PREFACE

In seeking to determine the clothes worn by the wide range of people that entered india during the mughal period,one has to take into account the geographical factors that influences their form of dress,the region they come from ,how they lived,how the terrain,climate and their professional occupation affected what they wore.

Brief history
In 1526, Babur established the mughal empire, which lasted for over 200 years. They ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600. The mughal emperors married local royalty ,allied themselves with the local maharajas & attempted to fuse their turko-persian culture with ancient Indian styles. The mughal dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Akbar and it went into a slow decline after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 and was finally defeated during the war of independence in 1857.

Women of the royal harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous (both heterosexuals and hermaphrodites ) household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men The position of women in Indian society changed considerably with the coming of Islam. The Indian women now came to occupy an even lower status. Muslim inroads made strict enforcement of purdah and seclusion of women. Womens education was not encouraged. The birth of a girl was not regarded as a happy event. On the contrary the position of the women of the noble and royal families was little better. The Mughal age not only witnessed the glorious achievements of its emperors and princes, but also that of the princesses, queens and other ladies of the royal Mughal harem The Mughal ladies spend their entire lives inside the emperors harem. But the Mughal women were no ordinary women. And therefore, their social life was different from that of the ordinary women. Some women and eunuchs acted as spies and they kept the emperor informed about the activities of harem women. The lives of the harem ladies were governed by strict rules of purdah. These ladies usually did not have the liberty to move out of the harem as they liked. But inside the harem they could move around as they pleased. These ladies lived in grand apartments luxuriously furnished, with lovely gardens fountains, tanks and water channels attached to them. They wore beautiful and expensive clothes made from the finest materials and adorned themselves with jewellery from head to toe. The daily life in the harem was full of gaiety and mirth. On the whole, the life of a Mughal lady revolved round the emperor. The harems of the Mughal emperors consisted of a large number of women of different races, provinces and communities. The harems of Babur and Humayun are modest I size. But from Akbars times onwards the Mughal harem became an elaborate affair. Akbars harem had approximately 5000 women.

Nur jahan :and her contribution to mughal fashion(1577-1646)

Nur Jahan, wife of Jahangir made her presence felt when women were unseen and rarely heard. She issued orders from behind the curtains of the harem and never broke purdah. Jahangir loved jahan beyond all other women. Jahan was his 20th wife. He made her his principal queen and renamed her nur mahal, or light of the palace.

In addition to inviting court intrigue and power struggles,nur Jahan also contributed to womens fashion and cosmetics and carried on her own clothing business too. Fashion trends were swayed by her tastes and creations. She developed new patterns in fabric, embroidery and dress styles. It is believed that she designed the new style of turban and clothing of the emperors. The kind of fashion she adopted in womens clothing was still popular at the end of the 16th century. She experimented with perfumes, hair ointments, jewellery, food, silks and porcelain. Sir Thomas Roe, who chanced to obtain a glimpse of the Empress found the queen so extravagantly dressed in jewels that he observed if there had been no other light, her pearls and diamonds had sufficed to reveal her.

Muntaz mahal (1593-1631)

Mumtaz mahal, 3rd wife of the mughal emperor shah Jahan was a Persian princess and the most beloved queen of shah Jahan. Shah Jahan even built the magnificent and the exotic taj mahal in the memory of his beloved wife . Mumtaz mahal gave birth to 14 childrens of shah Jahan. it was while giving birth to the 14th child that she left for her holy abode .

Hamida banu begum (1527-1604)

Wife of 2nd mughal emperor Humayun and mother of mughal emperor Akbar . Her important architectural legacy is the Humayuns tomb, Delhi, which she commissioned in 1562 c.e. and saw through its construction over the next eight years .

