Khilʿa

Meredyth Winter

Related Terms:

• Baraka (blessing / sacred essence)

• Tiraz (inscribed textile)

• Qabaʼ (caftan or robe)

• Tashrif (honoring textile/gift)

• Ikat (a dyeing technique)

• Suzani (a type of embroidered textile)

Worksheet:

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Related Khamseen Videos:

Sam Bowker, “The Egyptian Tentmakers and the Art of Khayamiya,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 28 August 2020.

Sumru Belger Krody, “Prayer Carpets,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 11 May 2021.

References:

Gordon, Stewart, ed. Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2001.

Mayer, Leo A. Mamluk Costume: A Survey. Geneva: Albert Kundig, 1952.

Stillmann, Norman A. “Khilʿa.” In Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, and W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 1 August 2021. First published online: 2012.

Citation:

Meredyth Winter, “Khilʿa,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, published 9 December 2021.

Meredyth Lynn Winter (Ph.D., Harvard University, 2020) is Lecturer of Early Islamic Arts at The Courtauld Institute of Art. She is a specialist of medieval Islamic material culture and craft whose research focuses on the tenth to thirteenth centuries from Baghdad to Bukhara. Her research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Institute of Iranian Studies, and the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. She is currently working on a collaborative publication of the archaeological material for medieval Rayy under the Seljuks and Buyids. Her first book on the interconnected arts of medieval Iran is also in preparation.