A kurta is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia,[ (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women."][ Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South Asia"] and now also worn around the world.[ Quote: "The kurta—the tunic—is likewise variable in its cut. It might be wide or tight, there is variety in the length and width of the sleeves, the height of the slits on either side, and especially the shape of the neck. The length of the tunic varies as well, ranging from upper-thigh to well below the knee. Like most garments of this type, worn by people in many countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, the tunic always covers the crotch area of both genders."] Tracing its roots to Central Asian nomadic , or upper body garments, of the late-ancient- or early-medieval era, the kurta has evolved stylistically over the centuries, especially in South Asia, as a garment for everyday wear as well as for formal occasions.
The kurta is traditionally made of cotton or silk. It is worn plain or with embroidered decoration, such as chikan; and it can be loose or tight in the torso, typically falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer.
The sleeves of a traditional kurta fall to the wrist without narrowing, the ends hemmed but not cuffed; the kurta can be worn by both men and women; it is traditionally collarless, though mandarin collar are increasingly popular. Kurtas are traditionally worn over ordinary pajamas,
Etymology
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According to the Oxford Dictionary of English,
kurta (n): A loose collarless shirt worn by people from South Asia, usually with a salwar, churidars, or pyjama. From Urdu and Persian kurtah.
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According to the Oxford English Dictionary (online, subscription required),
[Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition. 1989.] the first use of kurta in English is attributed to W.G. Lawrence in T. E. Lawrence, Home Letters, 1913, "Me in a dhoti khurta, White Indian clothes."
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According to Cannon and Kay's ', 2001,
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According to Platt's A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English, 1884, online, updated 2015,
[ (online; updated February 2015)] Persian کرته kurta , s.m. A shirt worn outside the drawers; a frock, a kind of tunic; a waistcoat or jacket.
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According to McGregor's Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary:
कुरता kurtā: (Persian. masculine), a collarless shirt
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According to Winer's Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles, 2009,
kurti, kurtee n A traditional form of Indian woman's long loose-fitting tunic, with long sleeves. /kurti/ * Usually the Kurti was longer than men's Kurta, for sometimes it reached down past the knees. (Raghoo 1984:3) * She used to wear long dress and kurtee and tie a handkerchief on her head. (Deen 1994:167)
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According to Steingass's A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, 1892 (updated 2007)
کرته kurta, A tunic, waistcoat, jacket; a long loose-skirted under-gown or shirt; a shirt. کرتی kurtī, A waistcoat for women, a short bodice reaching to the hips, with very short, if any sleeves, open under the throat; a soldier's jacket.[ (Updated 2007)]
Arabic قرطق qurt̤aq (Persian. كرته kurta), A kind of garment. Arabic قرطقة qartaqat (v.n. of قرطق), Putting the garment qurt̤aq on (any person).[ (Updated 2007)]
History
According to author Roshen Alkazi, stitched (
i.e. cut and sewn) attire came to South Asia from Central Asia. There was a trickle during the Scythian/Parthian/Kushan invasions of the late ancient period.
[ Quote:"Taking the Kushan period as a starting point the changes that took place in Indian costume as a result of the connections with Uzbekistan in Central Asia are discussed The ordinary dress of the people of India till then had consisted usually of unstitched garments as antariya/dhoti, uttariya/dupatta and a kayabandh/cummerbund with a turban for men. With the advent of the Kushans this was extended, and the fashion of wearing sewn garments of Central Asiatic pattern seems to have made headway with many classes of Indian in North India The cut-and-sewn garments which are rarely visible in the previous Mauryan and Sunga sculptures are more commonly found in this period. The Kushans under Kanishka spread their empire over large parts of Central Asia and India. The Kushans in AD 48 entered Gandhara under Kadphises and overthrew the Greeks. Later they took the Kabul valley from the Parthians and extended their empire to cover the Punjab. Sind, northern Gujarat. and part of Central Asia. Still later they annexed Kashmir and part of Chinese Turkestan. Kanishka (AD 120–162) was their greatest ruler. Although the Kushans ruled for almost three centuries, they never looked on India as their home. Detesting the heat of the plains they retired to Kashmir or Afghanistan in the summer. They wore the clothes of Central Asia which were cut and sewn and consisted of long padded coals and riding boots with spurs and pointed caps, totally different from the draped and unstitched garments worn by the Indians. (page 465)"] with Mahmud of Ghazni, the floodgates opening with the Muslim conquests of the late 12th century, until the kurta became an item of common attire during the early modern era.
