Headgear for eunuchs

This high blue velvet headgear was worn by the administrators (aghas) of the mosques of Mecca and Medina. These administrators were eunuchs who had been enslaved at a young age. The headgear was worn in combination with a white cloth that was wound into a turban. The Dutch Islam scholar Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje writes in his book on Mecca that the hats were exceptionally high and the white turbans were twisted into a knot at the front (Snouck Hurgronje [1889] 2007:481). The Englishman Eldon Rutter visited Mecca and Medina in 1925-26 and, in addition to the high turbans, described the robes worn by the aghas as white or coloured with very long sleeves that covered their hands (Rutter 1928: 265).‖ Eunuchs, castrated slaves, were appointed as caretakers of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad and in the Great Mosque in Mecca since the late 12th century (Mamluk period) (Hathaway 2015). In Mecca, they ensured order and cleanliness in the square of the Great Mosque, the Haram. In Medina, they kept the tomb clean, provided order, managed the keys to the burial chamber and minbar (pulpit), and regulated access to the tomb. In the Ottoman period (1517-1925) the group of eunuchs in charge of