DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29463#0131
laid on suitans' tombs. In Bursa the tombs were adorned with great,
symbolic turbans with green cones and wraps of muslin, while the
sultans buried in Istanbul had on their tombs turbans with red cones.
The turban as a headdress has a long history, reaching back to
antiquity. Established in the hot, desert lands of Asia and Africa as a
protection against the dangerous rays of the sun, the turban origi-
nally was a scarf wound around the head in a defined way. Various
types and colors of turbans were developed in Arabia, Persia, India,
and Central Asia. It was in use in European countries, especially in
Spain, which was occupied by the Moors from yn to 1492. Some
types of turbanlike headdress were also worn by Byzantine dignitar-
ies in the fourteenth century, and turbans were a court fashion in
the fifteenth century in Italy and France." The turban served mili-
tary purposes as a good protection for the head and as padding for
the helmet.^ Conversely, the turban was sometimes wrapped around
the helmet. ^ In general, various types of turban contributed to the
"monumentalization" of the human figure; the head, as the most
important part of the human body, was ornamented and enlarged,
and the turban was therefore a good place to exhibit special orna-
ments, plumes, and jewels.
Turbans may be roughly divided into three types: the simple wrap
of cloth, the wrap on a cap, and the wrap on a special construction
of stiff materials, such as sticks or pasteboard. In Ottoman Turkey
all types were used, but the simple wrap was used only by the lower
classes and various minorities. For the wrap on a cap, the inner cap,
or was stiff and made of felt or velvet lined with pasteboard,
while the wrap was of a delicate fabric, mostly muslin or, more rarely,
silk. The cap could take diverse and even fancy shapes, such as
cylindrical, conical, spiked, domed, or puffed. The turban of Safavid
Persian style, sometimes used by the Ottomans, had a very tall red
spike at the top. The wrap could cover the cap with a single layer or,
more often, with multiple layers in a special set, achieving finally the
form of a roll, cylinder, ball, or melon. Of course, its volume de-
pended on the height and form of the cap. The fabric for the wrap
could be very long, reaching 20 yards or more. It was usually snow-
white, more rarely being threaded with gold or colored. Green tur-
bans were adopted by pilgrims to Mecca and were also worn by some
privileged persons, such as the descendents of the Prophet.
107
symbolic turbans with green cones and wraps of muslin, while the
sultans buried in Istanbul had on their tombs turbans with red cones.
The turban as a headdress has a long history, reaching back to
antiquity. Established in the hot, desert lands of Asia and Africa as a
protection against the dangerous rays of the sun, the turban origi-
nally was a scarf wound around the head in a defined way. Various
types and colors of turbans were developed in Arabia, Persia, India,
and Central Asia. It was in use in European countries, especially in
Spain, which was occupied by the Moors from yn to 1492. Some
types of turbanlike headdress were also worn by Byzantine dignitar-
ies in the fourteenth century, and turbans were a court fashion in
the fifteenth century in Italy and France." The turban served mili-
tary purposes as a good protection for the head and as padding for
the helmet.^ Conversely, the turban was sometimes wrapped around
the helmet. ^ In general, various types of turban contributed to the
"monumentalization" of the human figure; the head, as the most
important part of the human body, was ornamented and enlarged,
and the turban was therefore a good place to exhibit special orna-
ments, plumes, and jewels.
Turbans may be roughly divided into three types: the simple wrap
of cloth, the wrap on a cap, and the wrap on a special construction
of stiff materials, such as sticks or pasteboard. In Ottoman Turkey
all types were used, but the simple wrap was used only by the lower
classes and various minorities. For the wrap on a cap, the inner cap,
or was stiff and made of felt or velvet lined with pasteboard,
while the wrap was of a delicate fabric, mostly muslin or, more rarely,
silk. The cap could take diverse and even fancy shapes, such as
cylindrical, conical, spiked, domed, or puffed. The turban of Safavid
Persian style, sometimes used by the Ottomans, had a very tall red
spike at the top. The wrap could cover the cap with a single layer or,
more often, with multiple layers in a special set, achieving finally the
form of a roll, cylinder, ball, or melon. Of course, its volume de-
pended on the height and form of the cap. The fabric for the wrap
could be very long, reaching 20 yards or more. It was usually snow-
white, more rarely being threaded with gold or colored. Green tur-
bans were adopted by pilgrims to Mecca and were also worn by some
privileged persons, such as the descendents of the Prophet.
107