In Gujarat and other parts of western India are to be found classes of
Moslems who differ somewhat from those met with elsewhere, such as
Memans, Boras and Khojas. The first are Sunnis: the two last Shias.
Memans wear (1) a gold embroidered skull-cap, (2) a long _kamis_
fastened at the neck with 3 or 4 buttons on a gold chain, (3)
_sadariya_, i.e. a tight waistcoat without sleeves, fastened in front
with small silk buttons and loops, (4) an over-waistcoat called
_shaya-sadriya_ instead of the _anga_, with sleeves, and slits at the
sides (probably of Arab origin). When he does not wear a skull-cap his
_amamah_ is made after the arched Arab form, or is a Kashmir scarf wound
round a skull-cap made of Java straw. The Bora adopts one of four forms
of pagri; the _Ujjain_, a small neatly bound one; the _Ahmadabad_, a
loose high one; the _Surat_, fuller and higher than the _Ujjain_ pattern
(Plate I. fig. 5); or the _Kathiawada_, a conical turban with a gold
stripe in the middle of the cone. The Bora wears the _anga_, otherwise
he resembles the Meman. The Khoja wears a _pagri_ smaller than the
Meman's, called a _Moghalai phenta_; this leaves a portion of the head
bare at the back. The material is always of _kashida_, a kind of
embroidered cloth. Amongst Mahommedans only Pathans wear ear-rings.
MAHOMMEDAN WOMEN. _Head-dress._--The _rupatta_ (also called _dopatta_),
or veil, is of various colours and materials. Its length is about 3
yds., its width about 1½. It is worn over the head and thrown over the
left shoulder. It is considered essential to modesty to cover the head.
This head-dress is also known as _orhna_, _orhni_, _pochan_, _pochni_
(Baluchistan and western India) _chundri_, _reo_ (Sind), _sipatta_,
_takrai_ or _chadar_ (Pathan). Among the poorer classes it is called
_pacholi_. Farther south in India when of thicker material it is called
_chadar_ or _chaddar_. It is called _pachedi_, _potra_ or _malaya_ by
Meman, Bora and Khoja women. As a rule married women wear brighter
colours than unmarried ones. In Kashmir a small round cap, _goltopi_,
is worn. The _kassawa_ is a handkerchief bound over the head and tied at
the back, and is worn by Mahommedan women indoors to keep the hair tidy;
Mahommedan women plait their hair and let it hang down behind (Plate I.
fig. 6).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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