Islamic influences on the Indian dress
Below is a evidence-backed inventory of major “Islamicate” (Persianate/Mughal/Nawabi court-culture) features that have become normal parts of Indian dressing today—across religions and regions. A key point up front: many of these elements entered Indian life through Muslim-ruled courts, urban markets, and craft guilds, then spread widely and became “Indian” in everyday use. (Wikipedia)
Picture 1 (top-left in the carousel): Mughal-era “jama” silhouette—an early stitched, tailored court garment in North India that helped normalize Central Asian/Persianate cut-and-sew clothing forms (a major shift from unstitched drapes). (Wikipedia)
1) The biggest structural influence: stitched, tailored “courtwear” becomes normal
One of the most consequential “Islamicate” influences on Indian clothing is not a single garment, but a whole tailoring logic: cut-and-sew, layered outfits (tunic + trousers + scarf/veil; coats with closures; fitted sleeves; collars; button fronts). Scholarship summarized in standard references notes that stitched attire entered South Asia in large measure via Central Asian/Persianate contacts and subsequent Muslim conquests and courts, and then filtered down into wider society—eventually shaping what many Indians today experience as “traditional wear.” (Wikipedia)
This is why so many mainstream Indian outfits today—worn by people of all faiths—share a family resemblance to Persianate/Central Asian silhouettes.
Picture 2 Chikankari artisans at work—Lucknow’s famed whitework embroidery strongly associated with Indo-Persian/Mughal-era courtly taste and later Nawabi patronage; now mainstream across India. (Wikipedia)
2) Everyday mainstream garments with Muslim/Islamicate roots or pathways
A) Kurta (and kurta–pyjama)
What you see today: kurtas worn daily and for festivals by men and women; paired with pyjama/churidar/jeans; used as office ethnic-wear.
Evidence of the Indo-Persian link: major dictionaries and etymological references trace “kurta” to Urdu/Persian “kurtah/kurta.” (oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
Historical summaries commonly connect the spread of stitched tunics like the kurta to Central Asian/Persianate influence reaching mass popularity in early modern periods. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: the kurta has become a pan-Indian “neutral” garment—worn by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians—especially in cities, colleges, workplaces, and festivals.
B) Salwar–kameez (+ dupatta): the everyday uniform of North/West India and beyond
What you see today: salwar suits and their variants (Punjabi suit, Patiala, straight pants, palazzos) are among the most common outfits for women across large parts of India; also common for men in some contexts.
Evidence of introduction pathway: standard summaries describe shalwar and kameez being introduced into South Asia by arriving Muslims in North India (medieval period) and spreading gradually into a regional style. (Wikipedia)
Even the vocabulary signals the Persianate pathway: shalwar (trousers) and qamis/kameez (tunic) are broadly recognized as West/Central Asian terms in the Indo-Persian cultural sphere. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: it is worn by enormous numbers of non-Muslim Indians as routine clothing—school/college wear, office wear, travel wear—often with regional styling and Indian textiles.
Picture 3 Historic studio portrait showing a long tunic + loose trousers + large wrap/dupatta style in the broader northwestern “dress belt”; this family of layered garments is central to what later standardized as salwar–kameez + dupatta in much of India. (Wikipedia)
C) Churidar (narrow fitted trousers) and pyjama bottoms (as a fashion standard)
What you see today: churidars under kurtas/anarkalis; pyjamas under kurtas; modern “ethnic sets.”
Evidence (via documented garment families): many of these bottom-wear forms are part of the broader stitched-garment ecosystem associated with Indo-Persianate court dress and its evolution into popular attire (especially in North India). (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: churidar/pyjama are default “ethnic bottoms” even for people who never identify them as historically Indo-Islamic.
3) “Dressy/occasion” silhouettes with strong Mughal–Nawabi associations
A) Sherwani / Achkan: the pan-Indian groom look (often regardless of religion)
What you see today: grooms in sherwanis; formal “bandhgala/sherwani” looks for weddings, receptions, political events.
Evidence of evolution: the sherwani is widely described as developing in the 19th century from late Mughal outer garments (including angarkha/chapkan families) and acquiring a more European-style button front, first associated with regional Mughal nobles and Muslim aristocracy, then spreading widely. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: it’s worn by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Christians—especially as “the” Indian formalwear, often paired with turbans/safas and stoles.
B) Anarkali: Mughal-court romance turned modern mainstream
What you see today: anarkalis as “ethnic gowns,” wedding wear, festive wear, dance costumes.
Evidence: standard references connect the name and popular imagination to the Mughal court legend of Anarkali (Akbar/Salim/Jahangir story), and the silhouette is widely marketed and understood as Mughal/Nawabi-inspired. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: anarkali is now worn as a mainstream Indian festive garment—often by non-Muslim women—especially for weddings and festivals.
C) Gharara / Sharara (Lucknow/Awadh court culture)
What you see today: gharara/sharara sets in North India, Hyderabad, and in “heritage” wedding wardrobes; strong comeback via designers and Bollywood.
Evidence (gharara): ghararas are specifically documented as originating in Awadh (Lucknow) during the era of the Nawabs, becoming everyday attire among many Muslim women in the Hindi-Urdu belt in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, and remaining popular as wedding wear. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: designer-led bridal fashion has made ghararas/shararas widely desirable across communities, often treated as “classic Indian” rather than community-specific.
