Балқан ерлерінің плиселенген белдігі: Фустанелла тарихы

Traditional pleated skirt like garment worn by men of the Balkans

Fustanella (for spelling in various languages, see chart below) is a traditional pleated skirt like garment that is also referred to as a kilt worn by men in the Balkans. The Albanian traditional costume with fustanella had identified the special troops that Albanians constituted within the Ottoman Empire, whose military prowess became renowned, especially in the era of the Ottoman Albanian pashas Ali of Yanina and Muhammad Ali of Egypt. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries Albanian warriors wore it in the Kingdom of Naples and the Ionian Islands. In the 1810s, the Albanian warrior dress was officially adopted by a British regiment in the Ionian Islands. In the 1820s, it became a principal visual symbol of Philhellenism, and during the Greek War of Independence it was worn by the revolutionary fighters. At that time its notoriety as a symbol of male bravery and heroism grew considerably across the Ottoman Empire and spread throughout Europe. Following the Greek independence, fustanella and accompanying embroidered waistcoats and jackets were adopted by the nascent Greek army. In 1835, it was proclaimed the official court costume and eventually it became the Greek national dress. The Albanian Greek attire thereafter acquired popularity among peoples who wanted to dress in a courageous heroic manner.

A terracotta figurine with a fustanella garment (i. e. a pleated skirt wore by a man) was found in Durrës, in present day central Albania, dating back to the 4th century CE, clearly providing an early archaeological evidence of a fustanella. According to a hypothesis the fustanella was originally worn by the Illyrians. Some scholars have hypothesised that the Albanian/Illyrian kilt became the original pattern of Roman military dress. According to a variant of this view, with the expansion of the Romans to colder climates in central and northwestern Europe, more folds would be added to provide greater warmth; according to another variant of this view by folklorist Ioanna Papantoniou, the fustanella ultimately originated from the Celtic kilt, as viewed by the Roman legions, serving as the original prototype. Other scholars have hypothesised that the fustanella was derived from a series of ancient Greek garments such as the chiton (or tunic) and the chitonium (or short military tunic). This hypothesis involves a link to an ancient statue (3rd century BC) located in the area around the Acropolis in Athens. However, no ancient Greek clothing has survived to confirm that the origins of the fustanella are in the pleated garments or chitons worn by men in Classical Athens. The wearer of the podea was either associated with a typical hero or an Akritic warrior and can be found in 12th century finds attributed to Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180). In the late Byzantine period and the early Ottoman period southern Albanians migrated in Greece and in southern Italy, bringing with them their own custom, language and clothing, which included the fustanella garment. In the 19th century the usage of the fustanella stretched through all Albanian inhabited lands, and it had become the ethnic costume characteristic of the Albanian men. The Albanian traditional costume with fustanella had identified the special troops that Albanians constituted within the Ottoman Empire, whose military prowess became renowned, especially in the era of the Ottoman Albanian pashas Ali of Yanina and Muhammad Ali of Egypt. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries Albanian warriors wore their traditional costume with fustanella in the Kingdom of Naples and the Ionian Islands. The fustanella was regarded by foreign scholars and travellers as a typical Albanian costume, characterizing the Albanians from the standpoint of dress for many centuries, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1805 William Martin Leake reported that it was worn by the men at arms of Albanian beys in the Morea, and that "The Albanian dress is daily becoming more customary, both in the Morea and in the rest of Greece". In 1807 Leake reported that the officials of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha of Yanina, including his sons, were dressed according to the Albanian tradition. In 1809–1810, within the area of contemporary southern Albania and northwestern Greece, British traveller John Cam Hobhouse noticed that when traveling from the Greek speaking area (region south of Delvinaki) into the Albanian speaking area (to the direction of Gjirokastër and its surrounding environs), apart from different languages a change of clothing occurred. In the early 19th century, other British travellers within the region noticed the Albanian costume, in particular in 1809 Lord Byron celebrated and described it as "the most magnificent in the world, consisting of long, white kilt, gold worked cloak, crimson velvet gold laced jacket and waist coat, silver mounted pistols and daggers". The renowned Albanian clothes were not official uniforms adorned with insignia, but traditional costumes with small differences depending on the regional location or personal preferences of the wearer. After its celebration and description by Byron, who was the most influential Philhellene of the time, the Albanian traditional warrior costume became a principal visual symbol of Philhellenism in the 1820s, appearing in the widespread romantic iconography of klepht and armatole warriors of the Greek revolution. The Albanian traditional costume with fustanella was greatly favoured among the Balkan peoples, and it was imitated by many other peoples. Its spread among other neighbouring peoples such as the Greeks, and even the Turks, is documented by the historians of the time. In 1848–1849, British painter Edward Lear traveling within the area of contemporary Albania observed that the fustanella was for Albanians a characteristic national costume. Other artists visiting southern Albania in mid 19th century depicted landscapes with Albanians in traditional costume with fustanella, such as Henry Cook and George de la Poer Beresford. During the 19th century the use of the fustanella was worn over tight fitting tirq pants amongst male Albanian Ghegs by village groups of the Malësorë or highlanders of the Kelmend, Berisha, Shala and Hoti tribes. During the 1920s, the fustanella began to go out of fashion among Tosks being replaced with Western style clothing made by local tailors. The Albanian fustanella has around sixty pleats, or usually a moderate number. It is made of heavy home woven linen cloth. Usually, this was done by the men at arms (called in Albanian trima).]] The jacket, worn with the fustanella in the Albanian costume, has a free armhole to allow for the passage of the arm, while the sleeves, attached only on the upper part of the shoulders, are thrown back. Nowadays among the Greek population in southern Albania, a sigouni, a sleeveless coat made of thick white wool, is worn over the fustanella in the regions of Dropull and Tepelenë.

