Women*s costumes

That a wave o f new fashions characterized the Kushan period is more adequately shown by the
female dress o f the period. Four types o f w om en’s costumes are depicted on the Harwan tiles.
One tile represents a graceful lady in her back view pose; wearing a transparent robe (pi.9, fig.8).
The lady does not wear any head dress. Her hair is combed backwards and then looped to form a
curved tail. She wears prominent ear rings. The robe consists o f a long sleeved ful-fledged skin tight
blouse and a loose long skirt falling down on the ankles. The blouse is so akin to m odem blouse and
the skirt so identical in cut w ith m odem sadi from the w aist downwards that to a common
observer the figure looks quite m odem female figure clad in blouse and sadi even if it is not full
fledged sadi and the blouse is, unlike the m odem blouse, full-sleeved. It is intriguing that invariably
the type o f skirts that fall down on the ankles are seen being slightly lifted upwards by catching a
side o f it (pi. 11, 16 Borovka, G. Scythian Art, Ingholt, H., op. cit, pi. 420. 183 figs, 11,12,13;
pl.9,fig.8). The portion that is caught is however so long that if left let loose it w ould form the tail o f
the skirt.. H arwan tiles frequently repeat the m otif o f a lady w ith the side view o f her face and
frontal view o f body. She wears a triangle collared fullsleeved long robe which is stitched skin tight
above the w aist and loose and long below it. It falls down on the ankles. And like the above lady she
also carries a vase o f flowers/incense burner in her up-raised right hand and lifts slightly the back
portion o f her skirt with her left hand. She wears either a close fitted round cap or some sort o f
lowly turban like head dress. Then we have a beautiful representation o f frock, trousers and a scarf
as a full-fledged ladies dress.

A tile portrays a dancer in the dancing pose (pi. 11, fig. 14). Although the head is presented in a side
pose, rest o f the body has been drawn in frontal posture. The upper garment constitutes a full-
sleeved frock falling upon knees. The above - waist portion o f the frock is stitched skin tight
including the sleeves which are sewn in such a fashion as to give a folded look. The collar is round in
shape and alm ost half-necked. The below-waist portion o f the frock is comparatively loose and its
two side hems slightly longer in size. The trousers also present a realistic picture o f the specially
designed trousers for dancers. These are tight and tied above the ankles and below the knees so that
its m iddle portion gives a prom inent baggy look w ith folds. It was a special design in itself. The
dancer holds a long scarf in her two hands, w aving it above her head rhythmically w ith her body
movements. The scarf is not only long making her to catch it substantially above its hems, it is also
broad, and thus loosely folded while using for dance. The 184 scarf was also probably used by
throwing it over the shoulders to make frock-trouser dress a complete one. Y et another type o f
female costume is delineated through the portrayal o f a lady m usician who plays upon a drum (pi.
11, fig. 13). As upper garm ent she wears a round collared full-sleeved tight-fitting short sized
costume. It looks like a m odem round collared medium sized teashirt. As lower garm ent she wears
trousers w hich is neither baggy nor skin tight save its hems. The complete dress looks exactly like
the m odem tea-shirt and trousers specially designed for winters. She does not w ear any head
dress; nor does she carry a scarf. Her hair is combed backwards to form a pony tail. To sum, the
Kushan dress made an enduring im pact upon the dress o f northern India including Kashmir. The
conical cap {kulak) introduced by them assum ed so much popularity in Kashm ir that it became an
identity m arker o f Kashmiri dress. The triangled collared full sleeved tunic, w hich in case o f males
fell slightly beneath the knees and in case p f women slightly above the ankle, is perhaps the
precursor o f the traditional Kashmiri dress, pheran. Equally im portant is the introduction o f
trousers - baggy as well as shrinking trousers, frock, salwar and scarf which constitute a common
dress o f woman in Punjab, Pakistan as well as in Kashmir. So is the case with sadi, blouse and
petticoat. The special type o f trousers designed for the dancers continued to be used in the same
fashion upto our own times. Belt which was an essential part o f Kushan dress, formed an integral
part o f Kashmiri dress till late medieval times. The long skirt type tunic with girdle stayed as a perm
anent dress with the people o f Ladakh. The Irano-Hellanistic chiton and him ation apparel also 185
made a lasting impact.

The best example o f this is the typical phiran o f Kashmiri Pandititanis which like chiton is a long and
loose robe falling down on the feet with folds and light - belted. Besides the new kinds o f dresses
and the fashionable modes o f wearing them, some new hair styles also came into vogue. Such hair
styles are frequently found in the figurative Harwan tiles. Perhaps the most fashionable hair dress
was to style it curly. There is an often repeated portrait o f a couple belonging to ruling class, sitting
in balcony and exchanging love (pl.8, fig.7, pi. 10, fig. 10). The m ale is curly-haired with a coiffure w
hich looks like a net designed wig. A little portion o f his fore head is occasionally seen shaven; and
the curly-wig-net like hair falls on his neck concealing his ears too. He is clean shaved, not growing
even moustaches (pl.9, fig.9; pi. 10). Significantly the custom o f shaving the front part o f the head
obtained both among the Greeks and Scythians. W hile the curly hair dress and shaving o f the front
part o f the head seem to have been adopted by the Kushans at Bacteria under the influence o f the
predom inant Greeco-Iranian culture, the Tokharian practice o f shaving o ff the head as bald as the
coot was not given up. It was as m uch a respectable fashion as the newly adopted curly hair-dress.
In an exceptionally treated plaque which contains the image o f an ascetic in one register and a
couple in the balcony in another register, the m ale’s head is completely shaven off. It should be rem
em bered that the couple belongs to upper class (pi. 8, fig.7). It seems that among some sections the
practice o f shaving o ff head had its roots in their belief system, because even the head o f women
in this case is shaven o ff except for the place where his/her top-knot 186 sprouted, w hich was left
long enough to fall back on the occiput. It is perfectly like the lock o f hair (chaugh) grown by the
Kashmiri Brahmans till recently. Evidently some groups o f the Kushans had stuck to their ancestral
practices without conforming to new fashions in the Bacterian environment. This was not however
true for the majority. The hair style o f women was also o f many types. Besides showing the afore-m
entioned upper class women with her hair shaven o ff save growing a lock o f hair at the head top,
woman have been shown in many hair styles. The upper class woman, shown in conversation with
her curly-haired husband in the balcony, has her hairs braided or they are curly dressed. The hair o f
a portion o f forehead is combed sideways and that o f the sides and the head top is tied with a
ribbon near the head top. This top-not hair style forms a hanging hair lock drooping behind the neck.
As in the case o f her male-partner a little o f the front portion o f her forehead and sides are shaven
off. The graceful lady shown in another tile (pi. 9, fig.8 ) also displays top-knot hair style forming a
curved hair lock behind the neck. Another hair style that we come across thanks to Harwan artists is
w hat is called as ‘pony hair style’. A female musician is shown with a type o f coiffure where she has
gathered her hair and loosely tied it with a ribbon near the occiput. The hair is then ultim ately
shaped into a roundish bun that falls slightly below the neck. Can we still call it a ‘pony hair style’?
Some wom en are seen wearing a close fitted round cap or a piece o f cloth. This also obtained
elsewhere in the Kushan em pire.17