TURBAN

Arabic 'imamah, Persian Dulband, a headdress, of obscure Oriental origin, consisting of a long scarf wound round the head or an inner hat. Early Persians wore a conical cap sometimes encircled by bands of cloth, which perhaps may be considered one of the origins of the turban. The turban did not become common among the Turks, however, until after the capture of Constantinople in 1453, when the Ottoman sultan adopted the style of the Prophet Muhammad by surrounding his cap with a large amount of white muslin wound round and round. Since then, the turban has been worn by men of the Muslim faith and of such offshoots of Islam as Sikhism, though after the early 19th century it was no longer obligatory for Muslims. The turban varies in shape, colour, and size, some up to 50 yards (45 m) long, depending on one's position in societythe larger the turban, the higher the status. In wearing a turban, the forehead must be left bare so that the skin may touch the ground when one prays. The turban was adopted for a time by Europeans in the 14th century, when men wrapped their hoods around their heads, turban fashion. At times from the late 18th century until the present, women have worn turbans fashioned of silk scarves, satin, silk moir, gauze, or tulle over wire, crepe, and the like.