The History of Clothing

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Early Modern · South Asia · 1500 - 1800

Jama

A long robe with a tight bodice, close-fitting sleeves, and a skirt, worn by men of the Mughal court in India with a patka sash at the waist.

By Dan Schnau · Last updated

The jama is a long robe with a tight bodice, close-fitting sleeves, and a skirt in crossways panels, which men of the Mughal court in India held together with a patka sash at the waist.1,2 The emperor Akbar adopted a white cotton jama, described as "a translucent garment with a tight bodice, arm-hugging sleeves, and a skirt that fell a little beyond the knees."2

Embroidered fragment of a Mughal jama bodice in pale cotton with rows of small red flowers, a wrapped crossover front, a patterned border at the neck, long gathered sleeves, and hanging tie strings
Fragment of a robe (jama), India, c. 1628–58, cotton and silk, embroidered. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 31.47. The Met, Public Domain (CC0).

Origins and History

The Public Domain Review writes that Akbar's adoption of the cotton jama "signalled a significant cultural shift."2 The Ain-i Akbari, the account of Akbar's administration by Abu'l Fazl, records that the emperor "changed the names of several garments, and invented new and pleasing terms." Instead of jamah, meaning coat, "he says sarbgati, i. e., covering the whole body."3 The same text describes the takauchiyah, "a coat without lining, of the Indian form," which "formerly" had slits in the skirt "and was tied on the left side." Akbar "ordered it to be made with a round skirt, and to be tied on the right side."3

Materials and Decoration

The scholar Sylvia Houghteling, as quoted in the essay, says cotton "provided a fabric of compromise," and the essay adds that the thin cotton jama "allowed the body of the king to be covered, while its translucence revealed his 'inner state.'"2 A surviving fragment at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated about 1628–58, is cotton and silk, plain weave, embroidered, and measures 49.5 by 229.9 centimeters.1

On This Site

Sources

  1. Fragment of a Robe (Jama), collection record 448583 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, collection API, 31.47 (India, ca. 1628–58; cotton and silk, plain weave, embroidered; dimensions; public domain).
    Return to text (2 references)Reference 1 Reference 2
  2. The Emperor's New Clothes: Fashion, Politics, and Identity in Mughal South Asia — Simran Agarwal, The Public Domain Review, 26 February 2025, drawing on Sylvia Houghteling (Akbar's cotton jama, its form, cotton as a "fabric of compromise," the patka).
    Return to text (4 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3 Reference 4
  3. The Ain i Akbari, vol. 1, Ain 31: The Wardrobe — Abu'l Fazl 'Allami, trans. H. Blochmann, Calcutta, 1873, via Persian Literature in Translation, Packard Humanities Institute (the takauchiyah and Akbar's renaming of the jamah as sarbgati; retrieved through the Wayback Machine).
    Return to text (2 references)Reference 1 Reference 2