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Saudis look at it with envy and call it “the Pakistani Thob”; because it has a stark resemblance with their own dress called Thob. Indians and Bangladeshis like to wear them too; both here in Saudi Arabia and in their native countries. This is Shalwar-Kameez; a dress sported by Pakistanis for whom this is a National Dress also.

Shalwar-Kameez is a complete dress, like a trouser-shirt combination. Shalwar is a pair of thin cotton trousers, baggy but tapered at the ankles. It has a drawstring (called Nara or Izaar band in Pakistani language) waist acting as a belt; and a long tunic like shirt down to the knees, which is called Kameez. Women wear the Shalwar-Kameez in a variety of tasteful colors & designs, and look more fashionable than men do. The Westerners visiting Pakistan look at it with great interests and most of them (women in particular) actually wear them through out their stay in Pakistan; buy a lot of them to take home as gifts, as well.  Princess Diana gave it the Royal Seal of Approval when she wore this during her visit to Pakistan in 1996; her friend Jemima Goldsmith (wife of the cricketer-politician Imran Khan) is known to have introduced this to her.

About its history, Shalwar-Kameez came to the Indo-Pak Subcontinent with the Central Asian invaders, who are in fact credited for introducing stitched clothing to this part of the world.

It is said, before their advent here, the natives used to mostly sport unstitched clothes called Lungis or Dhotis. Lungis or Dhotis are skirt like nether garments, which are wrapped and tucked around waist. It is worn with a shirt or a vest on top and is still dressed, by both men & women, in many parts of this region.

This reminds me of stories on invasion and conquers of Indo-Pak Subcontinent by these Central Asian folks. Why and how did they manage to succeed, with such an incredible ease, in their journey to the conquest? Indeed, one hilarious view on the invader success is the fact that the native people of this Sub-continent had to hold their un-stitched garb (Lungis or Dhotis at that time) with one hand, thus handicapped and having to fight & defend their land unidexterously. Pity though, but sounds logical, no?

We do know, however, that the word “Shalwar” is of Turkish origin. Variation of this classical dress form can be found all along the Central Asian plateau and in those countries invaded by or having some association with the famous Mongols, Arabs, Turks or other great Eastern conquerors.

In Bangladesh, this dress is still known as “Punjabi”; implying a dress worn mostly by the Punjabis (army & bureaucrats) during pre-1971era when it was East Pakistan. In India, however, this is called Pathani Suit or Khan Suit when donned by men; while, when sported by women it is known by the same name that is, Shalwar-kameez. Shalwar here is pronounced as Salwar, though.

Some say it is known as the “Pathani Suit because of the Shalwar-Kameez donned Kaabli Pathans of Kabul who introduced this dress here. They were historically known in these regions already for two things: as a travelling businessmen, bringing in goods from Central Asia, and as notorious money lenders; on compound interests.

The Pathans are pushto-speaking Pakistanis living in the North-West-Frontier Province, also popularly known by its acronym NWFP. They are also called Pashtuns, Pakhtuns or simply as Khan, which is part & parcel of a Pathan name. The Pathans are very particular about names; they make sure it has some flamboyant meaning and gives an idea of where & when the Pathan was born. I know a Pathan whose name is Samoondar (sea) Khan and his father was Dariyah (river) Khan.

Interestingly, his grandfather was Pahar (mountain) Khan. Once I asked the Khan friend of mine about these names and he said. “Look my friend, the River originates from the Mountain and lands into the Sea; my grand father is Pahar Khan (mountain) because he was born in the mountains. My father was born in the plains, near Kabul River and hence Dariyah Khan. My father then came to Karachi where I was born near the sea so my name is Samoondar Khan; may be I’ll name my son as Machli (Fish) Khan and my daughter as Jal Machli (mermaid) Khan. I was very impressed with this lucid explanation and a solid understanding of Geography & Ecology by the Khan, really. I have heard some are also naming their off springs, these days, as “Osama Bin Laden Khan”; are you surprised?

