Pathan Question

[sneakgun]

 
I'm putting together some Northwest Frontier forces. Besides the Osprey books are there any other sources for colored pictures of pathans? I see from the black and white photos that not everyone wore white...so what colors were they? Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

[Driscoles]

Hi,
I also paint some Pathans at the moment and I didnt paint them plain white.
I have chosen a dusty color for the angarka. It comes close to white but looks not clean white. Some wear a kind of coat. I made that colorful. Either read or blue. That might be not historical correct but looks much better.
The poshteen is a smooth brown.The turbans also vary in color as well the waist sash.
It looks better. I probably post a picture by the weekend ( I hope - Iam so darn busy at the moment )
Cheers
Björn

[Gluteus Maximus]

I'm putting together some Northwest Frontier forces. Besides the Osprey books are there any other sources for colored pictures of pathans? I see from the black and white photos that not everyone wore white...so what colors were they? Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Brian

There's the book by Michael Barthorp - "The Frontier Ablaze". It's an excellent introduction to the 1897-98 war, with two good paintings of Pathan dress, although most pates are of British and Indian uniforms.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frontier-Ablaze-North-west-Rising-1897-98/dp/1859150233/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216368303&sr=1-1

Really, any shade of off-white, greys and light browns would be acceptable for the majority of tribesmen. Cummerbunds [sashes] and less commonly lungis [turbans] could be bright colours. The Waziris wore dark red or dark blue lungis. If a kulla [skullcap] was worn beneath the turban, it could be red. The little round skull caps worn without turbans could be virtually any colour.

The poshteen, or sheepskin coat, would be various shades of brown with black, grey or off-white fleece lining.

Apparently the Afridis, Swatis and Mamunds favoured blue robes.

Leather work would be natural brown shades, knife/sword scabbards could be black or brown.

Hope that's useful.

[Captain Blood]

I've a set of pics of my NW Frontier table ready to post, but as I currently have a pic in the Lead Painters League including some of the 200 ( ) figures featured, I can't really post them until after The Prof returns to close the vote...

But I'd be pleased to show you how I've done mine then (basically, a lot of white/off white, quite a lot of green and red, lots of natural tans and browns... )

[Malamute]

I've a set of pics of my NW Frontier table ready to post, but as I currently have a pic in the Lead Painters League including some of the 200 ( ) figures featured, I can't really post them until after The Prof returns to close the vote...

But I'd be pleased to show you how I've done mine then (basically, a lot of white/off white, quite a lot of green and red, lots of natural tans and browns... )

Oooh yesss Pleasssee! I would love to see that collection. Ifs its anything like as impressive as your Elizabethans its going to be top drawyer

Go on, post them anyway, no need to wait for the Prof to return...

[sneakgun]

Thanks for the advice and Yes Please Captain Blood, I would like to see your Northwest Frontier Collection.

[Captain Blood]

Okay, I'll give you a sneak preview... 


Lots more to follow once LPL wrapped up...

[twrchtrwyth]

Www, very nice.

[Malamute]

Lovely stuff as always Captain

[Major Weenie]

Some 'Foolish Afghan Commentary,'
Back when I was painting up some 'bad guys' for the Battle of Maiwand I was thinking the same thing.  So I began paying particular attention to the news footage coming out of Afghanistan so tht I could look at the wardrobe of that country's rural farmers.  Then someone pointed out to me that today's Afghans are wearing clothes that probably have been colored with Modern chemical dyes.  OK, so the Germans didn't start inventing those until the latter half of the 19th century, so Northwest Frontier types didn't have access to those colors... But today's colors might just indicate preferred colors, only in modern shades.
The result being I decided that I'd use modern colors, but in muted and faded tones.
OK so here's what I came up with for basic colors
White, as in real white, only for important personages.
Off White, with a bit of grey or tan mixed in, for ordinary tribesmen.
Tan, I didn't see any, besides I wanted to use it for shoes and leather work.
Yellow, not really yellow more of a sandy/khaki shade
Green, yup, green seemed very popular on TV, but a light faded sort of green.  I used a cheap doll paint color described as 'Avocado' then shaded it with browns and dusted it with a tan dry brush.
Red, well with no evidence what so ever I stared using it for sashes only.
Blue, I couldn't seen any blue clothes, but there were some blue turbans, so I painted some with dark blue turbans dry brushed in progressivly lighter shades.
Then I gave up on painting the army, and gave away the various figures as gifts to other club members.  Oh, here's one of my few photos.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
PS - Oh, and all the news footage indicated that shirt and trousers were almost always the same color. But the contrast looked better if I painted them in different colors.  Oh well.

[Shikari Sahib]

   Afridis
Body   Tall & Muscular
Complexion   Fair
Eyes   Blue or brown
Turban/Cap   Pointed Cap
Hair/Beard   Long Hair/Full Beards
Angarka   Blue
Robes   
Lungi-Sash   
Trousers   White Cotton
Sandals   Grass
Weapons   

[Shikari Sahib]

Waziris
Turban/Cap               Brick red or dark blue turban
Hair/Beard                  
Angarka               Natural color or white
Robes                  
Lungi-Sash                  Dark red or pink, or dark blue  Shiranni clan wore black
Trousers                  White cotton


Hi sorry but I cannot organize better this file, I hope to try another version soon.
Piero

[oxiana]

I've spent a bit of time in Afghanistan and NWFP in the past few years, and have quite an extensive book and picture collection. If you're ever in Kabul, try Shah M books, as he sells great colour repro postcards of 19th engravings of Pashtuns.

A couple of thoughts from my experience. Major Weenie makes some good points. Shirt and trousers are always matching colours. Pale grey, tan, white, pale blue are the most common colours seen on the streets of Kabul and Peshawar. Also recall that the word 'khaki' derives from this region!

Skull caps and turban silks were traditionally used to denote tribe, although less so today. Skull caps are usually brightly embroidered, although often just white. Striped turban silks are common (Uzbeks favour bright green stripes, although that's not so relevant for this case).

One important point when painting shirts and trousers is that Pashtuns do not wear red! You might see this in turban silks, but never in the main clothes. It is a woman's colour, and predominates in women's dresses. I've only seen two pictures of Pashtun men wearing red - one was for at a ceremonial dance with everyone in costume, and the second is from the 1940s with the non-violent Pashtun political movement led by Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the run up to Partition. His followers were often called 'red shirts', and it's often considered that their colour was specifically chosen as it was a non-violent movement (Ghaffar Khan had unexpectedly close ties to Gandhi - not your typical Pashtun stereotype).

I've seen a few shots of minis painted for modern Afghan games with tribesmen painted in red and always have a chuckle - no Afghan would fight with a comrade dressed like a girl!
So, stick to pale or natural colour, and pick out the details more brightly and I don't think you can go far wrong.