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Royal Insignia of the Delhi Sultans and Mughals : Taj / Crown

Crowns have been associated with Royalty since the beginning  of the establishment  of monarchy in the West.
However, the Muslim kings wore turbans and the Hindu kings wore pagdis (turban ).
The first Muslim ruler to use a crown was  Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa ibn Nusayr first Governor of Spain in 8th c. He  married the widow Egilon, the wife of the last Visigothic king, Roderic and under her  influence used it at first privately then in public.
But slowly it became popular and the crown of the Fatamids of Egypt was called Taj Sharif and was studded with Precious  stones and jewels.
The crowns of the Sultans of Delhi was round in shape, protruding out at the forehead.
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Alexander Visits the Sage Plato, from the Khamsa of Amir Khusro
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Though there are no authentic paintings depicting the crowns of the Delhi Sultans in this painting from the crown of Alexander we can deduce the type of crown the Sultans may have worn.

A pictoral representation  of Sultan Raziya
(These are all imaginary paintings as we dont have any paintings of her)
Apart from the crown,there was the Kulah or a tall Tartar cap which was exclusively for for royalty.
Sultan Raziya also wore a kulah like the men. It was a four cornered or four sashed cap.

A kulah

Taj-Kulah being made in today’s world.

Sultan Alauddin Khilji

Sultan Mohd bin Tughlaq

Sultan Firuz Tughlaq

A Mughal crown

Another Mughal Crown


Crown of Bahadur Shah Zafar

Cap of Bahadur Shah Zafar

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