Evidence for Shirts (Chamcha) in the Mongol Empire

Melissa Barton

A shirt–here defined as a simple undergarment usually made of plainer, less decorated material than outer garments–is a very practical article of clothing. Shirts protect outer garments from the dirt and sweat of the body, and protect the skin from any rough or scratchy materials used in the outer garment. For the Mongols, whose culture did not encourage bathing and whose expensive outer garments after the rise of the Empire were often woven with metal threads, a shirt would have been important for both comfort and economy.

Reenactors of Central Asian nomad cultures such as the Mongols often layer coats (de’el) without a shirt (chamcha), as there are no extant examples of Mongol shirts and few textual references to them. The lack of extant shirts is not surprising, as the hard wear they received would have been detrimental to their survival in the archaeological record; very few complete Mongol garments from this time period survive at all. In addition, if shirts were commonly made from vegetable fibers such as cotton and linen, this would be another reason they would be less likely to survive in burials than silk outer clothing.

However, artistic evidence from Yüan China and the Ilkhanate suggest that shirts may have been a relatively common first layer throughout the Mongol Empire, serving an important practical function.

Textual Evidence for Shirts

The most important of the few literary references to shirts among the medieval Mongols is the passage in the 13th century Secret History of the Mongols where Chinggis Qan’s mother, Hö’elün, removes her shirt and throws it to her husband Yeke Chiledü when she is kidnapped by Chinggis’s future father, Yisügei Ba’atur (de Rachewiltz, p. 11-12). The scent of the shirt would remind Chiledü of his lost bride. The word used for ’shirt’ is chamcha, a Middle Mongolian term of possible Chinese origin (? < ch. shan-tzu ‘woman’s dress, shirt’) (de Rachewiltz, p. 308-309).  Some scholars also interpreted the significance of Hö’elün’s shirt in this passage as a reminder of her social status, arguing that shirts were a sign of wealth among the Mongols (Olschki, p. 55).  This is plausible for a nomadic culture which had to obtain woven fabrics by trading or raiding, but by the time of the Mongol Empire, it seems probable that the many Mongols who could afford woven fabric coats (de’el) could also afford woven fabric shirts.

The association of the Mongolian chamcha with the shirts of surrounding cultures is corroborated by the 14th century Rasûlid Hexaglot, which provides vocabularies in Arabic, Persian, Turkic, Greek, Armenian, and Middle Mongolian. The Hexaglot gives Arabic qamîs, Persian pîrahân, Turkic könglek, and Middle Mongolian chamcha for ’shirt’ (Golden, 205, column B, entry 30). We know from other sources that the Arabic, Persian, and Turkic words refer to a shirt.

It is likely that there are few textual references to shirts in literature of the Mongol Empire because they would rarely be seen by the outsiders who most commonly wrote descriptions of Mongol dress. These descriptions typically focused on the rich fabrics and decorations of the outer coats and hats. Aside from the Secret History, no complete texts from this period originally written in Mongolian have survived.

However, at least one non-Mongol briefly described the Mongols’ shirts: William Adam, archbishop of Sultäniyyah, the Mongol capital of northwestern Iran, stated in 1330 that “they have very little linen, wherefore all have shirts of silk” (Allsen, p. 1).

As well, towards the end of the thirteenth century, the Senate of Genoa in Italy sent several elaborate linen shirts to the Il-Khan of Persia, suggesting that the Mongols wore shirts frequently enough–and valued them enough–that they were considered a useful and pleasing gift (Olschki, p. 56).

Artistic Evidence for Shirts

A portrait of Chabi Qatun, wife of Qubilai Qa’an suggests that the shirt is edged around the collar and around the front opening with a narrow strip of ribbon, embroidery, or other trim; it also appears to be green rather than white and fastened with small toggles or other closures (Fig. 1). This may, however, be a front-closing coat worn over a shirt and under the outer coats. The corresponding portrait of Taji Qatun shows her wearing a white shirt that may be pleated or gathered into a round collar bound with a strip of white fabric (Fig. 1). This looks similar to the shirts showing at the collars of both men’s and women’s coats in Ilkhanid-era Persian miniatures. Both qatuns also appear to have some kind of white cloth like a scarf showing under their chins.

The three Mongol noblewomen in one miniature from the 14th century Diez Albums, Birth Scene, wear white shirts with small unfastened slits at the front of the neckline under their wide-sleeved coats (Fig. 2). These slits would allow the shirt to be pulled over the head. However, most miniatures do not show an obvious slit in front that would allow the shirt to be pulled on; it is possible that the slit was over the shoulder or even in back, or that artists did not include this detail due to the stylized nature of 14th century Persian painting.

