitous decline in hat-wearing during the 1960s, turbans are now rather rarely seen on women in the Western WorldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
.
Harassment of turban-wearers
In the USA a number of turban-wearers have been attacked or abused by persons acting on the false assumption that all turban-wearers are affiliated with terrorism. Amongst others,
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
men wearing turbans have been harassed, attacked or even killed because of their religious headwear. These attacks have been further fueled by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the
World Trade CenterThe World Trade Center was a complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City whose seven buildings were destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 terrorist attacks...
in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. One widely publicized incident was the murder of
Balbir Singh SodhiBalbir Singh Sodhi was a Mesa, Arizona, gas station owner who was murdered in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. He made headlines because he was the first of several cases across the United States that were reported to the police as acts of retaliation for the terrorist attacks...
. The terms
towelheadTowelhead is an ethnic slur for person of Arab descent.Towelhead may also refer to:* Towelhead — a 2005 novel by Alicia Erian* Towelhead — a 2008 film by Alan Ball based on the above novel...
and raghead are pejorative references to Middle Eastern and Arab headdresses including turbans. It is mainly used to refer to Arabs and people of Middle Eastern descent.
External links
Turbans - general
Turbans for cancer patients
Afghan Turbans
Sikh turbans
European turbans
Native American turbans