An arakhchi (, ) is a traditional

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

nAvakyan N. H. Armenian folk clothes (19th - early XX centuries). Yerevan and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i flat top skull cap headdress, worn by both men and women in the past. Arakhchis could be sewn of various textiles, such as tirma

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

and

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

. However, only one single-colour textile per arakhchi was used. The textile was made into a round shape fitting the head and then decorated with

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

beads A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 ...

and even pieces of gold. Men's arakhchis were relatively plain, especially those used for religious purposes. In

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the western parts of the Armenian highlands located within Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that comprise the historic ...

, men, especially freedom fighters, wore a red arakhchi draped with a bandana with tinsel as their native headgear to identify themselves. The Armenian arakhchi was a truncated skull cap, knitted from wool or embroidered with multicolored woolen thread and a predominance of red. The way this traditional headdress was worn was a marker of its owner's marital condition, just as in

Eastern Armenia Eastern Armenia (Armenian: Արևելյան Հայաստան, ''Arevelyan Hayastan'') refers to the eastern portion of the Armenian Highlands, historically inhabited by the Armenian people. Throughout history, Eastern Armenia has been contested and ...

, the right to wear an arakhchi belonged to a married man. Even though the arakhchi was traditionally a man's hat, Armenian women wore this headress as well; especially in

Muş Muş (; ; ) is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the seat of Muş Province and Muş District.İl Beled ...

where Armenian singer Armenouhi Kevonian was known for her colorful arakhchi at her concerts. Tjohk Grayr

An arakhchi could be worn alone or under other headdresses, such as papakhi, a

turban A turban (from Persian language, Persian دولبند‌, ''dolband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Commun ...

or a

kalaghai Kelaghayi (;) or Hawri () also known as "charghat" ( from Persian چارقد), is a traditional Azerbaijani women's headgear. It is a square-shaped silk head scarf with special prints on it. In November 2014 at the 9th session of UNESCO's tra ...

. Women's arakhchis worn as early as the sixteenth century often lacked a special sack intended for

braid A braid (also referred to as a plait; ) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

s. By the eighteenth century, it was already one of the most widespread headgears. Women used hairpins to secure their veils on the arakhchin.Leyla Mustafayeva. ''Women's Headgears in the Nineteenth Century''. Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. 2011 Arakhchins generally went out of use in the early twentieth century, with the mass adoption of European-style dress in Armenia and in what is now considered the Republic of Azerbaijan.

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Araxçın
Headgear Azerbaijani clothing Azerbaijani words and phrases Armenian clothing {{clothing-stub az:Araxçın ru:Арахчын

See also

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External links