How The Significance Of Middle Eastern Turbans Vary Across Different Parts Of The World

By Mara Boone


There are a lot of reasons why Middle Eastern turbans are donned. These reasons vary depending on the region of Middle East where a person is based. Some wear it because of religious reasons, while others use these to denote their status in the society. Today, a turban is not just worn by people of Middle East but all over the world. People recovering from cancer, for instance, put these on because they want to conceal their hairless heads.

A Sikh will use a turban for covering their hair. This is because they never cut their hair. Their reasoning is that the hairs are a creation of God and as such, should be respected. The more devout Sikhs do not cut their beards. What they do is to comb their beads and have them tucked under the headgears. Thus, to the Sikh men these headgears have a lot of religious significance.

These headgears do vary from region to region in terms of their significance and reason for being worn. Also, their names vary depending on a Middle Eastern country that one is in. For instance, in Yemen, they are mainly donned by Muslim elders there, and are known as Kalansuwa. They take different shapes, most notable ones being conical, and spherical. Their colors also vary a great deal. There are those Muslims who believe in wearing white since it is the holiest color. This notion is derived from the fact that Prophet Muhammad always wore a white one.

The practice of wearing turban is widespread in Afghanistan also, and here, they are fond in varying types. The difference is so much so that even in the former ruling elite of Taliban regime, there existed great variety of headgears. It is common to find some people wearing the long varieties, while others have preference for the solid black ones that will be tied jut on top of their foreheads. Within the same country however, some people do not even wear them. In their place, people wear special afghan hats.

People of Iran, on the other hand, will most likely put on a headgear which is either white or black. The word turban can be traced to the Persians who occupied the present day Iran. During those times, these headgears were referred to as dulbands.

Apart from the Middle Eastern regions, Indians are also notorious for wearing these headgears. In this country, the turban has different connotations. They show the religion of a person, caste, profession and power in the society. The last one is especially of the turbans that are made of more fancy clothes, and which have been festooned with jewels.

Still in the Middle East, there is another type of turban, although, technically speaking, it is not exactly a turban. Its name is kaffiyeh and it looks more like a cap than a headgear. Normally, this is folded diagonally and then worn on the head. This, unlike the turban you know, is not wound but rather folded. It was mostly associated with Yasser Arafat, the former leader of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), who liked to wear it.

In desert regions like northern parts of Africa, Muslims there have another reason for wearing these Middle Eastern turbans. This is especially for protection of their heads from sand. Nomads do wear them for disguise. By just merely seeing the color, it is possible to tell from which region a man comes.




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