The Dir cap: an icon of style and culture

The hat is made by women without any meaningful support

TIMARGARA:

It seems that the tradition of making white caps in Dir is as old as the district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Itself. The craft is a hallmark of local culture, and the region.

The traditional white cap of Dir is famous all over the country, and its specialty is that it can be used in all seasons.

Hat making is the handiwork of women, and most of the headwear is made in homes. The cap was initially exclusively made in Tehsil Khal, but spread with the passage of time, and now women also make it in Dir City, Mandaro, Och and other areas.

The cloth and thread used in it are brought from Faisalabad. There are two types of Dir's traditional white caps. One is stitched on a sewing machine, and the other is laboriously strung together by hand. Typically, a Derojay topi is handmade in three days.

Women prepare these hats at home and then local traders buy them from their doorsteps. It also has the honor that almost all political leaders of the province have used this cap at one stage or another.

Whenever a political meeting is held locally, the guest is presented Dir's cap as a gift. Local residents also send it as a valued gift both in and outside the country.

Tourists who come to the area buy it very eagerly. Lately, there are shops selling this topi in big and small bazaars. The livelihood of hundreds of traders is attached to its manufacture and sale. The price of a cap ranges from Rs500 to Rs3,000. In marriages, the bride also takes some topis with her as a gift to distribute.

Topi making is the biggest source of income for local women in Upper and Lower Dir, and the trade has been booming as of late.

At the government level, no attention has been given to this cottage industry so far, and the women workers here make it on their own.

Arshad, a trader of local hats, tells The Express Tribune that a large number of people come here every day to buy topis. "We ship it to every corner of the country," he adds.

Another trader, Inayat Yousafzai, says that the famous white topi of Dir is an important part of Pakhtun culture. "Local people also use it fondly and give it to people as gifts. If the government supports women who produce these hats, this cottage industry can become a big business," he believes.

The traditional white hat of Dir also has the distinction that it can be worn by people of all ages. Its demand increases further during Eid and Ramazan.

Local residents of Dir carry the traditional white topi with them wherever they go. Former-amirs of Jamaat-e-Islami Sirajul Haq, Zahid Khan, Sahibzada Tariqullah, Sahibzada Muhammad Yaqub Khan, Ahmad Hasan Khan and leaders of other political and religious parties use it regularly.