The khilʿa الخلعة was a custom practiced by many medieval Islamic caliphates of bestowing “robes of honor” to dignitaries and high-ranking officials as a symbol of an individual’s loyalty to the caliphate. It generally consisted of a set of clothes (i.e., an ʿImāma, a qamiṣ, a sirwāl, a ṭaylasān, a qabāʾ or durrāʿa, etc.) adorned with Ṭirāz inscriptions. Sometimes, the Khilʿa consisted of a single garment.¹ (see my article on the history of Arab and Islamic clothes)

Definition of Ṭirāz

The Arabic term Ṭirāz is a Persian loanword (cf. Pers. ṭarāz, “adornment” or “embellishment” and ṭirīz, “gusset” or “gore”) originally meaning “embroidery” or “decorative work” on a garment or piece of fabric. It later came to mean a khilʿa, or “robe of honor,” richly adorned with elaborate embroidery, especially in the form of embroidered bands with writing upon them. These embroidered bands ran either along the border of the textile, sometimes arranged in two, or even more, strips around the upper part of the garment, or were placed around the neck, around the sleeves, on the upper arm or wrists of a sleeved robe and even on the headdress.

In medieval illuminated Islamic manuscripts, most people are depicted in garments with gold Ṭirāz bands on the upper sleeves seen in Maqamat Al-Hariri, Kalila wa Dimna, and Kitab Al-Diryaq. Many, if not most Ṭirāz bands contained lines of pious formulas, Quranic verses, or Arabic poetry, written in Arabic Kufic calligraphy. 

History of Ṭirāz

The production of special embroidered fabrics in palace textile factories began in Umayyad times and became a standard feature of medieval Islamic material culture. The fabrics were known as Ṭirāz, which in its narrowest sense meant “embroidery”, especially embroidered bands with writing in them, and in a wider sense, indicated an elaborately embroidered robe, such as might be worn by a ruler or his entourage.

Hisham Abd Al-Malik was reported to have worn embroidered garments. In the view of many scholars, the Umayyads most likely took over Byzantine state factory establishments and adapted them to their special needs and tastes. However, most medieval Arab historians believed the production of Ṭirāz garments to be derived from a Persian institution, and there is some evidence that garments with royal insignia were worn in Sasanian times. The truth as to the origins of the Ṭirāz system would seem to combine both views. 

The first Umayyad caliph who is specifically mentioned in the Arabic sources as having had Ṭirāz factories was Hisham b. Abd al-Malik, although, from the context of these references, these were already established institutions. In any event, it is clear that by late Umayyad times the Ṭirāz system extended across the caliphate, and continued to flourish under the Abbasids, Buyids, and Seljuqs.

The Ṭirāz system continued to flourish in the Muslim East under the Abbasids. Harun al-Rashid is reported to have entrusted the Ṭirāz operations (dar Al-Turuz) to his famous vizier Ja’far al-Barmaki control of the Ṭirāz factories was considered one of the most important of administrative responsibilities in the government, along with oversight of the mints, the post, and the bureaux of taxation, and only individuals of high rank and the most trusted individuals among their freedmen were given this office. Harun Al-Rashid made regular presents of Ṭirāz garments and fabrics to his favorites.² 

The two types of tiraz factories were those of the caliph (khassa خاصَّة, meaning private or exclusive) and those of commercial or state production (‘amma عامَّة, meaning public). Tiraz produced in private factories were intended for the caliph and his court. while those woven in public factories were made for both the aristocracy and the wider public. 

Under the Fatimid caliph al-Mu‘izz (r. 953-75), the khil‘a ceremony gained importance and the technical quality of tiraz garments came to reflect the wealth and influence of their recipients. In this ceremony, which can be traced to the time of the prophet Muhammad, the caliph would bestow robes of honor upon deserving subjects. The epigraphic bands on many of these textiles documented new allegiances that confirmed loyalty to the caliph and to God and marked the recipient with honor.

In Fatimid Egypt, silk robes woven with gold tiraz bands were reserved for the vizier and other high-ranking officials, while the general public wore linen. As the political situation shifted and some nobles lost their wealth, they sold their luxurious robes on the open market. None of these fine silk textiles survive, although they are known through textual sources. Other tiraz served as currency or investments and were traded and sold. Fragments of many linen tiraz have been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were used as shrouds and preserved due to the arid climate.

Blessings (baraka) attained through the khil‘a ceremony and subsequent use during prayer imbued these textiles with special qualities that made them especially suited for this funerary purpose. Patches of stains indicate places where the textiles came into contact with decomposing bodies, helping scholars understand burial practices of the time. Tiraz textiles were often wrapped around the head of the deceased with the text covering the eyes, which attests to the religious significance of these inscriptions. The use of burial garments passed along by religious leaders in Islam dates back to Muhammad, who bequeathed his own mantle to be used as a shroud.

Textiles continued to hold high status in later Islamic societies, although the production of tiraz produced in caliphal factories declined around the thirteenth century.³

bibliography 
^{1. [Ahsan, M. M. (1979). Social life under the Abbasids, 170-289 AH, 786-902 AD. London: Longman]}

^{2. [Stillman, Y. Kalfon., Stillman, N. A. (2000). Arab dress: a short history, from the dawn of Islam to modern times. Leiden: Brill.]}

^{3. [[https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tira/hd_tira.htm]}

^{4. [[http://warfare.tk/Persia/14/Jami_al-Tawarikh-Mahmud_of_Ghazni_in_robe_from_the_Caliph-Edinburgh-MsOr20.htm]}

^{5. [http://warfare.tk/14/Vienna-1334-Title_page_with_an_enthroned_prince.htm]}

^{6. [http://warfare.tk/14/Kalila_and_Dimna-14C-Arabe3465-131v.htm]}

^{7. [https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/73425]}

^{8. [https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/52646]}

^{9. [https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/49012]}

^{10. [https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/93138]}

^{11. [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448561]}

^{12. [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448295]}

^{13. [https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4724]}

^{14. [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448249]}

^{15. [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448072]}