A Study on the Main Causes of distinction of turban as the dress of Shiite clergy in the Qajar era

The turban, which was once a common male covering throughout the country, is one of the distinguishing features of Shiite religious scholars in Iran. The Pahlavi period is widely regarded as the time when turbans distinguished between clergy and commoners, but the origins of this distinction should be traced back further in time. This study explored the monopoly of turban as exclusive Shiite clerical dress. Thus, the main research question was: "In studying the historical trend of men's clothing, when and how was the turban recognized as a special Shiite clerical head covering in Iran, and when did it become a distinguishing feature of their clothing?” It was hypothesized that this distinction dates back to the Qajar era, when, despite the prevalence of other types of head coverings, the turban was seen as a distinguishing feature of Shiite clerical dress. The findings of this study, as a historical analysis, revealed that during the Qajar era, Shiite clerics, unlike the general public, stood against the powerful process of modernization by deviating from the court's propaganda and maintaining their traditional dress, including the turban, and by doing so, gave it a symbolic aspect.