Many other miniatures from the Diez Albums, the Great Mongol Shahnama (Book of Kings), and other 14th century Persian manuscripts show hints of white, round-collared shirts worn under the coats of both men and women. Some of these appear to have a narrow cloth binding around the collar, and some are drawn with vertical lines that may represent striped or pleated fabric.

Possible Materials for Shirts

The Chinese and Persian paintings show white or undyed material at the neckline of the shirt, and practically, it seems likely that shirts would have been made of cotton or linen (as the Persians and Mamluks did) or from silk, perhaps of a coarser weave and not brocaded or otherwise embellished like the expensive outer coats.

Cotton was likely the most common material used for shirts; under Mongol rule, cotton growth and trade was strongly encouraged. Chinese authors praised cotton’s easy cultivation, warmth, lightness, and low cost. Quilted cotton garments were a common part of winter wardrobes, and cotton was also popular for summer garments (Mazzaoui, p. 12-13). As William Adam noted in 1330, silk was also used for shirts, but linen was rare.

Possible Cuts for Shirts

Unfortunately, we have no strong evidence for how Mongol shirts might have been cut. A few extant coats found in China indicate that cutting layouts were not intended to maximize fabric use as in Western Europe. The upper sleeves and most of the skirt on these coats was cut in one with the body, with a seam down the front and back centers. Additional material was used for the rest of the sleeves and, if necessary, to fill out the bottom sides of the skirt (Fig. 4).

This method of cutting is fairly similar to that of a 10th-12th century shirt from Islamic Egypt, which has a slit on the left shoulder to allow the neckline to be pulled over the head (Fig. 6). The body of this shirt was cut from a 32″ (81 cm) piece of linen, with additional sleeve extensions (Burnham, p. 11). This would explain why the collars of many of the shirts in Persian miniatures appear to be cut close to the neck but without a slit down the front–the coat would hide the shoulder slit in the shirt neckline. In addition, the Egyptian shirt’s neckline is bound with a narrow strip of silk. The necklines of Mongol shirts in both Chinese and Persian paintings appear to be bound with a narrow strip of fabric.

Another possibility is that the shirts were in fact gathered or pleated into the neckline, which would necessitate a much wider piece of fabric for the body. There is less evidence for how a shirt of this type might be constructed. It is entirely possible that there were several ways of cutting shirts in the Mongol Empire–extant coats show a variety of cutting methods and detailing–perhaps influenced by the local cultures the Mongols assimilated or contacted. It seems probable that, at the least, sleeve length for shirts would have varied according to local climate and weather.

Figure 6 shows a conjectural layout using ~30″ wide fabric for a Mongol shirt based on the above evidence. This shirt would be for a small woman; I have also indicated how the sleeves might be lengthened for a larger person or to extend past the hands.

Spelling Note

I have followed the Middle Mongolian spelling convention used by Igor de Rachewiltz, with the exceptions of substituting gh for γ, ch for č, j for ǰ, and sh for š. . Chamcha is more precisely written as čamča.

Images and Copyright

I believe it is important to examine the original images, as there is an element of judgment and interpretation in redrawings, particularly when the originals are somewhat damaged. I have cropped the original images to show only the relevant details.

Faithful two-dimensional reproductions (photographs) of two-dimensional works of art were ruled to lack originality and thus gain no additional copyright protections over the original art, per Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. (1999). As the original 14th century works of art are not themselves copyrighted, I believe these reproductions to be in the public domain.

Bibliography

Allsen, Thomas T. 1997. Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire: A cultural history of Islamic textiles. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Burnham, Dorothy K. 1973. Cut My Cote. Ontario: Royal Ontario Museum.

de Rachewiltz, Igor. 2006. The Secret History of the Mongols: A Mongolian Epic Chronicle of the Thirteenth Century. Leiden: Brill.

Golden, Peter B. (ed.); Halasu-Kun, Tibor; Golden, Peter B.; Ligeti, Louis; Schütz, Edmund (trans.). 2000. The King’s Dictionary: The Rasûlid Hexaglot: Fourteenth Century Vocabularies in Arabic, Persian, Turkic, Greek, Armenian and Mongol. Leiden: Brill.

Mazzaoui, Maureen Fennell. 1981. The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages 1100-1600. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Olschki, Leonardo.  1947. “Ölün’s Chemise. An Episode from the “Secret History of the Mongols,” in Journal of the American Oriental Society, v. 67, no. 1, pp. 54-56.

Rossi, Anna Maria; Rossi, Fabio (eds.). 2004. Style From the Steppes: Silk Costumes and Textiles from the Liao and Yuan Periods, 10th to 13th Century. London: Anna Maria Rossi and Fabio Rossi Publications.