Hats and Hairstyles of the Mongols

In virtually every culture there seem to be customs and practices for the hair and head coverings. This is no less true among the Mongols, particularly the women. Within the Mongolian society there are various differences, mostly tribal but a few are also rank related. The nomadic lifestyle has much influence as well as outside influences from other cultures.

HATS
Hats can be divided into several categories. We start with mens and womens hats fairly obvious distinction there. This is followed by seasonal hats, work hats, town hats, special occasion hats and hats of office. For each of these collections, except the hats of office, we must also specify tribal variations. Many tribes had specific designs or styles of hats by which a person could easily be recognized, although similarity is strong in overall design of the basic hat. Notable among these is the Boghtag hat worn by the women. Hats generally had some sort of decoration that conveyed either rank, title or meant something, such as good luck symbols on the tails of a toortsoog. Sometimes those decorations just showed you had enough wealth to afford such decoration. Hats were made of cotton, wool, sheepskin, silk, leather, felt or a combination of things, including birch bark, used to form the shape of the Boghtag hat. Probably the single most common hat decorations are the knot, tassel or ribbons. Amongst the western tribes especially the Turkic, and later period Moghul, groups you will also find feathers, gems and jewelry included. Colors were dependant on the material the hat was made from, with the summer and town hats being more colorful. Many of the winter hats and felt hats were quilted and/or embroidered as well as being lined or edged with fur. The embroidery and quilting also served to strengthen the fabric of the hat particularly with felt hats. Like the Dels, most hats were lined with something comfortable like cotton or fur. Scarves and head wraps are mostly worn by women but in some parts of Central Asia they are worn by men as well. These are strictly a working head covering. Generally they are cotton, wool or silk and while there are various styles of wrapping they are not terribly different from tribe to tribe. I would venture a guess that this is where turbans may have derived from, but thats only a guess. Again, bright or strong colors are preferred or, in the case of the hotter climes, white is a favored color. Head dresses or hair jewelry are limited to the women and constitute a show of rank, marital status, wealth and sometimes tribal affiliation. The majority of these are made of silver and include a large variety of precious and semi-precious stones. Shells also make an appearance on many of the pieces. Among the favored stones are Coral, Lapis, Pearls, Jade, Turquoise, Agate, and others. The complexity of the headdress is simplified by using a layering system. They are not all one piece. Most consist of a cap, circlet or central plate which then is overset with everything from bands with long dangling strands

to braid covers to side pieces that hang from the cap. Earrings often appear to be part of the assembly because they hook over the ear rather than attach to the ear lobe. In some instances you will find pieces which cross the chest, being suspended by a wire or string that crosses over the head or are actually attached to the garment rather than being suspended. Within all this is the hairstyle and that brings us to the other half of this matter.

Hairstyles
Once again we can divide hairstyles into a couple categories. We start with mens and womens and then go to everyday styles and formal styles. That is where the simple part ends. In the case of mens hair the style reflects the needs. A Shamans hair was wild and unkempt whereas a monks head may have been clean shaven. The majority of the males wore their hair in one or more braids and often had the forehead and front of the skull shaved back, leaving only a small forelock. It is difficult for an enemy to grab you by the hair if there is none to grab. The braids could be tucked up into the hats or helmets in many cases. This might very well have helped pad those helmets but dont quote me on that. The womens hair is another story altogether. If nothing else has survived the ages, hair styling has. Women have everyday hairstyles or working styles and they have their fancy dos. The Mongolian women are no exception to this practice. The use of hairpieces and extensions is also not a stranger to the Mongolian hairstyling. Tribal practices vary but the majority of everyday or working hair styles involve one or more braids and sometimes pinning the hair up under a head wrap. Generally these styles receive no decoration. Special occasion hairstyles are another matter entirely. Any excuse to dress up is an excuse to have your hair done. Weddings, visits by dignitaries, holidays, parties all are good reasons to dress up the hair. At this point the styles are most often dictated by the tribe. The arched styles are said to represent or copy the look of the Garuda Birds wings when in flight. Others say the arches mimic the horns of a ram or yak. While these arches are probably the best known style of hair for Mongolian women they are certainly not the only style. They are, however, the best example of using supplemental forms or hairpieces to achieve a certain look. In many cases the arches were covered with dark horsehair to mimic the womans hair. There are also false braids, filler material and wire forms used to convey a certain look. Add to this the hair dressing of yak butter and you have an extremely ornate and striking presentation. Many of the ornate hairstyles vary in style from tribe to tribe while some styles, less formal and unadorned, seem to be fairly consistent from tribe to tribe. In the pictures that follow you will see a few of the styles of hats, headdresses and hairstyles in use by the Mongols. The hats shown are representative of the more common styles but do not necessarily show the minor variations you would find in various tribes.

