The Pakol also spelled Pakul or Khapol, from Nurestan is a soft, round-topped men's hat

Hat

A hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...

, typically of wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

 and found in any of a variety of earthy colors: brown, black, gray, or ivory. Before it is fitted, it resembles a bag with a round, flat bottom. The wearer rolls up the sides nearly to the top, forming a thick band, which then rests on the head like a beret or cap. It is seen as a hat of the Pashtun people.

The hat may have originated in the Nurestan. However, its ancestor is perhaps the remarkably similar ancient Macedonian

Ancient Macedonians

The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...

 kausia

Kausia

A kausia was an ancient Macedonian flat hat which was worn during the Hellenistic period but perhaps even before the time of Alexander the Great and was also used in lion hunting and as a protection against the sun by the poorer classes in Rome....

. It gained popularity amongst the northeastern Pashtun tribes and the Tajiks of Panjsher and Badakhshan

Badakhshan

Badakhshan is an historic region comprising parts of what is now northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. The name is retained in Badakhshan Province which is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the far northeast of Afghanistan, and contains the Wakhan Corridor...

. It is also worn by many in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

There are two basic types of Khapol. The Chitrali style has a sewn brim. The Gilgiti style is worn much like a knit cap.

The pakol is made out of coarse woolen cloth, locally known as pattoo. The pattoo is first sewn into the shape of a cylinder, about a foot or more long. One end of the cylinder is capped with a round piece of the same material, slightly wider than the cylinder itself. The woolen cylinder is then inverted and fitted onto a round wooden block. The rim of the woolen cylinder is then rolled up to the top. The flat top protrudes a little over the rolled-up edge to give the cap a tiny brim. Otherwise, all Pakistani headwear, unlike Western hats, is brimless. This is because Muslims pray with their heads covered. A brimmed hat would interfere with the sajdah (act of prostration during prayers). The little brim of the pakol, however, presents no such problem. The cap comes in white, gray, and different shades of brown.

The hat originated in the Chitral and Gilgit regions of what is now northern Pakistan. However, its ancestor perhaps is the remarkably similar Macedonian kausia.

The hat is worn in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It gained popuarity amongst the northeastern Pashtun tribes in the early twentieth century largely as a substitute for their large and cumbersome turbans. It also gained popularity amongst the Nuristanis and the Tajiks of Panjsher and Badakhshan. It is also worn by some Pashtun tribes who live in Kunar and Laghman. It is particularly popular in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and Northern Areas such as Gilgit and Hunza and Chitral. It is also worn in some northern regions of Jammu and Kashmir.

In Chitral, and Gilgit-Baltistan, the white color pakol is more popular and is sometimes worn with a peacock plume stuck in the folds, like a badge, on the front or the side of the cap. The deep blue and green of the peacock feather, set against the white of the cap, is quite eye catching.

Because of the woolen material, the pakol is basically a cold weather cap. In particularly chilly weather of Nurestan, the cap can be unrolled and pulled down over the ears, like a ski cap. Worn this way, it may look sloppy but is effective against the cold. However, when worn properly, the edges rolled up and the cap sitting lightly on the head at a slight angle, it is a smart looking cap.

The Afghan military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud is often shown in photographs wearing a pakul.

External links

• Willem Vogelsang, 'The Pakol: A distinctive, but apparently not so very old headgear from the Indo-Iranian borderlands'. Khil`a. Journal for Dress and Textiles of the Islamic World, Vol. 2, 2006, pp. 149-155.
• Pakol Hat