Salwar kameez, from Max Tilke's Oriental Costume, 1922

Salwar kameez (also spelled shalwar kameez and shalwar qamiz) is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. It is sometimes known as Punjabi suit due to its popularity in the Punjab region^[1] and the Pathani suit, due to the fact that the Pathans of Kabul introduced the dress to the rest of South Asia.^[2] Plate from book published 1922, Max Tilke, Oriental Costume File links The following pages link to this file: Salwar kameez Categories: Public domain images ... Plate from book published 1922, Max Tilke, Oriental Costume File links The following pages link to this file: Salwar kameez Categories: Public domain images ... Punjab, 1903 Punjab Province, 1909 Punjab (Persian: ‎, meaning Land of the five Rivers) (c. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun (Persian: پختون) (Urdu: پشتون ), or Pathan) or ethnic Afghans[4] are an ethno-linguistic group living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan and in North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ...

Salwars or shalwars are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the bottom. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak) are left open below the waist-line, which gives the wearer greater freedom of movement. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is the preferred garment of both sexes. In Bangladesh and India, it is most commonly a woman's garment. Though the majority of Indian women wear traditional clothing, the men in India can be found in more conventional western clothing. Shalwar kameez is the traditional dress worn by various peoples of south-central Asia. In India and Pakistan it is an especially popular style of dress. Shalwar or Salwar is a short loose or parallel trouser . It can also be narrow which is called churidar^[3] or boot cut. Look up Pajamas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Germanic trousers of the 4th century found in the Thorsberg moor, Germany Early use of trousers in France: a sans-culotte by Louis-Léopold Boilly. ... 19th century Indian women wearing transparent skirts over churidar pants. ...

Description

Salwars are pleated at the waist and held up by a drawstring or an elastic belt. The pants can be wide and baggy, or they can be quite narrow and made of fabric cut on the bias. In the latter case, they are known as churidars. The kameez is usually cut straight and flat; older kameez use traditional cuts, as shown in the illustration; modern kameez are more likely to have European-inspired set-in sleeves. The tailor's taste and skill are usually displayed not in the overall cut, but in the shape of the neckline and the decoration of the kameez. Germanic trousers of the 4th century found in the Thorsberg moor, Germany Early use of trousers in France: a sans-culotte by Louis-Léopold Boilly. ... 19th century Indian women wearing transparent skirts over churidar pants. ...

When women wear the salwar kameez, they usually wear a long scarf or shawl called a dupatta around the head or neck. For Muslim women, the dupatta is a less stringent alternative to the chador or burqa (see hijab and purdah). For Hindu women (especially those from northern India, where the salwar kameez is most popular), the dupatta is useful when the head must be covered, as in a temple or the presence of elders. For other women, the dupatta is simply a stylish accessory that can be worn over one shoulder or draped around the chest and over both shoulders. Women from Jaipur wearing Salwar kameez and dupatta Dupatta (Hindi: दुपट्टा, Urdu: دوپٹا) is a long scarf that is essential to many South Asian womens suits. ... A chador (Persian چادر) is an outer garment worn by some Iranian women when they venture out into public; it is one possible way in which a Muslim woman may follow the Islamic ħijāb dress code. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... “Higab” redirects here. ... Ladies of Caubul (1848 lithograph, by James Rattray) showing the lifting of purdah in zenana areas. ...

Modern versions of the feminine salwar kameez can be much less modest than traditional versions. The kameez may be cut with a plunging neckline, sewn in diaphanous fabrics, or styled in sleeveless or cap-sleeve designs. The kameez side seams may be split high up to the waistline and, it may be worn with the salwar slung low on the hips. When women wear semi-transparent kameez (mostly as a party dress), they wear a choli or a cropped camisole underneath it. It has been suggested that Ravika be merged into this article or section. ...

Etymology and history

Portrait of a Hindu girl from Karachi, Sind in narrow salwar & kameez. c. 1870. Oriental and India Office Collection, British Library.

Portrait of a Muslim girl from Karachi, Sind, in a salwar and blouse. c. 1870. Oriental and India Office Collection, British Library.

Hill women, Kashmir, in salwar-kameez. c. 1890. British Library.