The Albanian traditional warrior costume with fustanella spread among Bulgarians, about two decades after it was dressed by the revolutionaries of the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s, when its notoriety as a symbol of male courage and heroism expanded across the region. The Albanian Greek attire became popular particularly among young men who wanted to take a picture in a heroic pose, although not being themselves involved in fights for independence.

The sizeable Albanian guards and janissary troops who settled on the banks of the Nile during the early rule of Mehmed Ali' dynasty were noted for their swagger, their weapons and their costumes, particularly for the pleats of their typical white fustanellas. Those costumes played a major role in Jean Léon Gérôme's paintings. Albanian volunteers and mounted infantry were called Arnauts in Egypt, and they were greatly valued in the Egyptian Army, especially for their traditional role as skirmishers, experts of mountain fighting, patrolling and bodyguard units. Contemporary commentators about their dress described their fustanella as "a white many folded" and "a white linen petticoat of enormous size, hanging in numberless plaits from the waist to the knee". In the 1930s the fustanella continued to characterise Albanian guards in Egypt, as witnessed by Egyptian scholar Magdi Wahba around the department stores in Cairo.

It has been suggested that the fustanella was already in common use in Greek lands as early as the 12th century. On Byzantine pottery sherds from Greece, Cyprus, and Chersonesus, warriors are shown bearing weapons and wearing the heavy pleated fustanella. This is also confirmed by the Medieval Greek acritic songs of the 12th century; it has been suggested that 11th century illuminated manuscripts of the songs served as prototypes for later depictions. It was frequently worn in conjunction with bows, swords, or battle axes and frequently shown covered with a jointed corselet, or with a vest of chain mail. Southern Albanians introduced their traditional costume with fustanella when they migrated in territories of present day Greece, subsequently becoming part of the national dress of Greece as a consequence of their settlement in the region. The Albanian warrior dress with fustanella spread among armed irregulars – klephts and armatoles – in the pre revolutionary period, and was worn by revolutionary fighters during the Greek War of Independence. In the early 19th century, the costume's popularity rose among the Greek population. During the era of post independence Greece, parts of Greek society such as townspeople shed their Turkish style clothing and adopted the fustanella which symbolised solidarity with new Greek democracy. Philhellene enthusiasm for the fustanella survived knowledge of its Albanian origins.]] The Albanian style costume with fustanella was used in the Ionian Islands by the Albanian warriors, initially within an Albanian militia that was raised by the Russians in 1799, and which was transferred to the French in 1807, after the recovering of the Ionian Islands. On 12 October 1807 Napoleon also approved the recruitment of roughly 3,000 Albanians who had moved to the Ionian Islands, for the most part refugees fleeing the Albanian coast because of the harsh authority of the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha of Janina. On 12 December 1807 they were organized as the Albanian Regiment. Local Greeks, Italians and Dalmatians were additionally recruited, however the regiment never achieved its official establishment of 3,254. [[File:Richard Church Greek Light Infantry of the Duke of York 1813 by Denis Dighton. jpg|thumb|200px|Richard Church, first commander of the 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry of the British army, wearing the regimental uniform based on the Albanian traditional warrior costume and a dragoon helmet, 1813. The Aromanians, a Latin speaking people who lived within Greece also wore the fustanella or trousers depending on the region. The men of the Greek presidential guard, founded in 1868, wear the fustanella as part of their official dress. By the late 19th century, the popularity of the fustanella in Greece began to fade when Western style clothing was introduced. This genre emphasized on depictions of rural Greece and was focused on the differences between rural and urban Greece. In general it offered an idealized depiction of the Greek village, where the fustanella was a typical image. In Greece today, the garment is seen a relic of a past era with which most members of the younger generations do not identify. The Greek fustanella differs from the Albanian fustanella in that the former garment has a higher number of pleats. For example, the "Bridegroom's coat", worn throughout the districts of Attica and Boeotia, was a type of Greek fustanella unique for its 200 pleats; a bride would purchase it as a wedding gift for her groom (if she could afford the garment). A fustanella is worn with a yileki (bolero), a mendani (waistcoat) and a fermeli (sleeveless coat). The selachi (leather belt) with gold or silver embroidery, is worn around the waist over the fustanella, in which the armatoloi and the klephts placed their arms. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the skirts hung below the knees and the hem of the garment was gathered together with garters while tucked into the boots to create a "bloused" effect. Later, during the Bavarian regency, the skirts were shortened to create a sort of billowy pantaloon that stopped above the knee; this garment was worn with hose, and either buskins or decorative clogs. This is the costume worn by the Evzones, light mountain troops of the Hellenic Army. Today it is still worn by the ceremonial Presidential Guard.

thumb|Begzade Grigore Gr. Ghica accompanied by an Albanian bodyguard in traditional costume, 1845. In the 18th and 19th centuries many foreign travellers recorded that the bodyguards of the princely courts of Moldova and Wallachia were dressed with the Albanian fustanella.

In the United States, the fustanella is identified with Albanian and Greek populations. It can be frequently seen in Albanian and Greek folk festivals and parades across the country.

The word fustanella derives from Italian fustagno 'fustian' and ella (diminutive), the fabric from which the earliest fustanella were made. This in turn derives from Medieval Latin fūstāneum, perhaps a diminutive form of fustis, "wooden baton". Other authors consider this a calque of Greek xylino (ξύλινο), literally "wooden" i. e. "cotton"; others speculate that it is derived from Fostat, a suburb of Cairo where cloth was manufactured. The garment is also known by other names; including tsamika/çamika, associated with the ethnonym of the Albanian sub group Chams, and kleftiki, associated with brigands known as klephts.