The Turbans (Pugrees) of Pakistan

Mast Qalandar

As promised in my earlier post on The Caps of Pakistan, it is now time to talk about Purgees, or turbans. A turban in Pakistan is more than simple head-gear. It is also a symbol of one’s honor.

Kicking a person’s turban off his head (pugree uchalna) is tantamount to insulting him. On the other hand, dropping one’s turban at someone’s feet is a sign of extreme humility. It’s done either to seek forgiveness for an offense or, as seen in Southern Punjab and Sindh, it is routinely done to greet the feudal lord. Along with dropping his turban at the feet of the landlord the peasant also touches the latter’s feet.

Some of us might recall the political slogan, “Jaag, Punjabi jaag. Teri pug nooN lag gaya daagh” (Wake up Punjabi and look at your turban. It is stained!). The slogan was coined by Nawaz sharif and his men in 1988 election campaign. The idea was to wean away Punjabi voters from Benazir by appealing to Punjabi chauvinism (ghairat). Unfortunate as it was to shamelessly use an ethnic slogan, it does show the importance a turban plays in the country’s value systems.

Another instance where the honor and respect attached to a turban was dramatically highlighted was the popular TV serial of the 1980s, Waris. Remember how the protagonist in the play, takes pride in his lands, his haveli, his old feudal values — and, of course, his turban? In the poignant finale of the play, the nearby river breaks the levee and water comes rushing into the village. Everyone evacuates the village but not the Chaudhry. He is seen standing in knee-deep water in his haveli with his turban sitting proudly on his head as always. Eventually, when the water rises to his waist and then to his neck, the Chaudhry realizes he is going to drown. As a last gesture, he carefully takes off his turban and equally carefully, as if handling something sacred, places it on a high cornice in the room — and disappears in the rising floodwaters.

Let’s now take a look at the different turbans worn in Pakistan and their anatomy. First, the name - Turban - in English means any wrapping of cloth or fabric around one’s head. In Arabic it is called “amaama”, in Persian “dastaar”, in Urdu “pugree” or ” kullah” in Punjabi “pugree” or “pug”, and in Pushto “patkaiy” or “patka.” (I do not know the Sindhi or Balochi for turban. Readers, please fill in!).

Starting with NWFP, one of the traditional turbans is a two-piece affair. One piece consists of a dome-shaped hard cap or kulla. It is finely embroidered with golden thread. The more intricate and dense the embroidery the pricier is the kulla. The other piece, called lungi, consists of a long and narrow piece of cotton cloth (not to be confused with the lungi that men in rural Punjab wear instead of a shalwar). It is usually colored, striped and starched, and is carefully gathered and skillfully wrapped around the kulla. One end of the lungi makes what is called shamla, which is like the crest of a peacock, and the other end forms the tail, which hangs loosely at the back. Wrapping a lungi around the kulla can be time consuming and requires a bit of skill. This turban is also called Peshwari kullah. It’s a bulky headwear and sits particularly well on persons of larger frame.

Even though different caps and bare heads have become more common over the years, this flamboyant Peshawari turban is still worn by many in the settled areas of NWFP, the Khyber Agency, the Galliyat region and even the districts adjoining NWFP such as Mianwali and Attock.

Whenever an important visitor descends on NWFP he is presented the Peshawari turban and made to wear it during the reception, sometime with comic results.

The other turban, which is worn mostly in the tribal areas, is a one-piece affair consisting of a long and narrow, colored and striped and starched piece of cotton cloth or lungi wrapped around the head in a peculiar fashion. There are slight variations in how this turban is wrapped around the head by different individuals or tribes but it is an unmistakable tribal head-wear in NWFP. It’s worn usually without any cap inside. The shamla or crest is not prominent. In fact, it’s hardly visible. Its tail is either at the back or, more often, pulled over the shoulder in front and serves as a handkerchief or a hand towel. I have never quite understood how this turban is wrapped and how does it hold itself.

The Punjab, as I have said elsewhere, is and has been the land of turbans - pugrees and pugs - for as long as one can remember. Their use, however, has declined over the years and bare heads and a variety of caps have taken their place. In fact, in Lahore or any other urban center, one rarely sees a turban except at marriages, where they make the bridegroom wear one - usually a cheap replica of the elite pugree.

Present day Chaudhries of Punjab, unlike Chaudhry Hashmat of the TV play Waris, seem to prefer to cover their pates with a comb-over or occasionally with braided peaked caps, rather than with a traditional pugree. However, in rural Punjab, the pugrees and pugs are still widely worn.

A Punjabi pugree, like the Peshawari turban, is a 2-piece affair except that its inner kulla is relatively soft and conical in shape and the outer wrapping is usually but not always white and is made of starched, coarse muslin. Like the Peshawari turban the pugree too, has a prominent shamla or crest (sometime called turra) and a tail. The height of the shamla or turra varies from individual to individual and place to place.

The uniform of prestigious Aitchison College, Lahore, includes a flamboyant pugree as head-wear. It has a golden embroidered kulla wrapped in a turquoise blue “lungi”. Students are required to wear it once or twice a week or on special occasions. Unlike the Peshawri turban it does not unravel easily with a tug at the tail. Probably because of its softer kulla and the muslin cloth which ties together pretty tightly.

The Punjabi pug on the other hand is simply a long and narrow piece of coarse cotton, usually but not always white, wrapped around the head. Peasants in villages will use a whole array of colors for the pug. While the pugree is the head-wear of the rural elite, commoners mostly wear the pug. While the basic elements of both the pugree and the pug remain the same throughout Punjab there are variations, from place to place, in the color of the materials used and the way the two head-wears are wrapped and tied.

Probably the most spectacular of turbans worn in Pakistan is the one worn by Baloch sardars. It consists of spotless white fine cotton wrapped around the head in a manner that only a Baloch can figure out and handle. It does not have a crest or “shamla” Its tail, instead of hanging loosely at the back, is at one side of the turban and is usually brought down loosely under the chin and then up on the other shoulder, sometime tucked in the folds of the turban, thus framing the face of the person in folds of white cotton. The turban tail is also used to cover one’s face during dust storms in the desert.

With his characteristic beard and mustache, a Baloch cuts a striking figure in his white turban and sometime, when riding a horse, looks as if he has just walked off a Hollywood set.

Sindhis usually wear the Sindhi cap described elsewhere but the Sindhi landlords particularly those of Baloch origin also wear the Baloch turban. Sindhi peasants, on the other hand, wear a simple turban somewhat similar to Punjabi pug except that instead of white cotton they also use ajrak — the hand-printed, colorful, coarse cotton cloth — as wrapping.

There is one turban that became ubiquitous in parts of NWFP and Balochistan in the decade of 1990s and then almost disappeared. We hope it doesn’t come back. I am talking of the dreaded black turban of the Taliban.

Mast Qalandar dabbles in everything - history, culture, education, poetry, armchair politics and, when sufficiently provoked, religion. He has lived mostly in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar and also in several nooks and crannies of Pakistan. Currently he divides his time between Islamabad and New York.