Djellaba

thumb|Djellaba

The '''djellaba''' or '''jillaba''' ({{IPAc-en|dʒ|ɪ|ˈ|l|ɑː|b|ə}}; {{langx|ar|جلابة}}), also written '''gallabea''', is a long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe or dress with long sleeves that is worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa. In central and eastern Algeria it is called ''qeššaba'' or ''qeššabiya''. The mountain dwellers of Morocco call it ''tadjellabit'', which is a Berberized form.<ref name="E.B. 1995">{{cite journal | author=E.B. | title=Djellaba | journal=Encyclopédie berbère | issue=16 | date=1 Nov 1995 | issn=1015-7344 | pages=2425–2427 | doi=10.4000/encyclopedieberbere.2181 | url=http://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2181 | language=fr | access-date=27 May 2020| doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Etymology == The word djellaba is French derived from the Arabic ''jallāba'', a variant of ''jallābīya'' (originally meaning "garment worn by traders"); from ''jallāb'', trader or importer; ultimately from ''jalaba'', to bring, attract, fetch or import.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Publishers |first=HarperCollins |title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: djellaba |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=djellaba#:~:text=%5BFrench,%20from%20Arabic%20jall%C4%81ba,,the%20Appendix%20of%20Semitic%20roots.%5D |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=www.ahdictionary.com}}</ref>

Reinhart Dozy's theory that the djellaba would have been, originally, the "garment of the djellab", that is to say of the slave trader, has been rejected by William Marçais who proposed to see in djellaba an alteration of djilbab which, in ancient Arabic, meant draped clothing, although the djellaba is sewn rather than draped. He pointed out that in Oman the form ''gillab'' designates the woman's veil. The disappearance of the first ''b'' would have occurred identically in the Maghreb and Oman. As for the qeššabiya, Georges Séraphin Colin sees in this name the deformation of the Latin ''gausapa'', a term which would have been preserved in the ''gosaba'' form in the Adrar where it designates the shirt.<ref name="E.B. 1995" />

==Overview== thumb|left|Moroccan man wearing a djellabaTraditionally, djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colours, but lightweight cotton djellabas have now become popular. Among the Berbers, or Imazighen, such as the Imilchil in the Atlas Mountains, the colour of a djellaba traditionally indicates the marital status (single or married) of the bearer:<ref>ezinearticles.com/?Traditional-Hand-Dressmaking-in-Marrakech&id=3360786</ref> a dark brown djellaba indicating bachelorhood.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://inamunaifashion.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/history-of-the-algerian-fashion/|title=HISTORY OF THE ALGERIAN FASHION|last=inamunaifashion|date=4 December 2014}}</ref>

Traditionally, djellabas reached down to the ground but lightweight djellabas are somewhat slimmer and shorter. Men often wear a light-coloured djellaba sometimes along with a traditional Arab red fez hat and soft yellow babouche slippers (''balgha'' in Arabic) for religious celebrations and weddings.

In the Hammadid period, djellabas were produced in the Qal'at Bani Hammad.<ref name=Qashiush>{{cite book |last=قشيوش |first=نصيرة |chapter=لباس "الكركو" الجزائري: التأثيل والتأصيل والتطور |editor-last1=Duran |editor-first1=Hacı |editor-last2=Sarqama |editor-first2=Ashour |title=II. Uluslararası Karşılaştırmalı Kültür Araştırmaları Kongresi Tam Metin Bildiri Kitabı |publisher=İstanbul Aydın Üniversitesi Yayınları |location=Istanbul |year=2023 |page=272 |isbn=978-625-93572-1-8 |language=ar |url=https://iletisim.aydin.edu.tr/tr-tr/arastirma/universite-yayinlari/Documents/tam-metin-bildiriler-kitabi-ii-uluslararasi-kongre.pdf}}</ref> These djellabas were composed of a robe, a tunic and a shirt.<ref name=Qashiush /> Djellabas were also produced in Ottoman Algeria where the textile production played a central role in the traditional economy.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Daheur |first=Youcef |title=Algerian Industry in the Ottoman Era: Between Resource Abundance and Productive Diversity |journal=بلد والأركات مسرس |volume=6 |issue=2 |date=July 2025 |issn=2716-8131 |page=17 |url=https://asjp.cerist.dz/en/downArticle/718/6/2/273119}}</ref>

Almost all djellabas of both styles (male or female) include a baggy hood called a ''qob'' (Arabic: قب) that comes to a point at the back. The hood is important for both sexes, as it protects the wearer from the sun, and in earlier times, it was used as a defence against sand being blown into the wearer's face by strong desert winds. In colder climes, as in the mountains of Morocco, it also serves the same function as a winter hat, preventing heat loss through the head and protecting the face from snow and rain. It is common for the roomy hood to be used as a pocket during times of warm weather; it can fit loaves of bread or bags of groceries.

Traditional djellabas are generally made of two types of material, cotton for summer wear and coarse wool for the winter. The wool is typically obtained from sheep in the surrounding mountains. Buttons for djellabas are made in the town of Bhalil'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/in-morocco-44-hours-of-lingering-in-a-small-village-leaves-a-big-impression/2019/08/29/48406eb6-9f6d-11e9-9ed4-c9089972ad5a_story.html|title=In Morocco, 44 hours of lingering in a small village leaves a big impression|last=Brown|first=David|date=August 30, 2019|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2019-12-16}}</ref>'''

== Symbolism == thumb|Moroccan woman wearing a djellaba Moroccan women began wearing the djellaba rather than the haik under the French protectorate as a symbol of Moroccan nationalism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wyrtzen |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Making_Morocco/a8tHDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=djellaba%20nationalism&pg=PA164&printsec=frontcover |title=Making Morocco: Colonial Intervention and the Politics of Identity |date=2016-01-05 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-1-5017-0425-3 |pages=163 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sadiqi |first=Fatima |author-link=Fatima Sadiqi |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Moroccan_Feminist_Discourses/ToioBAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=djellaba%20nationalism&pg=PT178&printsec=frontcover |title=Moroccan Feminist Discourses |date=2014-09-17 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-45509-3 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also == * Burnous * Jellabiya * Abaya * Jilbāb * Kaftan * Dashiki * Tallit

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Wiktionary}}

* [http://www.bikeabout.org/resource/djellaba.htm ''Moroccan Clothing'']

Category:Algerian clothing Category:Arab culture Category:Arabic clothing Category:Folk costumes Category:Moroccan clothing Category:Robes and cloaks Category:Algerian Arabic words and phrases Category:Moroccan Arabic words and phrases