Pathans also live on the other side of the “Durrand Line”; that is in Afghanistan, where they make up around 50 % of the demography. Pathans, on both sides of the divide, consist of more than 60 tribes; around 10 million in Pakistan and about 6 million in Afghanistan. The Afghans, in general, don’t look radically different from the Pakistani Pathans, although their features are a bit more pronounced. There are more green or blue eyes and thickly grown beards that are quite conspicuous and appear a bit scary to the Westerners, though.

Pathan men also wear sleeveless embroidered vests (waistcoat) over the Shalwar-Kameez. In addition, they wear Turbans which have the clothes tied in such a way that symbolize their Tribal identity; this is also the hallmark of a typical Afghani Pathan. The Pakistani Pathans, however, generally wear caps of various shapes & designs; the most common being the Pukul Hat which is a flat round wool cap and is a symbol of the Pushtuns on this side of the divide. In certain zones on both the sides, rifles, pistols, knives, and other weapons are considered as an essential part of the Pathan getup. Yet another item, very much part & parcel of a Pathan is a small tin can of Nuswar.

This is a green-colored tobacco powder, stewed in lime (some secret recipe), which is carefully stuffed between lips and teeth, several times a day to keep the mood mellowing. The tin can, which is usually round, is also fitted with a looking glass for the Pathan to oversee the entire operation of stuffing the Nuswar at the right place; it works better if stuffed at the right place. Many a jokes spin around vis-à-vis Pathan and his Nuswar.

Pathan women wear the same type of clothing as the men, but they generally use more colorful materials. Women are also seen to be wearing Burqa (a ten-like head-to-toe covering) over Shalwar-Kameez, which is culturally the part & parcel of a Pathan women dress, on both sides of the divide. This reminds me of a joke narrated to me by a friend. When the colonial British first arrived in the Pathan area, one thing that always caressed their mind was this Burqa; which they saw with great interests.

Once a British Officer mustered courage to ask a grumpy Pathan about this. The Pathan was naughty and thought it the right opportunity to fool around with the Brit. He said, “these are mobile tents, a public-service local hospitality; look how developed we are!”. The Brit. was impressed. One day he was caught in rain and upon sight of an oncoming Burqa, he immediately tried to get into it to taste the public-service local hospitality. Instead, he tasted a big slap on his face together with some foul words by a woman in Pushto. He immediately got out of the Burqa and said, “oh! I am sorry, I didn’t know this was occupied already”.

In Saudi Arabia & the Gulf, the Pakistanis are conspicuously visible in their National Dress; they wear the same extensively both at work places and at home. It is said, the Pakistanis have the passion for Shalwar-Kameez like the Malabaris have for their Lungis. A Pathan friend once confided in me; “Pakistanis are very proud of the two Khans and their Shalwar-Kameez”. Upon enquiry, he said, “the two famous Khans are Imran Khan, for winning the Cricket World Cup in 1992 and Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, for gifting the nation with A-bomb”.

I was curious to know how Shalwar-Kameez got fitted in between these two great Khans. I am still wondering about it and yet to find courage to ask him; Pathans by nature are very grumpy, you should know that! He also once boastfully claimed that this dress has two qualities, which no other dress has. According to him, “the first is its versatility of being both a sleeping suit and a formal attire and the other is its ability to beat the muggers and pick-pockets”. I could understand the former but could not comprehend the latter. He then showed me the number & locations of secret pockets that could be fixed in both the Shalwar and Kameez of this amazing suit. He also narrated to me a story about how he was able to once fool a mugger in New York city and made a safe passage with his booty hidden somewhere in the draw-string track used as a belt in Shalwar. I couldn’t help but be impressed with this, really.

I respect my friend’s passion for Shalwar-Kameez, but I also know there are quite a few critics of this dress as well.

An article by a Pakistani writer, Sarfaraz Khan Niazi (himself a Pathan) expresses views against wearing Shalwar-Kameez.

According to him, men should not wear it because it resembles a woman’s dress (male chauvinism?); it keeps you oblivion from the ever-growing bulge in the middle; it makes you lazy, so on and so forth. He was more acrid about the fact that, due to Shalwar-Kameez, the Pakistani men are often seen, at public places, to be reaching their crotch and sort of meddling with it.

According to him, “embarrassing to the core, the habit can be damaging to the prostate as well”.

This leaves me wondering what a lustful dress suit it is!