Volume 1

The Hindoos / [Anon.].

  • St. John, James Augustus, 1795-1875.
Date:
1834-35
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Hindoos / [Anon.]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    417/438 (page 383)
    ORNAMENTS. it like a hood. The shoes worn by the rich are em- broidered with gold or silver thread, open at the heels, and curled up at the toes. Few persons wear stockings i5. In the west of India, turbans are some- times worn even by the Brahmins, and very com- monly by all other persons of the superior classes. The head and beard are generally shaved, but mus- tachios are worn, and a small lock of hair is usually left upon the crown. A jama, or long gown of white calico, confined round the waist with a fringed or embroidered sash, replaces the simple robe ot the eastern provinces ; and the princes and nobles adorn their persons with necklaces of pearl and golden chains, sustaining clusters of costly gems ; while their turbans are crusted with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Their golden bracelets are likewise set thick with gems. The shoes are ot red leather, or English broadcloth. In the ears they wear, like the women, large gold rings, which pass through two pearls or rubies. Both sexes are greatly addicted to the use of attar, and other perfumes.56 In Northern India another variety of costume is found. Here the garments of the men consist ot “ trowsers of every shape and calibre, a tunic girded with a ceinture, and a scarf, form the wardrobe of every Rajpoot. The turban is the most important part of the dress, and is the unerring mark ot the tribe ; the form and fashion are various, and its de- corations differ, according to time and circumstances. The bala-bund, or silken fillet, was once valued as the mark of the sovereign’s favour, and was tanta- mount to the courtly * orders’ of Europe. The colour of the turban and tunic varies with the sea- sons ; and the changes are rung upon crimson, saf- 55 Ward, View of the History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. i. p. 186, 187. 34 Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, vol. i. p. 70, 71, 83.