Art and craft during mughal era

The Mughal era was the golden period in the history of Indian art, craft and culture. The Mughals not only invaded India and ruled it but also brought with them a rich heritage, which they had acquired from Persia. They introduced new techniques like inlay work, glass engraving, carpet weaving, brocades, enameling etc. The Mughal miniature paintings influenced many schools of Rajasthani paintings and the Kangra Pahari schools of miniatures. The famous Peacock Throne of the Mughals is one of the finest examples of gem inlay work and metal craft, having few parallels in world art. They also laid the foundation for the famous Mughal miniature painting, Petra dura or inlay work, enameled jewellery and a host of other craft traditions many of which continue today.

Miniature paintings: important source for mughal costumes

Mughal painting is a particular style of South Asian painting, generally confined to miniatures, which emerged from Persian miniature painting and developed during the period of the Mughal Empire (16th - 19th centuries). miniature paintings were a variety of Islamic paintings done during the reign of the Mughal Emperors. The Mughal paintings often covered scenes from the court and help our understanding of how the court functioned. These paintings also provide us with information on what the emperors looked like. The mughal miniature paintings had depicted the costumes and ornaments which were prevalent in the time of medieval India. Mughal artists had rendered exquisite detail of the costume of the people of that period. the three dancing ladies depict the exotic costumes used during the medieval period of India. The central 1 is dressed in such manner that we can say that she belongs to the royal family. The mughal Emperors who helped the art of painting to flourish were Akbar , Jahangir and Shah Jahan .

Emperor akbar : a great patron of art

Akbar assisted artists in the field of music and painting. And for the augment of these arts, Emperor Akbar had had employed more than one hundred painters who were expert in the art of miniature painting. In the time of Akbars reign, the Mughal Miniature painting was the secular art, dealing with court life, durbar scenes and portraits of royal men and women. The miniature paintings had depicted the costumes and the ornaments, which were prevalent in the time of medieval India. The Mughal emperor Akbar was a great patron of painting and under whose sponsorship painters had achieved great refinement. These artists had rendered exquisite detail of the Indian men and women and the costumes they wear. Here the three dancing ladies depict the exotic costumes used during the medieval period in India. One of these ladies is dressed in such a manner that we can say that she belongs to a royal family.

The costume of Mughal women

The ladies of the Mughal dynasty were as remarkable as their men and in certain cases even more cultivated. The way these beautiful, educated and extremely talented mughal women used to dress became a matter of interest for many. Royal women wore beautiful clothes made from the finest materials and adorned jewellery from head to toe. They used to spend a lot of money in getting for themselves fine silks, brocades and muslins from which they got stitch beautiful garments. They were mostly covered in white colored veil because of the prevalent purdah system and they could not go out on the street without the veil otherwise they were forced to join the profession of prostitution. Early costumes When the Mughal ladies first set their foot in India they were dressed in long gowns, caps and trousers. And upto the time of akbar,Persian dress was worn by muslins but during Akbars time rajput dress was adopted. y An inner garment or kartiji was invariably worn beneath the gown as a short bodice reaching to the hips. y Another jacket or nimtena was frequently put over the dress somewhat like a vest (Gulbadan begam, the daughter of Babar while describing mirza hindals marriage in her memoirs, mentions nine jackets with garnitures of jeweled balls and four shortered jackets with bal trimmings among the articles of dowry for the bride Sultana begam. y The effect of these gorgeous dresses embroidered with gold and pearls was astonishing. So in a whole the early Mughal costume for women consisted of wide topped trousers fitting snuggly from calf to ankle, long kurta, fitted outer jacket, dupatta, high Turkish hats, sometimes with a small veil attached and some feathers too.

