Chokha

Groom wearing a chokha on a Tushetian wedding

A chokha (Georgian: ჩოხა; Azerbaijani: Çerkezi çuxa; Russian: черкеска) is part of the traditional male dress of the peoples of the Caucasus. It has been in wide use among Georgians from 9th century until 1920s^[1] and among Azeris between the 17th and the 20th century.^[2]

Having originated in Georgia ^[3] chokha in Georgian language means male suit, it is known as the name of the cloth and Russians who came to the Caucasus called it "Cherkesska. In Circassian Language "chokha" is known as "shwakh" which means covers the horseman^{[citation needed]} in eirlier Georgian records Chokha was mostly refered as Talavari (ტალავარი)

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In Georgia Black chokha was reserved to the "Orden of Chokhosani" who represented the elite society of the citizens. These were people with special dedications such as: Great generals, Heroes or some of the famous poets and the people who had done some big service to the country. Not even all of Lords were allowed in "Chokhosani Orden" and those who did proudly represented this rank in their Gerbs. сhokha is sewn of thick fabric and is tight on the waist and wide on the bottom. In some parts of the Caucasus there are also female chokhas.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were three types of chokhas: the Khevsur chokha, the Kartl-Kakheti chokha and general Caucasian chokha.

Khevsur chokha

A man wearing the Khevsur chokha

The Khevsur chokha was worn in the Khevsureti province of Georgia in the Greater Caucasus mountains. Khevsur chokha is considered to be the closest to the medieval version of chokha. It is mostly short with trapezoid shapes. The front side of the chokha has rich decorations and cuts on the sides, which extend to the waist. The Khevsur chokha has rich decorations made up of crosses and icons.

Kartl-Kakheti chokha

The British hard-rock legend Ian Gillan and his wife Bron, dressed in Georgian national costumes, in Tbilisi during Gillan's 1990 visit to the Soviet Union.

The Kartl-Kakheti chokha is longer than the Khevsur chokha and has triangle-like shapes on the chest exposing the inner cloth called arkhalukhi. The bottom sides usually had cuts on the sides and people wore it usually without belts. The Kartli-Kakheti chokha has long sleeves and mostly is black, dark red and blue.

General Caucasian chokha

The general Caucasian chokha shares similarities with the Kartl-Kakheti version, with the exception of having bandoliers sewn horizontally across both sides of the chest. In most cases different decorations are used to fill the bullet spaces. In the Russian language, chokha is called cherkeska and this type of chokha has black leather belts decorated with silver pieces.

Azeri folk singer Bulbuljan wearing a chokha (photo taken in late 19th century)

The general Caucasian chokha is mostly made of black, grey, white, blue, red or brown fabric. Among Azeris, it is considered part of the traditional outfit for the performers of mugham, an Azeri folk music genre. A person's age defined the colour of the chokha he would wear.

Generally, the chokha outfit includes a khanjali (the sword), the akhalukhi (a shirt worn underneath the chokha), the masrebi (the bullets), and the kabalakhi (a hood, separate from the robe) or nabdis kudi (a tall fur hat).

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