Chokha
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Chokha (Georgian: ჩოხა) is a Georgian male’s national clothing used in Georgia from 9th century until 1920s. [1] Chokha is a male’s dress and phonetically the word is used in the Caucasus, and parts of Eastern Europe. Originated in Georgia, Chokha or Georgian dress is considered as national clothing for the most of Caucasian peoples. Chokha is considered as dress type of cloth and it is tight on the waist and wide on the bottom. In some parts of the Caucasus there are female Chokhas.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were three types of Chokhas: Khevsureti Chokha, Kartl-Kakheti Chokha and general Caucasian Chokha.
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[edit] Khevsur Chokha
Khevsur Choka was used in Khevsureti province of Georgia in the Greater Caucasus mountains. Khevsur Chokha is considered to be closest to the medieval version of Chokha. It is mostly short with trapezoid shapes. The front side of Chokha has rich decorations and has cuts on the sides, which extend to the waist. Khvesureti Chokha has rich decorations of crosses and icons.
[edit] Kartl-Kaheti Chokha
Kartl-Kaheti Chokha is longer than Khevsureti Chokha and shapes like triangle on the chest, so the inner cloth called Akhalukhi is seen. The bottom sides usually had cuts on the sides and people wore it usually without belt. Kartl-Kaheti Chokha has long sleeves and mostly is black, dark red and blue.
[edit] General Caucasian Chokha
General Caucasian Chokha is mostly like Kartl-Kakheti Choka, except it has places to keep bullets on the chest. In most cases different decorations are used to fill the bullet spaces. In Russian language, chokha is called Cherkeska and this type of chokha has black leather belts decorated with silver pieces and general Caucasian chokha is mostly black, grey, white, blue, red and brown.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Abashidze, Irakli. Ed. Georgian Encyclopedia. Vol. IX. Tbilisi, Georgia: 1985.
[edit] References
- Abashidze, Irakli. Ed. Georgian Encyclopedia. Vol. IX. Tbilisi, Georgia: 1985.