The pants, or salwar, are known as shalwar in Punjabi: ਸਲਵਾਰ ਕਮੀਜ਼, salwaar or shalwaar શલવાર કમીઝ in Gujarati, and shalwar in Urdu: شلوار قمیض. The word comes from the Persian: شلوار, meaning pants, ultimately from Arabic سروال, note the inversion of the letters ل and ر which has happened in the adaptation process. Image File history File linksMetadata Hindu_girl_karachi. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Hindu_girl_karachi. ...   (Urdu: , Sindhi: ) is the capital of the province of Sindh, and the largest city in Pakistan. ... 1909 map showing northern Bombay and Sind The Sind Division was the name of Sindh after being annexed by the Bombay Presidency province of British India in 1843 [1], following a British Indian conquest led by then Major-General Charles Napier. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Muslim_girl_karachi1870. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Muslim_girl_karachi1870. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Pahari_women_kashmir3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Pahari_women_kashmir3. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... “Punjabi” redirects here. ... Gujarati (ગુજરાતી GujÇŽrātÄ«; also known as Gujerati, Gujarathi, Guzratee, and Guujaratee[3]) is an Indo-Aryan language descending from Sanskrit, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. ... The phrase Zaban-e Urdu-e Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit influence in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ... It has been suggested that Scripts used for Persian be merged into this article or section. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ...

The shirt, kameez or qamiz, takes its name from the Arabic qamis. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ...

There are two main hypotheses regarding the origin of the Arabic word, namely:

1. that Arabic qamis is derived from the Latin camisia (shirt), which in its turn comes from the Proto-Indo-European kem (‘cloak’). ^[4]
2. that Mediaeval Latin camisia is a borrowing through Late Classical Greek kamision from the Central Semitic root “qmṣ”, represented by Ugaritic qmṣ (‘garment’) and Arabic qamīṣ (‘shirt’). Both of these are related to the Hebrew verb קמץ qmṣ (‘grip’, ‘enclose with one’s hand’). ^[5]

Garments cut like the traditional kameez are known in many cultures; according to Dorothy Burnham, of the Royal Ontario Museum, the "seamless shirt," woven in one piece on warp-weighted looms, was superseded in early Roman times by cloth woven on vertical looms and carefully pieced so as not to waste any cloth. 10th century cotton shirts recovered from the Egyptian desert are cut much like the traditional kameez or the contemporary Egyptian jellabah or galabia.^[6] In India, the costume originated in Punjab, but is now popular in all of Urban India. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Proto-Indo-European (PIE) may refer to: Proto-Indo-European language the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language Proto-Indo-European roots, A list of reconstructed Proto-Indo-European roots Categories: | ... Medieval Latin refers to the Latin used in the Middle Ages, after the fall of the Roman empire but before the rise of vernacular languages in the Renaissance. ... 14th century BCE diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... The Ugaritic language is only known in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit in Syria since its discovery by French archaeologists in 1928. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ...

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the founders of Pakistan, in shalwar and sherwani, with his sister Fatima Jinnah, in shalwar qamiz. Picture taken in 1947.

Wide legged pants with drawstring were worn in many areas ruled by Turko-Iranian horse riding steppe peoples of Central Asia. The Ottoman empire was ruled by Turks; many Iranian dynasties, including the recent Qajar dynasty, were of Turkic origin. Their characteristic clothing became court dress and eventually popular dress. Their wide-legged pants have been called Turko-Mongol^[7] and Turco-Persian.^[8] This style is still worn in contemporary Turkey and Iran. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Urdu:  ) (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948) was an Indian Muslim politician and leader of the All India Muslim League who founded Pakistan and served as its first Governor-General. ... Fatima Jinnah (Urdu: فاطمہ جناح) (July 30, 1893 — July 8, 1967) was the sister of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and an active political figure in movement for independence from the British Raj. ... Turko-Iranian can refer to: The Turkic speaking minorities of Iran, can also be called as Iranian Turks, e. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... Look up Ottoman, ottoman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Qajar dynasty was the ruling family of Persia from 1796 to 1925. ...

Starting in the 12th century, a series of raids and invasions established Islamic Turko-Iranian rule -- the Delhi sultanate and later the Moghul empire -- over much of what is now northern India and Pakistan. The new rulers wore the kameez and the characteristic Turkish pants, which were called salwars or shalwars. Again, fashion followed rule and the salwar suit became popular throughout the area. The Delhi Sultanate (دلی سلطنت), or Sulthanath-e-Hind (سلطنتِ ہند) / Sulthanath-e-Dilli (سلطنتِ دلی) refers to the various Muslim dynasties that ruled in India from 1210 to 1526. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... The Indo-Gangetic Plain is a rich, fertile and ancient land encompassing most of northern and eastern India, the most populous parts of Pakistan, and virtually all of Bangladesh. ...

