A ''qaba'' (, from Middle Persian ''kabāh⁠'') is a long coat with sleeves and buttons, similar to a

cassock The cassock, or soutane, is a Christian clerical clothing, clerical coat used by the clergy and Consecrated life, male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in ...

, open at the front. The

Mughal emperors The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty ( House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire i ...

wore ankle-length garments. The outfits during the reign of

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

and

Humayun Nasir al-Din Muhammad (6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), commonly known by his regnal name Humayun (), was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan from ...

are more or less the same, i.e. qaba,

jama ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of b ...

, pirahan, jilucha, jiba and kasaba. Unlike the jama, which was a four-pointed long-coat the Qaba and takauchia were of a broad girth at the bottom. There are mentions of the qaba in the ''

Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' (; ) is the memoirs of Babur, Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur. It is written in the Chagatai language, known to Babur as ''Türki'' "Turkic ...

''. At present, qaba is one of the essential parts of the

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece outer garment that is worn on the torso, hangs down over the legs, and is primarily worn by women or girls. Dresses often consist of a bodice attached to a skirt. Dress shapes, silh ...

of the clerics or mosque leaders. It was worn in Egypt, Turkey, the Levant, and Persia, among other places. When

Henry II, Count of Champagne Henry II of Champagne or Henry I of Jerusalem (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was the count of Champagne from 1181 and the king of Jerusalem ''jure uxoris'' from his marriage to Queen Isabella I in 1192 until his death in 1197. Early li ...

king of Jerusalem The king or queen of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conquered in ...

, tried to build a friendly relationship with

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

, he requested the gift of a qabā and a sharbūsh', which he wore in

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

. In Arab contexts, two main variations were noted; the Turkish style (''al-aqbiya al-turkiyya''), and the Tatar (or Mongolian) style (''al-aqbiya al-tatariyya'' or ''qabā' tatarī''). The latter fastened on the wearer's right side, and was preferred by Mamluk amirs in its day over the former style, which was favored by the

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

and

Ayyubids The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ori ...

. Also notable is a variation, typically with a v shaped neck, that closed center front. The garment typically had awaist seamm and some depictions indicate a gathered skirt. It was fastened with buttons or strings tied in bows, and most commonly worn with a belt over top.

Gallery

File:Royal drinking scene in the Dukhang at Alchi Monastery, circa 1200 CE.jpg, Royal drinking scene in the Dukhang at Alchi Monastery, circa 1200 CE. The king wears a decorated Qabā'. File:Humayun (left) with his father Babur (right), painted circa 1640 (Late Shah Jahan Album).jpg, upBabur and his heir

File:Fírúz Jang Khán Ruler of Bijapur..jpg, Late 17th century portrait of Fírúz Jang Khán, ruler of Bijapur File:Costume of India - Moguls.jpg, Late 19th century "Costume of India - Moguls" picture depicting Mogul woman (upper left), Mogul Emperor Farrukhsiyar (center) died 1719, and Emperor Humayun (upper right), died in 1556 File:The vizier Qamar ud-Din circa 1735 Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.jpg, Vizier Qamar ud-Din circa 1735 File:Studio portrait of a Mogul father with his children at Delhi, by Shepherd and Robertson.jpg, Portrait of "Mogul" father with his children in Delhi (Shepherd & Robertson) circa 1863 File:Arabischer Maler um 1335 004.jpg,

Maqamat of Al-Hariri The ''Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī'' (Arabic: مقامات الحريري) is a collection of fifty tales or '' maqāmāt'' written at the end of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century by al-Ḥarīrī of Basra (1054–1122), a poet and go ...

. File:Page from the manuscript of Nihayat al-Sawl; Egypt, Mamluk era, 15th cent.; Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo (4).jpg, Page from the manuscript of Nihayat al-Sawl; Egypt, Mamluk era, 15th cent.; Museum of Islamic Art, Cairo. File:Polo players painted onto glass with enemal and gold paint Egypt or Syria about 1300 8428.jpg, Polo players painted onto glass with enamel and gold paint Egypt or Syria about 1300. File:Enameled and Gilded Bottle MET ISL158.jpg, Enameled and Gilded Bottle. File:Enameled and Gilded Bottle MET is41.150.AV1.jpg, Enameled and Gilded Bottle.

References

Coats (clothing) Indian clothing Iranian clothing {{clothing-stub

See also

Gallery

References