I'm researching the clothing of 16th-century Ottoman clothing, and I keep getting Potur and Şalvar as "trousers." Was there a difference between them or were the words synonymous?
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4It would help to link to the best definitions you've found so far. It appears to me that potur are gathered at the knee and approximate jodphurs; Salvar are baggy and gathered at the ankle. Salvar appear to be unisex; can't tell with potur.– MCW ♦Commented Jul 9, 2018 at 15:00
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This source was the most helpful: issendai.com/16thcenturyistanbul– Daniel BensenCommented Jul 10, 2018 at 7:52
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I couldn't find any written sources to confirm this, but a Bulgarian historian told me that (in Bulgarian) "poturi" are gathered at the knee and "shalvari" are gathered at the ankle like you said. I'm just not sure that Turkish-speaking people used the terms the same way.– Daniel BensenCommented Jul 10, 2018 at 7:54
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1please edit clarifications into the question. All the information needed to answer the question should be in the question; comments get deleted.– MCW ♦Commented Jul 10, 2018 at 7:58
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2I looked into a Turkish dictionary. Your note is true, there are same distinctions in Turkish.– AyhanCommented Jul 13, 2018 at 7:46
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2 Answers
Sirwal, also saroual,1 seroual, sarouel or serouel3 (Arabic: سِرْوَال (sirwāl); Persian: شلوار (šalvâr); Kurdish: شهواڵ (shawal); Urdu: شلوار (shalwâr); Turkish: şalvar; Kazakh: шалбар (şalbar); Bengali: সালোয়ার (shalwar)), also known as punjabi pants and, in some contexts, as (a subtype of) Harem pants, are a form of baggy trousers predating the Christian era.
While a potur (Ottoman پوتور) was mainly in the Ottoman Empire a Slav converted to Islam, who still preferred to wear his peasant white linen trousers (in contrast to the usual Ottoman trousers). The name Potur was usually used by simple farmers or settlers. It comes from the Turkish and designates a slack pleated trousers (turkish potur; poturlu, someone wearing flaccid pants). Compare them to harem pants with a mixture of front pleat trousers when worn by men. But apparently both sexes could wear them in public without issue.
left: Wikipedia: Bulgarian from Sofia, right: drawing of Bulgar in poturs
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answered Jul 14, 2018 at 14:05
According to a Turkish dictionary, Potur are baggy above the knee and Şalvar are baggy all the way to the ankle.