[ Quote: "This exposure to a different mode of dress for four centuries in the ancient period and for six centuries under Islamic rulers later, created the varieties of cut and sewn garments which now form and intrinsic part of what today is called Indian costume. This applies particularly to the Deccan and the Northern parts of India. The South, however, retained the earlier draped and unstitched garments of ancient India, e.g., the antariya/dhoti, the uttariya/dupatta and cummerband/waist cloth. These cut and sewn garments of the invaders underwent dramatic changes evolving from simple Central Asian nomadic costume (both Kushan and the Turk Mongol peoples were horse-riding nomads) to the highly civilized, urban and decorative costume of the Mughal court and the day-to-day comfortable and relaxed dress of the common man of today called the kurta-pyjama (page 468)"][ Quote: "Timur's large empire in Central Asia influenced the garments worn at all Islamic courts including India. Babur who himself came from the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan was the first of the Mughals and he and his progeny continued exercising their influence on Indian costume right till the advent of the British. The role of the Mughals in creating new and fashionable modes of dress started to percolate to the masses in the same way that British costume did in a later period. What we see today in the trousers, shirts and coats is the British influence on Indian dress, just as the kurta, pyjama, salwar, achkan is that of Central Asia ..."]
According to Alkazi:
...In the Ghaznavid period, we have only one clear visual reference to their actual costume, those worn by the Mamluk (slave) palace guards of Mahmud of Ghazni, in the wall paintings of Lashkari Bazaar in Afghanistan. They wear the qaba made of rich patterned textiles. This was a mid-calf length tunic with long narrow sleeves and tiraz. The opening is from right to left and has a small loop for closing it higher at the left shoulder. This closing at the left shoulder was one of the earliest forms of neck closing and a relic of this is still seen in the Russian tunic and in the contemporary kurtas used in certain parts of India, both of which close at the left shoulder. (p 467)
Styles
A traditional kurta is composed of rectangular fabric pieces with perhaps a few
gusset inserts, and is cut so as to leave no waste fabric. The cut is usually simple, although decorative treatments can be elaborate.
The sleeves of a traditional kurta fall straight to the wrist; they do not narrow, as do many Western-cut sleeves. Sleeves are not cuffed, just and decorated.
The front and back pieces of a simple kurta are also rectangular. The side seams are left open for 6-12 inches above the hem, also referred to as the chāk, which gives the wearer some ease of movement. (Note: chāk derives from the Persian "چاك ćāk, Fissure, cleft, rent, slit, a narrow opening intentionally left in clothes)."[ (online; updated February 2015)]
The kurta usually opens in the front; some styles, however, button at the shoulder seam. The front opening is often a hemmed slit in the fabric, tied or buttoned at the top; some kurtas, however, have rather than slits. The opening may be centered on the chest, or positioned off center.
A traditional kurta does not have a collar. Modern variants may feature stand-up collars of the type known to tailors and seamstresses as "mandarin" collars. These are the same sort of collars seen on , , and .
Material
Kurtas worn in the summer months are usually made of thin silk or cotton fabrics; winter season kurtas are made of thicker fabric such as
wool or "
Khadi silk", a thick, coarse, handspun and handwoven silk that may be mixed with other fibers. A very common fabric for the kurta pajama is
linen, or a linen-cotton mix ideal for both summers and winters.
Kurtas are typically fastened with tasselled ties, cloth balls, and loops, or buttons. Buttons are often wood or plastic. Kurtas worn on formal occasions might feature decorative metal buttons, which are not sewn to the fabric, but, like , are fastened into the cloth when needed. Such buttons can be decorated with jewels, enameling, and other traditional jewelers' techniques.
Decoration
Tailors from the South Asia command a vast repertoire of methods, traditional and modern, for decorating fabric. It is likely that all of them have been used, at one time or another, to decorate kurtas. However, the most common decoration is embroidery. Many light summer kurtas feature Chikan embroidery, a specialty of
Lucknow, around the hems and front opening. This embroidery is typically executed on light, semi-transparent fabric in a matching thread.
Regional variants
Regional styles include the Bhopali, Hyderabadi, Lucknowi and straight-cut kurtas. The Bhopali kurta (taking its name from
Bhopal) is a loose kurta with pleats at the waist, flowing like a skirt reaching midway between the knees and the ankles.
[ Jamila Brij Bhushan (1958), The Costumes and Textiles of India] The Hyderabadi kurta is named after the former royal state of
Hyderabad State and is a short top which sits around the waist, with a keyhole neck opening. It was popular with the local royal households.
[ Kumar, Ritu (2006), Costumes and Textiles of Royal India][ Mohan Lal Nigam, Anupama Bhatnagar (1997), Romance of Hyderabad Culture] Traditionally, the Hyderabadi kurta was of white material,
[ Javed, Arifa Kulsoom (1990), Muslim Society in Transition] but modern versions can be of any colour. Over the kurta, some versions have net material, the combination of which is called
jaali karga, worn by men and women.