National dress

The apparel is commonly worn by both men and women in all parts of Pakistan and is colloquially referred to as 'awami suit' which translates as 'dress of the public'. The Pakistani government has also requested government officials and diplomats to wear it along with the sherwani and Jinnah cap when they are acting in their official capacity. For these reasons it is described as the national dress of Pakistan. Pakistanis prefer to transliterate the term as shalwar qamiz. National dress is a type of clothing which identifies with a certain nationality or culture. ...

It has also been described by some as the national dress of Afghanistan, though the Afghan government has not itself made such a declaration.

English spelling

Transliterations starting from Hindi often render the sibilant sound at the start of salwar/shalwar as an "s". Transliterations starting from Urdu usually use "sh". Both spellings are found in common English usage. The shalwar spelling seems to be most common in Canada and the United Kingdom, and is the preferred spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary. Salwar seems to be more common in the US and is found at many online stores selling salwar kameez. There are variations of Salwar Kameez where it is called salwar suit or Indo western suit sometimes. Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is one of the two official languages of India, the other being English. ... A sibilant is a type of fricative, made by speeding up air through a narrow channel and directing it over the sharp edge of the teeth. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ...

Purchasing or sewing shalwar kameez

A man's salwar held up to display amount of material needed.

Salwar (with Kabuli sandals) as worn in South and Central Asia.

In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan one simply visits the local tailor and has a salwar suit made to order. Overseas Asians and interested Westerners can order custom suits over the internet (through online websites). One selects the fabric, indicates the style features desired (type of pants, neckline style, embroidery or other decoration desired, type of sleeves, length of tunic, etc.), pays, and fills out a measurement form. The prices range from under $10 to over $600. There are also South Asian clothing stores in many larger Western cities. Some ethnic and historic sewing pattern companies sell patterns for salwar, churidar, kameez, and kurta, to be purchased at fabric stores or over the net. Image File history File linksMetadata Salwar_pajama_pants. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Salwar_pajama_pants. ... Salwar kameez (Punjabi: , , Urdu: , shalwar qameez, from Persian: شلوار, meaning pants) is the traditional dress worn by various peoples of South Asia. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Salwar_pajama_pants_worn. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Salwar_pajama_pants_worn. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... 19th century Indian women wearing transparent skirts over churidar pants. ... A kurta (or sometimes kurti, for women) is a traditional piece of clothing worn in Afghanistan, northern India, and Pakistan. ...

See also

• Kurta
• Churidar
• Sherwani
• Dupatta
• Sari

A kurta (or sometimes kurti, for women) is a traditional piece of clothing worn in Afghanistan, northern India, and Pakistan. ... 19th century Indian women wearing transparent skirts over churidar pants. ... An old-fashioned Hyderabadi gentleman wearing a formal Sherwani and Fez hat, that is designed by a designer in Lahore, Pakistan Sherwani (Urdu: شیروانی ) is a long coat-like garment worn in South Asia, very similar to an Achkan or doublet. ... Women from Jaipur wearing Salwar kameez and dupatta Dupatta (Hindi: दुपट्टा, Urdu: دوپٹا) is a long scarf that is essential to many South Asian womens suits. ... For the city, see Sari, Iran. ...

References

1. ^ Salwar Kameez: Information, Types, About - Paragraph 26
2. ^ Salwar Kameez Fashion
3. ^ Salwar suits & kurtis
4. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary: chemise
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary: qmṣ
6. ^ Burnham, Dorothy. 1973. Cut My Cote, Royal Ontario Museum. p. 10.
7. ^ Baker, Stephen. 2000 "Turko-Mongol Trousers". The Red Kaganate.
8. ^ Mellor, Charles. 2000. "Salwar - Turco-Persian Pants". The Red Kaganate.

External links

• The Hindu: The spread of the salwar
• Modern Salwar Kameez
• HIMAL South Asian: The Salwar Revolution
• Salwar Kameez: Information, Types, About - Paragraph 26
• Selecting a Salwar style: tips, history