History of the Turban in Fashion

Amit Amin and Naroop Jhooti, a creative duo known professionally as Amit and Naroop, are London-based photographers, directors and authors of "Turbans and Tales." The following is an edited excerpt from their book. The opinions in this article belong to the authors.

Growing upwards in Southall, West London, where many of Britain's Sikhs settled after moving to the UK, the turban was all effectually united states of america: at domicile, in the gurdwara, on the street. Information technology is Sikhs' most identifiable feature.

Simply tracing the turban'due south origins dorsum through history, we found that information technology was, at one fourth dimension, also worn by Muslims, Hindus, Jews and Christians.

The turban's verbal origin is unclear. A turban-like garment, constitute on a royal Mesopotamian sculpture dating to 2350 B.C., is believed to be the primeval known case, offering prove that the garment predates the Abrahamic religions.

Sikh warrior and politico Akali Nutha Singh depicted wearing a style of turban known equally "dastar bunga" -- or "towering fortress."

Credit: Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum / Turbans and Tales

The use of turbans one time stretched across India, the Heart East, Europe and Africa, protecting wearers from sun, rain or cold. In some regions, only believers had the privilege of wearing 1, while other cultures ordered non-believers to assume turbans of different colors so they could be identified. (In eighth-century Egypt and Syrian arab republic, for instance, Christians wore blue turbans, Jews yellow and Samaritans red, while Muslims generally sported white ones).

In India, only the majestic entourage and high officials were permitted to vesture turbans before the founding of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. The garment was a symbol of condition, frequently decorated with peacock plumes and ornaments. Hinduism, with its strict degree arrangement, forbade individuals of lower castes from donning turbans.

Islamic dominion brought about changes. Stylized around their Persian and Standard arabic heritage, the Mughals' turbans were conical and broad, unlike the smaller ones previously worn by Indians. And when Aurangzeb, one of the Mughals' most controversial emperors, came into power in 1658, the garment was used equally a tool to segregate the population.

Some styles of turban, such as those worn by cavalry regiments or used for special occassions like weddings, feature a tail of loose material at the back.

Credit: Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum / Turbans and Tales

Aurangzeb attempted to preclude non-Muslims from wearing turbans, decreeing that but the Islamic ruling grade had the say-so to wear them. But this, along with forced conversions and other fundamentalist policies, sabbatum uncomfortably with the growing Sikh population. When their leader Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb in Delhi, his son Gobind founded a warrior grouping known as the Khalsa, before insisting that all Sikhs wear turbans to cover their uncut hair.

The turban had get an act of defiance confronting the emperor. It was the Sikhs' sign of freedom, a symbol of equality and a way to stop caste distinctions.

Transformation under British rule

The arrival of the British in Punjab in 1845 triggered ane of the virtually significant shifts in Sikh identity.

Despite defeating the Khalsa, the British were impressed with their military skills and began recruiting Sikhs to fight for the empire. Enlightened that caste issues could affect the cohesiveness of the British Indian Army -- which as well included Hindu and Muslim soldiers -- the British made it mandatory for all soldiers to wear a turban, creating a sense of equality.

The British Indian Ground forces made it mandatory for all soldiers to vesture a turban.

Credit: Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum / Turbans and Tales

Merely the varying styles, shapes and sizes didn't sit well with the colonial rulers, who thought the garments looked scruffy. They decided to replace natural rolled layers with neat, symmetrical folds, leading to what is at present commonly known as the "Kenyan" mode turban.

The British also introduced insignia to aid identify regiments, which were mostly organized by race or class. To identify Sikh soldiers, they used an insignia of a "chakkar," a throwing weapon, that was pinned to the front of their turbans.

Another British-influenced change to Sikh identity was the tying of their beards. Traditionally, Sikhs would allow their uncut beards to flow loose. But, this posed bug when using British weaponry, every bit loose beards were prone to catching burn when operating a rifle.

The British military changed the way turbans were folded.

Credit: Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum / Turbans and Tales

The solution, imposed past the British, was to curlicue upwards and tie their beards over their chins, which became a defining await of the Sikh soldier. Although its purpose was initially functional, Sikh men proceed to roll their beards to this day, mainly for its artful advent.

During World War I, Sikh soldiers wore impressive large turbans, approximately eight meters in length. Only World War II brought most a shift in regular army policy, significant that Muslims and Hindus were no longer required to wear them. Although this change merely afflicted soldiers, it was the get-go stage of the turban existence removed from not-Sikh identity in Republic of india.

Postwar struggles

Later on the British granted India independence in render for its support in the war, the country's religious groups set virtually rethinking their identities. Muslims who moved to the newly formed Pakistan adopted the crescent moon and the colour greenish equally symbols, losing the turban and the orangish of imperial India. With violence often breaking out between religious groups, Hindus too shed the garment through fearfulness of existence mistaken for Sikhs.

In a country that in one case saw turbans equally the acme of social condition, only the Sikhs were left wearing them (although India's Hindus and Muslims often clothing them during special occasions, such as weddings.)

The violent aftermath of division too led a number of Sikhs to go out India for the Uk in the postwar years. Initially, they were greeted with respect and honour for their office in the wars. Gestures of gratitude, such equally free movie theater tickets, were common.

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But their glory was slowly forgotten, and the turban began to be seen as an obstacle to integration. Having left their beloved home in the hope of a improve life, Sikhs felt they had two options: assimilate past cutting their hair and removing their turbans, or clothing darker ones that wouldn't attract attention.

Many did the former, just some rebelled against the system. Take Sohan Singh Jolly, a retired police officeholder, who campaigned against a conclusion to ban a British double-decker driver from wearing his turban at piece of work. Afterwards exhausting all methods of protest, Sohan threatened to ready himself on fire if the rule wasn't changed.

His campaign was ultimately successful. But non anybody agreed with Jolly'due south tactics, fearing they could lead to alienation of Sikh communities and accusations of radicalization. A more diplomatic approach was needed if Sikhs were going to be treated every bit equals.

So they began fighting discrimination through the courts. In the 1970s, when the British fabricated it illegal to ride a motorbike without a helmet, many Sikhs refused, as it would mean removing their turbans while riding. A campaign led to the police existence amended to exclude followers of the organized religion.

And in the 1980s, the family of 12-year-old Gurinder Singh Mandla successfully sued a Birmingham school for racial discrimination subsequently it denied him a place for refusing to remove his turban. The case inverse the style that Sikhism was treated in the UK thereafter, with the garment now protected by British police.

Today in the United kingdom, Sikhs no longer experience they need to mute their turbans to arrange. With flamboyant fabrics and accessories, immature Sikhs use them as a mode to reflect their personality, as well as a symbol of their organized religion.

" Turbans and Tales ," published past Unbound, is available now. Scroll through the gallery above to see images from the book.

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