4) Craft, surface, and “luxury codes” with strong Indo-Islamic court patronage
A) Chikankari (Lucknow whitework): from courtly taste to national staple
What you see today: chikankari kurtas, dupattas, sarees, lehengas, men’s kurtas—summer wear and festive wear across India.
Evidence of Persianate association: chikankari is strongly tied (in prominent descriptions) to Mughal-era Indo-Persian cultural traffic, including the view that it stems from Shiraz-style whitework brought with Persian nobles at Mughal courts. (Wikipedia)
Modern craft documentation also notes its major growth and patronage in Lucknow under Nawabi contexts and specialization into many stitch families. (The Times of India)
How it’s incorporated now: chikankari is arguably one of India’s most “everyday luxury” crafts—worn constantly by people who do not associate it with Mughal cultural history at all.
B) Zardozi: Persian “gold embroidery” as the backbone of Indian bridal glamour
What you see today: zardozi on lehengas, sarees, sherwanis, veils, clutches, shoes—weddings across India.
Evidence: zardozi is explicitly identified as Persian in name/etymology (“gold embroidery”) and is described as flourishing under Mughal and later courtly patronage; Indian government handicrafts documentation also frames it as Persian in origin and notes Mughal-era flourishing. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: it has become one of the default “bridal prestige” techniques in India, used heavily in mainstream fashion markets.
Picture 4 - Zardozi metal-thread embroidery—Persian-derived “gold embroidery” that flourished under Mughal/Nawabi luxury aesthetics; still central to Indian bridal and occasion wear. (Wikipedia)
C) Courtly motifs and aesthetics that spread into textiles
Even when a garment is not “Muslim,” many popular Indian surface aesthetics carry Mughal/Persianate signatures:
floral arabesques, buta/buti traditions in court textiles and later mass fashion
jaali-like (lattice) textures echoed in embroidery (notably in chikankari’s jaali work) (The Times of India)
These motifs moved through workshops, court commissions, urban craft markets, and later cinema and designer culture, becoming part of a shared Indian fashion vocabulary
5) Accessories and styling practices that traveled with Indo-Islamic dress cultures
A) Dupatta as a “layer” (modesty + style + formality)
What you see today: dupattas in suits and lehengas; worn as head cover in temples/gurdwaras too; used as a formal finishing piece.
Evidence (as part of the salwar–kameez complex): salwar–kameez ensembles are widely described in the region as worn with a dupatta, and the whole layered system is central to how the outfit spread as a modest-yet-elegant set in North India. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: the dupatta has become a cross-religious accessory—cultural, aesthetic, and situational (weddings, prayer spaces, elders, formal events).
B) Long coats, structured collars, button fronts (formal Indian menswear)
What you see today: bandhgala variants, achkans, sherwanis; even Nehru jackets share the “structured closure” logic in formal ethnic dressing.
Evidence: sherwani’s documented development explicitly includes button-down front and structured coat-like form emerging in the 19th century from Indo-Persianate garment families under changing court fashion. (Wikipedia)
How it’s incorporated now: a “closed-front, structured ethnic coat” is a pan-Indian formal standard.
6) Summary
Following are 10–12 major, widely visible islamic origin incorporations in everyday and festive Indian dressing:
kurta (name + garment family) (oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
kurta–pyjama / stitched tunic + trouser pairing (Wikipedia)
salwar–kameez as a mainstream outfit (Wikipedia)
dupatta as a standard layer in suits/lehengas (Wikipedia)
churidar/pyjama ethnic bottoms (within the stitched-garment system) (Wikipedia)
sherwani as formal menswear (Wikipedia)
achkan/similar long coat forms in ceremony wear (closely related garment family) (Wikipedia)
anarkali silhouette as Mughal-coded festive wear (Wikipedia)
gharara as Awadh/Nawabi-origin wedding wear (Wikipedia)
chikankari as a national fashion staple with Mughal/Persianate association (Wikipedia)
zardozi as Persian-derived gold embroidery central to Indian bridalwear (Wikipedia)
broader “tailoring logic” of stitched, layered courtwear becoming normal in North India and beyond (Wikipedia)
This is a conservative list; if we add more region-specific court garments and accessories, the number grows.
References (links)
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries — “kurta” (Urdu/Persian origin). (oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com)
Merriam-Webster — “kurta” (Hindi/Urdu from Persian). (merriam-webster.com)
Wikipedia (with cited scholarship) — Kurta: history & stitched attire arriving via Central Asian/Persianate pathways. (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia (with cited scholarship) — Shalwar kameez introduced into South Asia via arriving Muslims in the north (medieval period) and spreading regionally. (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia (citing Emma Tarlo’s work) — Sherwani evolution from Persianate garment families; 19th-century formalization and spread. (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia — Gharara origins in Awadh/Nawabi era; continued wedding popularity. (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia — Chikankari origin tradition linking it to Shiraz whitework and Mughal court culture (via Laila Tyabji). (Wikipedia)
MAP Academy — Chikankari: process, stitch families, and documented modern craft history.
Wikipedia — Zardozi: Persian etymology and Mughal-era flourishing (overview). (Wikipedia)
Government of India (Handicrafts) — Lucknow Zardozi: Persian origin and Mughal patronage framing. (handicrafts.nic.in)
Wikipedia — Anarkali salwar kameez: Mughal-court legend association (overview). (Wikipedia)
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