All these years my ideas about dress worn by the horse riders of old was ambiguous. It was that the horsemen wore thigh length tunic and individual leggings or simple puttees, though it is pretty neat to see an adaptation of modern trousers in the films depicting cavemen, or even Genghis Khan.
Even more wonderful is to see the TV serialization of the Hindu epics - for eg., Mahabharata, which is doing so well right now. Major incidents in the epic occurs in and around the present day Delhi - which is said to be the Indraprastha of Mahabharata. Anyone who has experienced the winter of Delhi and its surrounds would definitely become an admirer of the strength and endurance of the characters, who are clad in simple linen dhoties during the Kurukshetra war. The point to remember is the Kurukshetra war is supposed to have taken place in peak winter (December - January)!
So, I always thought the modern trousers or cowboy jeans are an invention of the 19th century. But it is not so, says recent archaeological finds. Straight fitting legs with a wide crotch and a zig-zag eye-catching pattern, is not a 19th or 20th century innovation, but has been around for 3000 years or more.
Recent archeological discoveries, uncovered in the Yanghai graveyard in China’s Tarim Basin, support previous work suggesting that nomadic herders in Central Asia invented pants to provide bodily protection and freedom of movement for horseback journeys and mounted warfare. [https://www.sciencenews.org/article/first-pants-worn-horse-riders-3000-years-ago]
To me, they look more like the chinos rip-offs so fashionable in the Parry's Corner ready-made shops during the 90s. Those ready-made rip-offs, usually priced at Rs. 20 to Rs. 50 or so in the 90s, kept many a teenager's head, who could not afford the real ones, high, including yours truly!
Here is the image of the 3300 year old trousers.
(image courtesy sciencenews.org)
Even more wonderful is to see the TV serialization of the Hindu epics - for eg., Mahabharata, which is doing so well right now. Major incidents in the epic occurs in and around the present day Delhi - which is said to be the Indraprastha of Mahabharata. Anyone who has experienced the winter of Delhi and its surrounds would definitely become an admirer of the strength and endurance of the characters, who are clad in simple linen dhoties during the Kurukshetra war. The point to remember is the Kurukshetra war is supposed to have taken place in peak winter (December - January)!
So, I always thought the modern trousers or cowboy jeans are an invention of the 19th century. But it is not so, says recent archaeological finds. Straight fitting legs with a wide crotch and a zig-zag eye-catching pattern, is not a 19th or 20th century innovation, but has been around for 3000 years or more.
Recent archeological discoveries, uncovered in the Yanghai graveyard in China’s Tarim Basin, support previous work suggesting that nomadic herders in Central Asia invented pants to provide bodily protection and freedom of movement for horseback journeys and mounted warfare. [https://www.sciencenews.org/article/first-pants-worn-horse-riders-3000-years-ago]
To me, they look more like the chinos rip-offs so fashionable in the Parry's Corner ready-made shops during the 90s. Those ready-made rip-offs, usually priced at Rs. 20 to Rs. 50 or so in the 90s, kept many a teenager's head, who could not afford the real ones, high, including yours truly!
Here is the image of the 3300 year old trousers.
(image courtesy sciencenews.org)
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