Karakul (hat) - Jinnah Cap

A Jinnah cap is a fur qaraqul hat named after the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The cap was worn by many of the early politicians of Pakistan, especially the founding party: the Pakistan Muslim League. The Jinnah cap and shalwar kameez are the national dress of Pakistan. Many Pakistani politicians and heads of state including President Ayub Khan have worn the Jinnah cap.

It is also worn in Nepal by men mostly of Indo-Aryan descent. It is called Dhaka topi and is the national hat of Nepal. The Jinnah Cap is particularly popular amongst Islamic religious scholars and the elder generation of Baluchistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir.

The velvet version of the cap is called a Rampuri cap, and was worn by the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Sahibzada Liaqat Ali Khan.

In 1937, the 25th Annual Conference of the All-India Muslim League was held in Lucknow under the chairmanship of Quaid-e-Azam (The Great Leader), Muhammad Ali Jinnah. An amalgamation of nearly seventy preeminent people were summoned at Butler Palace in Lucknow. What was to ensue after that day would prove to be a decisive moment in the course of history. Prior to attending this historic session, Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan suggested that the day held an auspicious meaning within its clutches. It was a day when the Indian Muslim population earnestly embraced and hailed Muhammad Ali Jinnah as their foremost leader. Perceiving it to be apt; Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan took his Samoor Cap and generously offered it to M. A. Jinnah insisting that it would suit him well. The humbled gentleman graciously accepted Nawab Sahib's offer, to thereafter wear a traditional Sherwani and an Achkan along with it. The outcome was visually pleasing as it greatly added to his personality. When the Quaid appeared on the dais in his rustic attire; the massive crowd, consisting of 50,000 people, burst into loud cheers upon feasting their hopes on the Great Leader. The brisk slogans of "Allah-ho-Akbar" (God, The Great) dominated the atmosphere and the clapping continued for a long time.

Since that day, Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan's Samoor Cap - rather unknown to the masses - was dubbed and came to be known as the iconic "Jinnah Cap" all over the Indian Subcontinent and elsewhere in the world. Over the active years of the All-India Muslim League, before eventually Pakistan was consummated, Nawab Sahib's Cap would be lent to M. A. Jinnah on several occasions.