Puneet Varma (Editor)

Sirwal

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Sirwal

The sirwal, saroual, seroual, sarouel or serouel (Persian: شلوار‎‎ šalvār; Arabic: سروال‎‎ sirwāl; Turkish: şalvar, Kazakh: шалбар (şalbar), Bengali: সালোয়ার, shalwar, Urdu: شلوار‎, shalwar), also known as punjabi pants and in some contexts as (a subtype of) Harem pants, are a form of baggy trousers predating the Christian era. They are typically worn in Muslim countries, but also extensively in the Greek countryside (and other places in the Balkans that were influenced by Ottoman Turks) prior to World War II. The trousers are not originally an Arab garment but were introduced from Persia to Muslim countries. The sirwal is also worn by other communities in North India.

Contents

The drawstring allows the sirwal to be worn at either the waist or hip level. Sirwal are worn by men under the thawb, or alone with some sort of loose top.

Types

It is usually made from cotton, linen/flax, or polyester. Sometimes the cuff features embroidery.

There are two types of sirwal, long and short. Short sarawil are worn by most Saudi men. Men of the Western Region usually wear long sarawil.

Uniforms

The seroual formed part of the standard uniform for the Mameluke squadrons of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, and for the Zouave and other North African regiments of the French Army from 1830 to 1962. The French Army version of the seroual was notable for being cut so widely that it did not require two separate trouser legs. During the American Civil War a number of volunteer regiments, designated as zouaves, also wore seroual breeches, though these were usually of chasseur design, being simply baggier versions of conventional trousers.

References

Sirwal Wikipedia