Historical photographs/Dervish

Portrait of a dervish with a felt hat. photograph around 1900.

Dervish: some sufis choose poverty and wondering as part of their religious beliefs and indeed way of life. These Sufis are usually termed dervishes. Dervishes from different lands or regions of Iran dressed in different ways so that their loyalties and affiliations could be quickly recognised. The basic Iranian dervish dress consisted of a begging bowl (kashkul); club, knotted walking stick or axe, and the man s clothing. The latter usually consisted of a cap, turban, gown,overgown,cloaks ( dalq, hazar-miki, lit. a thousand pins) and sandals. One of the main characteristics of dervish dress was the use of old clothing and rags, which were often, patched together. In addition, some groups also wore animal skins over their shoulders, usually that of a leopard, lion, or sheep. According to I. Bishop, who was travelling in Iran in the 1880 s, there were special shops where the objects needed by a dervish could be purchased: In the larger town, such as Ghom and Kermanshah, there are shops for the sale of their outfit-the tiger and panther skins, the axes, the knotted clubs, the almsbowls, etc.