Mughal Hats are for Mughal Nobility: The Theologian and the Slave-Girl.

Today's examination is another of Akbar's commissioned works saved at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. The description:

The theologian and the slave-girl. Abdullah Ibn Jafer presents the singing girl to the scholar who has been distracted from his studies and religion by his overpowering love for her. Illustration of Baharistan, by Jami.

Let's lighten this up. Jami's works come from the 15th century - he was an active artist from 1414 to 1492. This piece was created by an artist named Mukund. I haven't been able to find the story.

But I don't really need a story to see what's going on here. The description is all I need. What I find intriguing is that the only person named is Abdullah Ibn Jafer, who is apparently the man kneeling at the scholar's feet. The other three are the scholar, a woman who appears to be making a statement, and a girl behind her.

If the slave-girl is being presented, I would assume the girl on the right is said slave-girl. She wears a veil but no hat.

The woman who appears to be presenting her along with Abdullah IS wearing a taqi, complete with veils. Everything about her appears to be of early Mughal costume - a long dupatta-like veil, an underdress, her jewelry.

If she is Mughal, this slave-girl might have been of her harem. And slaves weren't Mughal. Mughal is an adopted culture, not a heritage. This seems to be borne out here.

Perhaps.

Two Mughal Ladies from The Singer on the Balcony.

Currently diving into the online holdings of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford - which, for some reason, presents everything very dark.

Today's look is into The singer on the balcony. Illustration of Baharistan, by Jami. Emperor Akbar, as I've previously mentioned on this website, commissioned many great works of literature to be illuminated by artists in his court. Of those, the works of the poet Jami (1414-1492) are depicted in the collected folio Baharistan by Jami.

This illumination appears in the online book, Mughal Miniatures of the Earlier Period, from the Bodleian Library's collection. It's a free download, but sadly it's a black and white text with black and white panels that do not quite capture the beauty of the images.

I have had no luck finding the associated story.

The image is rather dark on the Bodleian site, so I've utilized a program to lighten it. That's much clearer.

From this image, I'm particularly inspecting two hat-wearing women. The lady at the top is playing what appears to be a Kurdish rubab with a curved bow. On the side of her taqi, there appears to be either a feather inserted in the side (which would be rather unusual) or a seam. The seam would indicate that the frame of the taqui is wrapped with fabric - I've been incorporating the finished edge of the material I've been using on some of the taqis I've recently made. It provides a much cleaner finish than the straight up-and-down seam. Unfortunately, since I sent all of those hats to Pennsic to sell, I don't have one to shoot at the moment.

The lower lady in the image is of greater interest to me. Because of the small size and low resolution in the download, it's hard to view this clearly. But it certainly looks as if this lady is wearing both an underveil and an overveil on her taqi. Note the sweep of fabric under her chin and how it rolls up into the top of the hat. Now note the layer over that, which progresses down her back. I'm pretty certain this is a use of two veils, one taqi.

Akbarnama - Elements of Mughal Dress in an End of Period Illumination.

More examination today from the collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art - this from an Akbarnama. The image is A Circumcision ceremony for Akbar’s sons, painting 126 from an Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) of Abu’l Fazl (Indian, 1551–1602), c. 1602-1603. Like other images from the museum's collection, there's no description of action in the online presence.

This particular image does have a name for its artist - Dharam Das. The colors here pop beautifully - and the image is well-preserved, complete with goldworked borders.

Of interest in my Mughal women's dress research are the dancers. I've seen several examples of late period long dressed with the plunging neckline, but most of them have been depicted in pink or red. Here, a green example emerges. The women are wearing boqta or taqi hats with veils, apparently underneath or tacked to the back of the hat, while dancing. Perhaps at this juncture (in the last decade before 1600) the hats were a throwback, traditional wear for ceremonies and celebrations.

Note the lady in the green has a spread plume, which would bring it more in line of the idea of feathers instead of horsehair.

