battoulah

The origin of the battoulah is unknown.{{cite web |last=electricpulp.com |title=CLOTHING xxiii. Clothing of the Persian Gulf – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxiii |website=www.iranicaonline.org}} Multiple theories exist on where it may have originated. It is thought to have entered the Eastern Arabian Peninsula from Gujarat in late 18th century.Rajab, Jehan S. (1997). Silver Jewellery of Oman. Kuwait: Tareq Rajab Museum; Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 48. & 52., {{ISBN|9781860643101}}

Many Arab bedouins consider the Mutayr tribe the creators of the Battoulah (or burqa’). According to bedouin oral tradition, A father was preparing to marry his daughter off to a man she did not desire. Unable to refuse openly, the girl decided to create a solution. She cut a piece of black cloth with uneven eyeholes to conceal her face, attaching it securely. To complement the look, she added a loose white cloth around her legs for additional coverage. When she appeared in front of her potential suitor, her unusual appearance shocked him, and the marriage proposal was rejected.

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This invention gained popularity within the Mutayr tribe and later spread to other tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. It is claimed that this event occurred around 1870 CE in a famous poem among the bedouins.

Multiple variants of the battoulah exist, and some are specific to cities and regions. The "Zabeel cut" design has a narrow top and a broad, curved bottom, and is worn in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The variant worn in Sharjah resembles the Zabeel cut, but is shaped so the top of the mask is inclined forwards. The Al Ain design features both a narrow top and bottom. The Bahraini and Qatari burqa is square. In Oman and Fujairah it is very large and broader at the top with a tip that goes beyond the forehead. In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the niqab is worn instead. In southern provinces of Iran, Shia women wear red rectangular masks, while those of Sunni women are black or indigo with gold, similar to the mask worn in the Arabian peninsula. In Qeshm, the masks were designed to fool invaders, so they would mistake women for male soldiers.

The wearing of battouleh is declining among the younger generation.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womeninthirdworl00bryd|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/womeninthirdworl00bryd/page/29 29]|quote=Qatari women have traditionally worn a batula, a kind of face mask with two slits for the eyes, although this is now dying out among the younger generation|title=Women in the Third World: Gender Issues in Rural and Urban Areas|first1=Lynne|last1=Brydon|first2=Sylvia H.|last2=Chant|date=11 August 1989|publisher=Rutgers University Press|via=Internet Archive}}

File:Burka United Arab Emirates (138050241).jpeg|A woman wearing the Battoulah in the United Arab Emirates.

File:Woman making Cane Artwork.jpg|An elderly woman wearing the battoulah in the United Arab Emirates.

File:Posht-e Shahr Fish Market 2020-01-22 11.jpg|A woman wearing the Battoulah in Bandar Abbas fish market.

File:Bandari Girl.jpg|A woman in Qeshm Island wearing a Battoulah

File:Craftswoman Oman 2.jpg|An elderly woman in Oman wearing the Battoulah.

• Alasho
• Shayla
• Haik (garment)

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{{Commonscat|Battula}}

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Category:Arab culture

Category:Arabic clothing

Category:Islamic female clothing