Original Imperial Russian WWI Don Cossack Officer Papakha Kubanka Wool Hat

Original Imperial Russian WWI Don Cossack Officer Papakha Kubanka Wool Hat

Size : D: 9 in., (22.8 cm.)

Size : H: 9 in., (22.8 cm.)

Condition

Very Good, some stains on top back

A Russian papakha hat is a wool hat worn by men throughout the Caucasus and also in uniformed regiments in the region and beyond.

This piece was used during WWI and or the Russian Civil War.

PAPAKHA

The Russian Papakha (Russian: папа́ха), also known as astrakhan peruk in English, is a wool hat worn by men throughout the Caucasus and also in uniformed regiments in the region and beyond. The word papakha is of Turkic origin (papak). In Azerbaijani, papaq literally translates to hat.

There are two different Russian papakhas. One, called a papaha, is a high fur hat, usually made of karakul sheep skin. The hat has the general appearance of a cylinder with one open end, and is set upon the head in such a way as to have the brim touch the temples. Some of them come with ear flaps which can be folded up when not in use. The other called a kubanka, which is similar to the papaha, except shorter and with no ear flaps.

Papakha are very common in Armenia as well as other mountainous regions, where a man's hat is considered a very important part of his identity.In Georgia, papakhi are also mostly worn in mountainous regions of Pshavi, Khevi, Mtiuleti, and Tusheti. Papaq are also very common in Azerbaijan. Papakhi are also donned by the Chechens, Dagestanians, and other Caucasian tribes. In 1855, after the campaigns in the Caucasus Mountains, the Papakha was introduced in the Russian army as an official part of the uniform for the Cossacks, and later for the rest of the cavalry.