Such things as colors, style of decoration and such vary. The picture of the Boghtag hat is interesting in that it is a square tower rather than the more common round version.

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The pony tail is wrapped in a strand of coral beads Once that is in place the ponytail is divided and the two sections of hair are wrapped over a Y shaped frame which has been inserted in the bottom of the wrapped portion of the ponytail. From there the ends are tied in with a colored cord (we think**) under the coral wrapping to hold it while the other strands are brought back, twisted and wrapped around under the ponytail and secured by the band of jade. Additional decorations are then tucked into the ponytail to enhance the style. ** I talked with a professional hairdresser about this and we came to the above conclusion.

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Above are the various forms, hair sticks or pins and decoration used in the Daghur womans hair style. They are representative of much of the hair jewelry used by the Mongols. In researching the actual jewelry construction I find that the origins of most of the pieces are either Chinese or Indian (modern names). Most was made of silver primarily because it was more available than gold. Mongolia has a fairly large number of gold fields and native gem stones but mining was not practiced by the Mongols, thus they traded for the components ingots of silver, finished or polished stones and such. It was during the reign of the Manchus and later that the truly elegant work was created with gold and enamel work and other refinements beginning to make an appearance. While there are records of superb Mongolian silver smiths there are no real written records of who they were and what pieces they created. The majority of the jewelry makers seem to be foreign craftsmen captured by the Mongols and kept because of the value of their art. In matching your accessories to your Mongolian persona I would suggest looking to the jewelry of India if you trace your persona to the Turkic (Western) Mongols and to Chinese designs if your persona is from the Eastern Mongolian territories.

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Headdress primarily of silver with the base being a padded cloth circle with stones set in silver sewn onto the circle. The front decoration is two semicircles of silver with silver chains framing the face and a series of silver and gem stone bangs across the front. The back is a latticework of silver and coral with a wooden rod to maintain the width of the latticework. Beside the lattice is a pair of earrings that match the latticework of coral and silver. They hang over the ears. The 2 rectangles below the head piece are hairclips.

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Two ladies of the Khalka tribe. A note about their dels. The dels reflect some of the changes that have come about over the years but the style of the raised shoulders is unique and one of the biggest diversions from the basic Del seen across most of the Mongolian territories. In Conclusion; It is readily apparent in the history of the Mongols that they truly prized and enjoyed beautiful things as well as very utilitarian things. In classic nomadic style they tended to wear or use their wealth. In an attempt to show respect and awe of things supernatural they also reflected those beliefs in everyday things clothing, the place and position of their ger and its contents. The jewelry, hats and hairstyles tlked about here also reflect that collection of beliefs.

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The images in this handout were taken from several sources and must be credited here. They are: Boyer, Martha, Mongol Jewelry, Great Britain, Thames and Hudson, 1995 Hansen, Henny Harald, Mongol Costumes, Great Britain, Thames and Hudson, 1993 Baasankhuu, Besud Ayushiin, edited by Kh. Tsookhuu, Material Culture of Mongol Altai Region, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Institute for Mongol Altai Studies, 2006 Much of what you see in the photos includes later influences from the Chinese or Manchu cultures such as the more elegant hair jewelry. While things such as the enameled jewelry might not have been done in SCA period, the elements were in use. The flowers, birds, insects, animals and the patterns and motifs have been in use since well before even Genghis Khans time period. I would caution the use of the various religious symbols, however, as some are reserved for special uses and others are readily usable by anyone. Should you have any questions I would be most happy to help. I can be contacted via email at chagankhulan@comcast.net Via USPS - send to; Karen Summerfelt-Hume, 3607 Young Road, Millers, MD 21102-2353 Currently I have a website under construction which can be viewed at: http://www.freewebs.com/chagankhulan . Sain Morilaa, Chagan Khulan Khatun, Clan White Wing

Copyright October, 2007, Karen M. Summerfelt-Hume

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