The artist's details in depicting the sheer muslin or silk veils is particularly lovely.

There's also this lady to the right side, presumably in another room. Her sheer veil is definitely coming off the top and back of her hat, and she appears to have no underveil or neck strap.

SHE'S WEARING A BINDI.

For the most part, bindi don't appear on Mughal women in period. Yet here is this woman, in her taqi hat and veils, long dress (which does not appear to have the plunging neckline), jewels and a mark on her forehead. Looking through the entire illumination, all the women appear to have bindi - but none of the men do.

So did Dharam Das depict these women with bindi, or were they added later?

An Impressive Hat, and Confusion.

The piece, Folios A and B from the "Five Treasures" (Panj Ganj) of Jami, 1520-1607, resides at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which Grav plans to visit on his way back from Pennsic this year. The website offers little information, no description of what's happening and a very large span of time in which it could have been created.

What interests me in this Indian or Mughal illumination, is this woman.

She appears to either be topless or in a very thin muslin shirt, a skirt, and a boqta hat. There are no veils, but there is a plume and the edges appear to be pearled.

It is different in shape from the boqta seen in much of the Baburnama - which, as I 've mentioned before, was illustrated by illuminators during Akbar's reign - with their slightly shorter appearance and the attachment of veils. What's more remarkable to meis the combination of elements - she's dressed in Hindi attire rather than Mughal, with what appears to be nothing more than a petticoat and... actually, on closer inspection, this appears to be a transparent scarf. She's obviously bare above the midriff save for jewelry and this enormous hat.

Sadly, thanks to the lack of interpretation here, I have nothing more to go on. Google search has nothing, no strings to follow.

One thing I can draw from is the fine detail the illuminator used in depicting rugs and... wallpaper?... and

wait, WHAT ARE THOSE LADIES DOING TO HER?

Are they flogging her with cotton candy? What?

A smaller portion of the upper left of the scroll shows a couple where a woman is wearing a more traditional bogta, possibly a taqi, and more traditional garb.

And the cheery inter-scene illumination is a cheetah and deer...

Oh deer.

I suspect this image is actually post-period. Another illumination in the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection depicts women in skirts and pants with the ultra sheer muslin shirts and skirts over in this illumination from the early 17th century, certainly a nod to Shah Jahangir's clothing aesthetic. Look, nipples.

Got you to look.

These hats are most decidedly without veils. The costumes are most decidedly un-SCA-able in their current fashions. I do recall meeting a woman at SCA50 who was dressed Indian-fashion but with a skin-colored leotard under her necklaces and pants.

The coats I am wearing may be bulky and thick, but at least I don't feel naked.

What I am getting here are the uses of various jewelry and some shoes - complete with CURLY TOES. Still, it's out of period by a few years, and because of the particular style of illumination and clothing worn, I'm going to make the assumption that the first illumination is also slightly out of period.

Constructing Your Own Boqta, a Mughal Woman's Hat, from Mundane Items.

I've been asked for a while to write up the history and process of making the hats I wear as part of my Mughal garb. Here's what I've garnered.

Scroll down for the materials and how-to.

First off, we do need to mention the fact that while the Mughal Empire in period covered a lot of space that included slices of modern India and Pakistan, its ruling class were not Hindi. Babur was the son of a Timur prince and a descendant of Genghis Khan on his mother's side. Babur's defeat in 1526 of the last Delhi Sultante, Ibrahim Lodi, is where we traditionally mark the beginning of the Mughal Empire.

Babur only lived four years into the Mughal period. Everything up to that was a series of events that lead to its creation. Babur was born in 1483, the eldest son of Umar Sheikh Mirza, who was the governor of Fergana and son of Timur the Great. When he was twelve he himself became governor of Fergana. By the time he was 14, he had conquered Samarkind, but lost both by 1501. At 21, he conquered Kabul. Most of his young life was spent in battles and negotiation.