[Aslan, Reza (2011), Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East (Words Without Borders): Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East [5]]
The traditional
kurta can either be short
[ Mukherji, P. C., The Pictorial Lucknow (1883)] or long, using as much as 12 yards of cloth.
[ Ravi Bhatt. The Life and Times of the Nawabs of Lucknow] The traditional Lucknowi kurta styles have an overlapping panel.
However, the term "Lucknowi kurta" now applies to the straight-cut kurta embroidered using local Chikan embroidery. Another style is the kali or kalidar kurta which is similar to a
frock and has many panels.
[ Karampuri, Aradhana (2005), Punjabi Dress Drafting and Cutting] The kalidar kurta is made up of several geometrical pieces. It has two rectangular central panels in the back and the front.
[Bhandari, Vandana (2005), Costume, Textiles and Jewellery of India: Traditions in Rajasthan [9]] The kali kurta is worn by men
[ Rashtriya, Sahara, Volume 2, Issue 2 (1991)] and women.
The straight-cut traditional kurta is known as a panjabi in Bangladesh, West Bengal and Assam.[ Census of India, 1971: Series 3: Assam, Volume 6, Part 3] is worn with a scarf (Gamosa) using local prints. Other designs include Kantha embroidery;[ Naik, Shailaja D. (1996), Traditional Embroideries of India] Multani crocheted designs of Multan (Punjab, Pakistan);[ Official Journal of the European Communities: Legislation, Volume 30, Issues 248-256 (1987) [13]] the Phulkari kurta[The Journal of industry and trade, Volume 21. Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India., 1971 [14]] using the Phulkari embroidery of the Punjab region;[ Naik, Shailaja D. (1996), Traditional Embroideries of India] Bandhani tye-dyeing of the Cholistan Desert;[Nasreen Askari, Liz Arthur, Paisley Museum and Art Galleries Merrell Holberton, (1999) Uncut cloth [16]] Delhi style kurtas which include the wooden beaded kurta and a kurta heavily laden with embroidery;[ United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, Volume 21, Part 3 (1971) [17]]
Sindhis kurtas called Pehran/Pehriyan in Sindhi language are made out of many Sindhi embroideries like Kacha, Pakka, Hurmuch, Muka, Pani etc, Sindhi kurtas are also made of applique called "Tuk ja Kurta"[ Pakistan Exports, Volume 28 (1977)]
Traditional Punjabi kurta of the Punjab region is wide and falls to the knees[ Punjab District Gazetteers: Attock district, 1930. Printed 1932] and is cut straight.[Asoke Kumar Bhattacharyya, Pradip Kumar Sengupta (1991), Foundations of Indian Musicology: Perspectives in the Philosophy of Art and Culture [20]] The modern version of the regional kurta is the Muktsari kurta which originates from Muktsar in Punjab. This modern Punjabi kurta is famous for its slim-fitting cuts and smart fit designs. It is very popular among young politicians.[Puneet Pal Singh Gill (04.01.2012) The Chandigarh Tribune. "Muktsari-style kurta pyjama a fad" [21]]
Jeans and straight-cut kurta
Kurtas are often worn with
jeans.
[ "Regal chic", The Telegraphk, Calcutta, April 24, 2004. Quote: "The first sequence was a range of traditional in silk and cotton, moving on to kurtis and jeans and short kurtas in silk and georgette."] Women sometimes wear kurtas as
, usually over
.
[Yet,] Jeans are sometimes preferred over
pajamas or
leggings as they are more durable for rough use. Most colours of kurtas match with blue jeans.
In 2014, an Indian family court in
Mumbai ruled that a husband objecting to his wife wearing a kurta and jeans and forcing her to wear a
sari amounts to cruelty inflicted by the husband and can be a ground to seek divorce.
The wife was thus granted a divorce on the ground of cruelty as defined under section 27(1)(d) of Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Leggings and straight cut kurta
Ladies' kurtas/blouses, along with leggings, are most popular in South Asia, and the community from South Asia in Singapore and
Malaysia.
[Jaime Koh, Stephanie Ho Ph.D (2009), Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia [23]]
Kurti
In modern usage, a short kurta for women is referred to as the
kurti top. However, traditionally, the kurti refers to
,
[ Forbes, Duncan (1861), A Smaller Hindustani and English Dictionary] jackets and blouses
[ Bahri, Hardev (2006), Advanced Learner's Hindi English Dictionary] which sit above the waist without side slits, and are believed to have descended from the tunic of the
Shunga Empire (2nd century B.C.).
[Panjab University Research Bulletin: Arts, Volume 13, Issue 1 - Volume 14, Issue (1982) [26]] Kurtis are typically much shorter than the traditional garments and made with lighter materials, like those used in sewing
shalwar kameez.
See also
Explanatory notes
Citations
General and cited references
External links
