William of Rubruck was a close observer of the Mongols and in his report to King Louis IX of France he described not only their habits but their dress as well. The Mongol court had changed drastically since the days of Chinggis Klian's youth. The Mongols were rich and powerful and they were able to adorn themselves with fabrics from every corner of their expanding empire. William betrays his awe and admiration in this extract from his long report covering his epic journey from 1253 to 1255:
Of their clothing and customs you must know, that from Cataia, and other regions of the east, and also from Persia and other regions of the south, are brought to them silken and golden stuffs and cloth of cotton, which they wear in summer. From Ruscia, Moxel, and from greater Bulgaria and Pascatir, which is greater Hungary, and Kerkis, all of which are countries to the north and full of forests, and which obey them, are brought to them costly furs of many kinds, which 1 never saw in our parts, and which they wear in winter. And they always make in winter at least two fur gowns, one with the fur against the body, the other with the fur outside exposed to the wind and snow; these latter are usually of the skins of wolves or
Mongol image from Baku Fortress c. 1222. Courtesy of Lan Tien Lang Publications
Foxes or papions; and while they sit in the dwelling they have another lighter one. The poor make their outside (gowns) of dog and kid (skins).
When they want to chase wild animals, they gather together in a great multitude and surround the district in which they know the game to be, and gradually they come closer to each other till they have shut up the game in among them as in an enclosure, and then they shoot them with their arrows. They make also breeches with furs. The rich furthermore wad their clothing with silk stuffing, which is extraordinarily soft, light and warm. The poor line their clothes with cotton cloth, or with the fine wool which they are able to pick out of the coarser. With this coarser they make felt to cover their houses and coffers, and also for bedding. With wool and a third of horse hair mixed with it they make their ropes. They also make with felt covers, saddle-cloths and rain cloaks; so they use a great deal of wool. You have seen the costume of the men.
The men shave a square on the tops of their heads, and from the front corners (of this square) they continue the shaving to the temples, passing along both sides of the head. They shave also the temples and the back of the neck to the top of the cervical cavity, and the forehead as far as the crown of the head, on which they leave a tuft of hair which falls down to the eyebrows. They leave the hair on the sides of the head, and with it they make tresses which they plait together to the ear.
And the dress of the girls differs not from the costume of the men, except that it is somewhat longer. But on the day following her marriage, (a woman) shaves the front half of her head, and puts on a tunic as wide as a nun's gown, but everyway larger and longer, open before, and tied on the right side. For in this the Tartars differ from the Turks; the Turks tie their gowns on the left, the Tartars always on the right. Furthermore they have a head-dress, which they call bocca, made of bark, or such other light material as they can find, and it is big and as much as two hands can span around, and is a cubit and more high, and square like the capital of a column. This bocca they cover with costly silk stuff, and it is hollow inside, and on top of the capital, or the square on it, they put a tuft of quills or light canes also a cubit or more in length. And this tuft they ornament at the top with peacock feathers, and round the edge (of the top) with feathers from the mallard's tail, and also with precious stones. The wealthy ladies wear such an ornament on their heads, and fasten it down tightly with an amess, for which there is an opening in the top for that purpose, and inside they stuff their hair, gathering it together on the back of the tops of their heads in a kind of knot, and putting it in the bocca, which they afterwards tie down tightly under the chin. So it is that when several ladies are riding together, and one sees them from afar, they look like soldiers, helmets on head and lances erect. For this bocca looks like a helmet, and the tuft above it is like a lance. And all the women sit their horses astraddle like men. And they tie their gowns with a piece of blue silk stuff at the waist and they wrap another band at the breasts, and tie a piece of white stuff below the eyes which hangs down to the breast. And the women there are wonderfully fat.
And she who has the least nose is held the most beautiful. They disfigure themselves horribly by painting their faces. They never lie down in bed when having their children.*'
Cloth and clothing held great symbolic significance for the medieval Mongols even before the days of empire. The great number of Muslim weavers transported to China under the Yiian dynasty attest to the importance textiles and dress continued to occupy in Mongtd society. Both the wearing and presenting of clothes and items of clothing carried messages and meaning for the peoples of the steppe and for the Mongols in particular.
Fur, leather, wool, camel's hair, and felt constituted the basic dress fabric, and cotton and silk were also available from their sedentary neighbors. Standard wear was an ankle-length robe cut from a single piece of material. Loose trousers would be worn under this, and round the waist a belt made of soft material would be fastened. As protection from the weather, they wore felt capes, fur hoods, and leather boots or buskins made of felt. Friar William of Rubruck, who traveled through Russia to Mongolia between 1253 and 1255, describes their summer wear as being made of silk, gold, and cotton, whereas in winter they wore garments made from a wide varied of furs. He explains that the fur clothes were double-layered so that the fur was inside as well as out. These pelts were often obtained from the wolf, fox, or ivnx, though the poor used the skins
Traditional Mongol dress, Hohhut Museum. Courtesy of Xinjiang Qinshan Culture Publishing
Bac'trian Camel on tlie shores of Lake Savram. Courtesy of Xinjiang Qinshan Culture Publishing
Of dogs or goats. Their breeches were also made from pelts, with silk lining for the rich and cotton for the poor.
Friar Carpini, an emissary for Pope Innocent IV, though some say spy, traveled east from 1245 to 1247, earlier than Rubruck. His detailed descriptions of the Mongols report that men and women would often be dressed identically and that he had problems telling the sexes apart. They wore tunics of buckram, fine linen, or silk, split open on one side and fastened by cords with the material folded back double over the chest. Married women wore full-length tunics opened at the front.
THE BOGHTA
All reports, including Carpini's, mention baghta, the very distinctive headdresses worn by married women. Li Chih-Chang, who accompanied the Taoist monk Ch'ang Ch'ung to central Asia to visit Chinggis Khan, elaborates. The headdress was made "of birch-bark, some tw'o feet high. This they generally cover with a black woollen stuff; but some of the richer women use red silk. The end [of this headdress] is like a duck." Later repiorts describe the Iwghin as a three-foot iron wire frame adorned with
Thirteenth-century Mongol figurine, Xi'an Museum. Courtesy of Lan Tien Lang Publications
Red and blue brocade or pearls and later still as frames wrapped with red silk or gold brocade. By the time Rub ruck was writing in the 1250s, the had become more elaborate and garishly decorated. Peacock and mallard tail feathers along with predotis stones now festooned this status symbol of the rich, the whole contraption attached to the lady's head with a fur hood in which was gathered her hair. In addition, the w'as
Secured around the throat by straps.
The /wg/ifa could convey more than social status. Chinggis Khan's mother, Ho'cliin, signaled her intention to commence an arduous venture by girding her belt and securing her The Mongol ruler of Iran,
Arghun Khan {ruled 1284-91), signaled his acceptance of Tudai Khatun (Lady Tudai) as his wife by placing a Iwg/ita on her head.
World History
