Textiles

Textiles other than silk fabrics include those that were decorated with printed or painted designs. These include shirts, usually of cotton, inscribed in ink with verses from the Quran, prayers and the attributes of God, sometimes with geometric and floral decoration. Such talismanic shirts were worn during military campaigns by Ottoman and Safavid rulers.

Tents have maintained their importance both as dwellings and for ceremonial occasions throughout the history of Islam. The Spanish ambassador, Ruy Gonzalez do Clavijo, who visited Timur’s court in 1404, writes of vast tents with silken walls which imitated castles in their design. The Ilkhanid ruler Ghazan Khan, is reported to have had a tent made from gold cloth, so elaborate that it took a month to pitch.

Source:- “The Timeline History of Islamic Art and Architecture” by Nasser D. Khalili.

Photo above:- Wall hanging. Cotton embroidered with silk. Mughal India, c.1675 CE. Source:- Victoria and Albert Museum, London.