I mention all of this because Babur chronicled his own life in his memoir, the Baburnama (the book of Babur). But his book was a written text. It wasn't until his grandson Akbar, son of Himayun, commissioned illumination of the book that we received the tomes we know today - illuminations that are lush with color and which depict not only the battles and the negotiations but also moments of everyday life in Babur's time.

These are the illuminations from which I take the inspiration to create the hats.

A really excellent article came out a few years ago, noted  by the Smithsonian, posted on MedievalPOC.com. It stirred up some interest in hennin, the hats worn in various parts of Europe in later period. The article surmises that a hat given by the Empress of Genghis Khan, his most beloved wife Borte, to the explorer Marco Polo influenced European fashion and ushered in the adoption of some pretty incredible hats. The images I'm posting here

were saved from the China Silk Museum website, but I can't get the original site to pull up the page. This hat was supposed to have been one of those boghtaq hats, kept in the collection. Kudos to the museum for taking good photographs that show all sides of the unusual headdress.

Borte's headdress can be seen in much of the art depicting those times. Its unusual shape is similar to a drum. You may note the silk strapping across the basket and the ties to keep the item firmly on the head. I've read before that the tall hats helped those from a distance determine the men from the women as an indication of whom not to target.

How did this thing turn into this other thing?

Well, time and distance. After all, we didn't just go from the Mongol Empire to the Mughal Empire. The Mongol empire effectively ended in the 14th century, while the Mughals didn't come into their own until the 16th. Fashion had a lot of developing to do in-between.

This hat, which Marco Polo brought home with him, is alleged to have influenced the hats of Europe. You do see this sort of thing here and there in art of the intervening period.

For instance, the painting Presentation of Christ at the Temple by Hans Holbein the Elder (1501, full image here) shows a woman wearing a very tall hat with a veil attatched to its tip. This is very much the "princess hat" we have come to think of for children's play fantasies of what such should appear to be.

Another example, this one from Emilia, Arcite, and Palamon worship at the shrines of the Gods – from the Théséide by Barthelemy d'Eyck, shows a woman in a hat that appears to be conical and which bears an elaborate veil. (full size image here).

And then there's this - Portrait of a Female Donor by Petrus Christus. The painting, dated to 1456, shows a woman kneeling, wearing a hat that appears to be a boqta. The rounded but still somewhat conical hat includes a short veil and is similar to the hat worn in this image:

The image in question is "Babur Witnesses Muhammed Husain Mirza entangled in bedding" by an unknown artist, contained in the Baburnama (full image here). The hats on the woman in blue and the woman in yellow appear to be this rounded-topped hat, but with a much longer veil.

This is where my supposition comes in. I detail how I created my Mughal ensemble based on what I found in period illuminations here, and I happily invite you to go take a look. As I learn more, I continue to evolve the outfits I wear.

But the hats? Well, when it came to creating a hat, I needed some idea. I originally thought the hat must be made from felt or buckram. The latter seemed more plausible, since whatever hat would have to be pretty strong to hold up a lot of veiling. And then I found this illumination.

Do you see it? Let me point out all the things about this.

Baskets. So I crafted a way to make the hats out of what I could find, which in this case are bamboo flower basket covers. You can purchase them online, or you can do what I do and pick them up from thrift stores and yard sales. Seriously, people don't want these things.

Here's how to make your own boqta hat.

You will need:

1 flowerpot cover basket that fits comfortably on the top of your head (the 7 inch variety works perfectly for me).

1 piece of lining fabric that's as tall as the basket and as long as the circumference - a 10"x24" piece usually works well. I suggest a lightweight scrap of cotton or linen

1 piece of felt, the width of the height of the basket plus the top of the basket and two inches by the length of the circumference of the exterior of the basket. Or - you should be good with a piece that's 14"x24".

