The History of Clothing

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Early Modern · South Asia · 1500 - 1800

Patka

A long, narrow sash that men of the Mughal court in India tied around the waist over the jama, usually plain in the middle and decorated at the ends.

By Dan Schnau · Last updated

The patka is a long, narrow sash that men of the Mughal court in India tied around the waist over the jama robe.1,2 These sashes "typically measured about eleven feet in length and about a half yard in width" and "were cinched around the waist to hold together the crossways panels of the jāma, or to serve as a convenient belt to hang little bags and daggers."2

Long, narrow Mughal patka sash of fine white cotton with embroidered green flowering plants in a row of panels at each end and a narrow floral border along the edges
Sash (patka), India, late 17th century, cotton and silk, embroidered, about 308 by 56 centimeters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 47.118a, b. The Met, Public Domain (CC0).

How It Was Worn

The sash was "usually plain in the middle section, which went around the waist of the wearer, and sumptuously embellished at the edges."2 The Public Domain Review pictures the emperor Akbar putting on his cotton jama and tying it "securely with his new bandhanī patkā."2 The Ain-i Akbari, the account of Akbar's administration by Abu'l Fazl, lists the sash among the garments the emperor renamed: "for patka (a cloth for the loins), katzeb."3

Materials and Decoration

Patka designs "ranged from geometric styles with chevrons and diamond-shaped patterns to more floral ones by the mid-seventeenth century."2 A late seventeenth-century example at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is cotton and silk in plain weave with embroidery, and measures 308.6 by 55.9 centimeters.1 In the museum's photograph, its decoration follows the pattern the essay describes: a plain white field with embroidered flowering plants at the two ends.1,2

On This Site

Sources

  1. Sash (Patka), collection record 450750 — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, collection API, 47.118a, b (India, late 17th century; cotton and silk, plain weave, embroidered; dimensions; public domain).
    Return to text (3 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3
  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 (patka size, use, decoration, and the change from geometric to floral designs).
    Return to text (6 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3 Reference 4 Reference 5 Reference 6
  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 (Akbar's renaming of the patka as katzeb; retrieved through the Wayback Machine).Reference 1