martes 19 de agosto de 2008
People
have been wearing cloth on their heads since the invention of cloth. Texts and
art that survive from many past cultures mention turbans.
The Vedas contain references to turbans being worn in Vedic India.And the
ancient Persians wore a conical cap sometimes encircled by bands of cloth.
It is believed that the Arabs of the time of Mohammed, the Islamic prophet,
wore Umamah (Arabic: عمامة). 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 great Islamic empires were established, under the first four
caliphs, the Umayyads, and the Abbasids, the new rulers wore Umamah. Head wraps
then diffused to populations under Islamic rule, even in countries where they
were not previously worn.
Probably the largest-ever Turbans were worn by high-ranking Turks of the
Ottoman 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 fez at the same time as
they abandoned their kaftan 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 Magnificent was renowned for
the size of his turban.
Many contemporary images show European men of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
wearing headgear that looks like turbans. These hats are actually chaperons,
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 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.
http://moroccan-shopping.blogspot.com/2008/08/turban.html