Influence on Hindu women

The glamour of these addresses must have cast its spell unmistakably on the susceptible Indian women. Opportunities were not lacking for frequent contacts between Indian and mughal ladies. It is therefore not astononishing that Indian women associated with the court of Delhi and high ranking ladies living in the rajput dependencies of northern India should very soon have adopted the distinctively mughal style of dress which has been immortalized in the old Kangra school of painting. In addition to close fitting trousers and scarf for the head there appears a highly characteristic feature. y the jaguli worn by women- a sort of empire gown fastening at neck an waist, opening between the fastenings and permitting a glimpse of the breasts and with long tight wrinkled sleeves and long flowing skirt reaching as far down as the ankles. This attire was worn by the muslim dancing women. The skirted robe of these women which was slit in front from the waist to the bottom and which in their language was known as peshwas distinctly resemble the jagulis of the Kangra painters. The other female garments of the period were equally provocative in their flaunting brevity. The bodice which in its latest form is said to have been brought in fashion by the daughter of Aurangzeb, was intended by muslim patrons to be an undergarment. But the Hindu women were hardly influenced by these provocative garments.

later Mughal Costumes They consisted of: Long sleeved choli Isar (often striped) Brocade vest Short and long ghagra (often in sheer material) Silk or muslin dupatta Apron (with embroidery) and farji (long sheer vest like garment) Long sleeved floor length gown with a sari that drapes from the jeweled embroidered crown. Ornate turban

Textiles
Under the mughal patronage the textile industry blossomed and till the end of the 18th century india could be described as one of the workshops of the world . Abul Fazal mentions among the golden staffs current in his time, brocaded velvets from Europe and Yazd, atlas satins and neyar from the Chinese territory, tefailah from mecca, khara or moir antique from Yazd and khazz or filoselle silk, muttabhaq, milak and fauthas from various places. Gujarat supplies different kinds of brocades such a tus, daraibaf, kurtahwar and muqayyash which was kind of silk cloth with stripes of silver resembling the hair. Chiras and dupattas from Gujarat supplied the cloth for the turbans. Plain silk cloth included qatifah-i-purbi, tajehbef, shirvani, kinkhab, tawar, khuri, tafta, sitapuri, ambary, misry, tasar, tafailah, etc. Of cotton stuffs the more familiar types were khasa, chautar, malmal, baftu, salu, chhint or printed muslin, gazina, etc. A form of fine muslin which was striped or checked was known as doriyah.

Mughal jewellery
Mughal treasury was one of the fullest and best endowed in all of Indian history, and therefore jewellery too must have occupied a place of prominence. Influences on Mughal Jewellery
The existing trends in jewellery under the Mughals were a continuation of the amalgamated style of Islamic and Hindu artistic styles. India was blessed as the only significant source of diamonds before their discovery in Brazil in the 18th century, and she was also made rich by her spices; but more than any other resource, it was her art industries (most especially textiles, but also including a whole array of specialized and sophisticated products) which she traded for the gold and silver that poured in by the ton. Influence of Rajputs Some of the finest goldsmiths` works have been produced under the Mughal patronage. The colours were exclusive to Jaipur. Its princesses married Mughal royalty and its rulers had taken high positions at court, both bringing their jewellery and, probably, their craftsmen with them. Hindus do not wear gold on the feet, as it is a sacred metal, which would thus be defiled. However, in Rajasthan `the anklet of gold (worn by men) worn on one or both feet is a proof of nobility as well as of being entitled to a certain position at a Durbar, and to certain honours there. European Influence on Mughal Jewellery Among the Mughal jewellery pieces which have survived. Some of the earliest ones show the gradual influence of Europeanism. The scrolling leaf designs on the inner surface of a thumb ring are influenced by Renaissance jewellery. A more significant European intrusion can be seen in turban jewellery where a completely new form seems to have its source in European hat aigrettes. Style of Mughal Jewellery Akbar`s own style of jewellery was a hybrid of Iranian and Hindu influences, as would be expected of the emperor of a dynasty whose cultural roots were in Iran. The turban plume (Kalgi or Figha) and golden bands (Sarpich) are exactly those seen in contemporary Safavid painting. His necklaces on the other hand are of the kinds listed in Kautilya`s Arthashastra, consisting of pearls, pearls and gems, gold on its own, or gold with pearls and gems.