1 piece of fabric for the outside, whatever you want, as long as it's not stretchy. Same size - 14"x24"

Sewing needle

Thread

Straight pins

Scissors

Remove the plastic lining from the basket (if it still has it).

Measure the basket to make sure of your measurements - as you can see, this is a roughly 7" in diameter basket rim...

that's roughly seven inches in height...

and just over five inches at the base.

Make sure your lining fabric is long enough to circle the basket.

For the inside, I usually go for an inch more than the basket is tall, since there will be a lap at the brim.

Pin the lining fabric to the inside of the hat. Don't force the pins through the wicker. Find natural places to push it through. Forcing it through bends your pins and weakens your basket structure.

It is OK for the pins to just go through the rim here. You're preparing for the next step. No sewing yet.

Now take the felt and make sure it fits the circumference of the outside of the basket. I know, you measured this already, but trust me. Measurements are weird on these flexible baskets sometimes.

Cut the felt appropriately. I'll cut this piece two inches longer than this ruler - one inch to cover the lap in, one for security at the other end. Twelve inches here is the height of the basket plus the diameter of its base.

To pin the felt on, start with a new straight pin, then pull the ones from the lap on the lining fabric and replace them as you go along. You can leave out the felt layer, but realize it's providing a cushion for your head.

Continue to pin all the way around. Note the lining fabric is not sewn to itself. This is by design - you could do the hat without a lining, but if you have hair it will get tangled in that wicker.

Continue around the basket. You may need to smooth the felt a bit.

This is how it should look when you finish pinning. Time to sew. It does not matter what color thread you choose at this point, so I'm going with something that contrasts so you can see what I'm doing.

Carefully start threading through the layers and the wicker. You're going to want to start that first and second stitch tied together, because once your needle goes through two layers of lining, four layers of felt and the basket itself, that hole's going to be pretty large and a knot at the end would just slip through.

Once again, don't force the needle through the wicker. Find spaces where you can wiggle the needle through. This means you're going to have some rather gnarly looking stitches. Don't fret over it. You won't see this at all in the finished product.

If you can manage to make this neat, more power to you, but really, it's not necessary.

Remove the pins as you go along. Make sure you go through all the layers as you go around the hat.

When you get to the beginning again, continue up the side, pulling the felt tight against the wicker. At this point, you are not going through the wicker - it's secure at the bottom and the tension from closing the hat at the top will keep this felt on for good. Whip stitch this baby all the way up, pulling as you go to keep the felt flat. Don't worry - the felt will reshape a bit to accommodate.

When you get to the top, you have a couple of options. One is to cut the felt to fit. Here's how I did that on another hat.

I want this hat to be a bit more rounded at the top, with plenty of padding. So I'm just folding the felt down and in.

Once I have the felt in place, I secure it with a pin and then whip stitch the end of it so it's somewhat flat.

At this point, I could do several things. I could take the needle around and sew down all the folds. I could take a felting tool and get the felt to set to itself.  But this layer is going under another layer that will match my coat, so I'm just leaving it like this.

You'll notice that the seam in the back went up at a diagonal as I pulled the felt tight.

Time to put on the outside. I am using an irregular cut that's 25 inches at the bottom.

Pin the cover material to the inside of the hat, into the felt. You do not have to go through the wicker at this point - the felt is your base. If you have a fabric that frays, this is a good place to roll that hem.

When you get to the end, it should look like this. Note I have leftover fabric. I cut that off.

To sew the cover to the lining, be sure to sew it through the felt and through the end of the hat. This is where you should probably have matching thread.

You follow the same steps as with the felt layer, where you whip the stitches up the back. Once you get to the top You'll want to sew down the folds at the top (if you don't choose to cut the folds out). I realize it looks very Frankenstein-ish, but you won't see this once the veil is on.

I'll add the pinning shots once I pin both veils to the hat. For that, you're going to need veils that are at least 24 inches in length. I'll describe this better once I update with the veiling instructions.