{{Short description|Traditional sheep fur hat of Central and South Asia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} [[File:Jinnah1945c.jpg|thumb|Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, wearing a Karakul.]] The '''Karakul hat''' ({{nq|قراقلی}}), also known by other names,{{efn|It is sometimes spelled as '''Qaraqul''' '''hat''' and also known as an '''Astrakhan hat''', '''Uzbek hat''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Akbar S. |author-link=Akbar Ahmed |year=2005 |orig-year=First published 1997 |title=Jinnah, Pakistan, and Islamic tity: The Search for Saladin |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-134-75022-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqyniTHXFxUC&pg=PT33 |page=85}}</ref> and '''Jinnah Cap'''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 March 2022 |title=Decoding Afghanistan's colourful headgear culture |work=AlJazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/18/decoding-afghanistans-colourful-headgear-culture |quote=known as a Jinnah cap across the border in Pakistan, where it was popularised by the country’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Baig |first=Zulfiqar |date=9 October 2019 |title=Jinnah Cap – a dying legacy |work=The Express Tribune |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2075387/jinnah-cap-dying-legacy}}</ref>}} is a hat made from the fur (either {{ill|Karakul fur|ru|Каракуль (мех)}} or karakulcha) of the Karakul breed of sheep.<ref name="foxnews">{{Cite news |title=Hamid Karzai's Famous Hat Made From Aborted Lamb Fetuses |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/hamid-karzais-famous-hat-made-from-aborted-lamb-fetuses |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501230853/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,51034,00.html |archive-date=1 May 2008 |work=FOXNews.com |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=27 May 2007 |title=Qaraquls Burst Upon the Fashion World |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2007/05/27/2003362700/print |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216031746/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/bizfocus/archives/2007/05/27/2003362700/print |archive-date=16 December 2007 |work=Taipei Times |page=12 |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release |title=HSUS Investigation Reveals Slaughter of Unborn and Newborn Lambs for Fur: Dateline NBC Features Undercover Investigation Documenting Animal Cruelty |date=12 December 2000 |url=http://www.infurmation.com/press_detail.php?id=99 |language=en |last1=Humane Society of the United States |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060531022711/http://infurmation.com/press_detail.php?id=99 |archive-date=31 May 2006 |website=Infurmation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 December 2000 |title=Transcript of NBC "Dateline" Feature on Karakul Production |url=http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsF02d.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510115715/http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsF02d.htm |archive-date=10 May 2008 |website=furcommission.com |language=en}}</ref> The fur from which it is made is referred to as ''Astrakhan'', ''broadtail'', ''qaraqulcha'', or ''Persian lamb''.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}} The hat is peaked, and folds flat when taken off the wearer's head.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}
[[File:ابراهیم گاوسوار.jpg|thumb|Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Hazara leader in 1944 from Afghanistan, wearing Karakul.]] The cap is typically worn by Muslim men in Central and South Asia. It was worn by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, where it is known as the Jinnah cap. The karakul, which had distinguished all educated urban men since the beginning of the 20th century, has fallen out of fashion in Afghanistan and Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clothing in Afghanistan |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xiii |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050442/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xiii |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nordland |first=Rob |date=26 January 2010 |title=The Afghan Leader's Hat, Always More Than Just Headgear, Is Losing Its Cachet |language=en |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/world/asia/27karzai.html |url-status=live |access-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610073134/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/world/asia/27karzai.html |archive-date=10 June 2021}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=KO |date=24 March 2022 |title=The Royal Headgear: Qarakul - Kashmir Observer |url=https://kashmirobserver.net/2022/03/24/the-royal-headgear-qarakul/ |access-date=24 January 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Design and production == In terms of design, the cap is peaked and has several parts. It folds flat when taken off the head. The cap has been particularly popular among the Muslim population of Central and South Asia, however, there is no religious significance attached to it.
The cap is made of the fur of the Qaraqul or Karakul breed of sheep, which is found in the desert areas of Central Asia. The sheep have been named in connection to the city of Qorakoʻl, a town in the Bukhara Region of Uzbekistan. Later, the cap gained popularity in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in Afghanistan, after which Uzbek craftsmen introduced the craft to Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yasin |first=Aamir |date=8 December 2019 |title=The last Jinnah cap maker in Rawalpindi |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1520988 |access-date=24 January 2023 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Jinnah Cap – a dying legacy">{{Cite web |date=8 October 2019 |title=Jinnah Cap – a dying legacy |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2075387/jinnah-cap-dying-legacy |access-date=24 January 2023 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref>
The karakul fur is obtained from a newly born sheep, which gives the cap its tough and curly texture as well as a specific pattern.<ref name="Jinnah Cap – a dying legacy"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why we stopped selling Karakul Caps |url=https://www.kashmirbox.com/blogs/craft/why-we-stopped-selling-karakul-caps |access-date=24 January 2023 |website=KashmirBox.com |date=6 April 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The karakulcha (diminutive of "karakul"), a finer and more expensive material, is taken from lamb fetuses or miscarriages.<ref name="foxnews"/>
== Kashmiri variations == Karakul caps have been worn by Kashmiris for the past several decades. The Karakul cap is colloquially known as a "Karakuli" in the Kashmir Valley. The traditional headgear of the gentry in Kashmir has historically been the turban tied in a similar fashion to the Pashtun equivalent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=M. Ashraf |date=1 January 2013 |title=The Karakul Cap |url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2013/Jan/1/the-karakul-cap-29.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128135213/http://greaterkashmir.com/news/2013/Jan/1/the-karakul-cap-29.asp |archive-date=28 January 2013 |access-date=1 January 2013 |website=GreaterKashmir.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> File:Karzai.jpg|alt=|Afghanistan former president, Hamed Karzai wearing a Karakul hat File:25 01 2020 Banquete no Palácio Presidencial (49439510138).jpg|Ram Nath Kovind, former president of India, wearing the hat File:Tagore Iran.jpg|Rabindranath Tagore wearing a karakul hat in a 1932 group photograph in the Majlis of Iran File:Die Kürschnerkunst, Hans Werner, 1914 (S. 199) Bucharische Lammfelle und daraus gefertigte 'Persianer'-Mützen.jpg|Bukhara Karakul skins and Karakul hats </gallery>
== See also == {{Commons category|Karakul caps}} * List of hat styles * List of fur headgear * Fur wedge cap, of similar shape * Papakha, also can be made of karakul fur * Side cap (Pilotka)
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
{{hats}} {{Clothing in South Asia}} {{Uzbek clothing}}
Category:Afghan clothing Category:Hats Category:Indian headgear Category:Islamic male clothing Category:Muhammad Ali Jinnah Category:Pakistani headgear Category:Woolen clothing Category:Uzbek clothing