Mughal women jewellery

A contemporary work, the Ain-i-Akbari, gives a list of ornaments worn by the women of Hindustan. Some of these may be seen virtually unchanged and by this time worn equally by Muslim ladies. The ornaments include the Karanphul (`earflower`), which is shaped like the blossom of love-in-the-mist (Nigella sativa), and Nath (nose ring). The Nath (in the form of a circular gold wire threaded with a ruby between two pearls, or other gemstones) Duarte Barbosa, the Portuguese official explained the ornaments of the Mughal women as in the side of one of the nostrils they used to make a small hole, through which they put a fine wire with a pearl, sapphire or ruby pendant. Other types, such as the Mang (worn on the parting of the hair to add to its beauty) and Bali, (a circlet with a pearl worn through the ear) were worn throughout the period. The few images of ladies at Akbar`s court show that the divisions marking Indian and Iranian jewellery may have been observed more clearly than in the case of the emperor`s ornaments. The dancers in the illustration from the Akbarnama of century 1590 are both Muslim and Hindu and wear clearly differentiated styles of jewellery in accordance with their origins.

By the time Akbar`s son, Jahangir, came to the throne, fashions at court had undergone a dramatic transformation. . Akbar followed the Iranian fashion by having his upright feather plume at the front of the turban. Jahangir introduced his own, softer, style with the plume weighted down with a large pearl. Later, Shah Jahan, his son turned to Europe for an innovative Jigha, which related to the designs of the Dutch jeweller Arnold Lulls. Lulls supplied jewels to the English court between 1603 and 1606. Shah Jahan also wore jewels by James I in the portraits brought to the court by Sir Thomas Roe.

Relief Carved Mughal Jewellery

Relief carved Mughal jewellery display a very high level of artistic finesse. The relief work of this period is most prominently seen in emeralds. Most of the other relief-carved emeralds of the Mughals are more typical of the object-decorating arts of the period. The carved hardstone vessels, dagger hilts and other objects of the Mughals period share much with the series of emeralds in the character of their relief carving.

Description of the jewellery

The armlet is an enamelled gold set with an emerald, yellow beryl`s (heliodor), pale emeralds and seed pearls made in Moghul India during the second half of the 18th century. This armlet would have been tied on to the upper arm. This pendant (taviz) is a white nephrite jade in a pierced gold frame, set with rubies and emeralds in gold and with a pendent emerald, the back inscribed and set with a ruby in gold. The detail is painstaking, with the eyes of the birds being minute emeralds set in gold. The back is inscribed with a Koranic verse. The amulet, which is bored along the top edge, would have been the central pendant to a necklace.

Mughal architecture
Shah Jehan was the most prolific Mughal builder, and built some of its greatest structures, the most famous of which is the Taj Mahal. Akbar was a great builder, second only to Shah Jehan and built some of the finest work of the Mughal period. The greatest of Akbar's buildings are located in Fathepur Sikri, a city which was built near Agra. Over here there are many beautiful buildings like Jodh Bai's palace, Diwan-I-Am (hall for the general audience), Diwan-I-Khas(hall for private audience), the marble mosque known as the Jama Masjid, the Bulund Darwaza a massive archway and the Panch Mahal. Red fort and some mughal gardens were also made.

Acknowledgement
We wish to express my sincere gratitude to PROF.Tolika gupta , centre coordinator fashion design department new Delhi for providing us an opportunity to do the project work on Mughal Women Costume. this assignment enlightened us with the costume and culture of Mughal era . we extend our gratitude to toolika maam, anu jain maam for guidance and encouragement in carrying out this project work. I also wish to express my gratitude to the staff member of nift liabrary . Last but not least I wish to avail myself of this opportunity, express a sense of gratitude and love to my friends and my beloved parents for their manual support, strength, help and for everything

Bibliography
Royal mughal ladies and their contribution:soma mukherjee Costumes of ndia and pakisthat: s n dar The mughal empire : john f.richards Indian costumes by sn dar