Pakol, Popularly known as the Chitrali cap, is a soft round-topped men's hat, typically of wool and found in any of a variety of earthy colors: brown, black, grey, ivory or dyed red using walnut. Pakol is a Khowar Chitrali word and is derived from the word Khoi which means hat in Khowar. The original Khowar name for the hat is Khapol. The cap's origin are debated upon with a theory of a possible origin in southeastern Europe, however the consensus among historians and ethnographers is for it to have originated from Chitral. The woolen cap has been the staple headgear of the Chitrali people for centuries. The main source of production is Chitral in Pakistan which is also located at the center of its range. It is also worn in Gilgit-Baltistan, Dir in Pakistan and also by Afghans such as Tajiks and Nuristani people as well as Afghan Pashtuns. Nuristan is a major region where it is imported from Chitral.
Overview
The pakol gained popularity in Nuristan in Afghanistan after the campaign of Emir Abdul Rehman. It's also worn in Chitral, Swat and Dir in Pakistan and is a considered a staple of their ethnic background. In the past couple of decades, the pakol has also been worn in India, especially in parts of Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.
Origins and History
Kausia and Alexander
The pakol is remarkably similar to the ancient Macedoniankausia hat, worn by men in ancient Southeast Europe, which may have been its ancestor. According to Bonnie Kingsley the kausia may have came to the Mediterranean as a campaign hat worn by Alexander and veterans of his campaigns in India. but according to Ernst Fredricksmeyer the kausia was too established a staple of the Macedonian wardrobe for it to have been imported from Asia to Macedonia.
Criticism of Macedonian Link
However Willem Vogelsang of the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, showed that the pakool is actually a simple adaptation of caps with rolled rims worn all over the borderlands of China, India and Central Asia. At the juncture of the 3 regions lies Chitral forming a watershed.
Origin, Discovery and Documentation in Chitral
The modern Pakol is believed to have originated from Chitral where it was made and found exclusively until the end of the 19th century. The word Pakol is a chitrali word derived from another chitrali name of the hat Khapol. The Pakol is made from a special type of wool known as the Chitrali patti which is procured from the sheepherders from its valleys. The earliest mention of the Pakol is attributed to Donatus O'Briens' book on the language of Chitral, where describing the ethnic dress of Chitralis he states that: "The dress worn by most men consist of a homespun cap black, brown or grey made in the shape of a bag and rolled up until it fits the skull." Later on in 1896 George Scott Robertson denoted the cap with the name "Chitrali Cap".Early mentions of its nativity and homogeneity to Chitral and its English and local nomenclature paired with documentation of it not being worn in any of the regions surrounding Chitral make it evident that the Pakol most probably originated from the Chitral region of Northern Pakistan where it was worn exclusively till the end of the 19th century.
The Kafiristan Campaign and Adoption by Nuristanis
The earliest documentations of the inhabitants of Kafiristan states that they went about without any headgear. Another source refers to the pakol as the chitrali cap and states that it is only worn in the Bashgul valley as an imported article of clothing because of Bashgul's proximity to Chitral. Pakols must have spread at a quick pace among the locals, now renamed Nuristanis, after and partially as a consequence of the conquest of Kafiristan by Abdul Rahman Khan of Afghanistan. The opening up of the valleys to increased contact and trade, and the population's conversion to Islam, might have provided incentives for the residents to abandon their previously distinctive hairstyle and cover their heads with hats. It seems logical that the men adopted one with which they were already acquainted, and that was readily available locally. The adoption of specific items of clothing to mark a new identity, especially a religious one, is well-established in history.
Initial Prominence in Pakistan
The Pakol first found for itself prominence in Pakistan by Chitrali traders and businessmen who expanded their businesses. The Pakol was started to be worn in many parts of Pakistan especially the adjoining areas to Chitral such as Dir, Swat, Malakand and Bajaur.
Initial Prominence in Afghanistan
In the 1980s, the pakol was worn by a special unit of the Afghan Mujahideen who fought against the Soviets. The pakol owes its global celebrity to the Tajik-majority members of the Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan, who, following their leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, first adopted it as a standard item of their outfit. Since then the headware has become famous in Afghanistan.
