An arakhchin (Armenian: արախչի, romanized: arakhchi, Azerbaijani: araxçın) is a traditional Armenian[1][2][3][4] and Azerbaijani[5] flat top skull cap headdress, worn by both men and women in the past.
Arakhchins could be sewn of various textiles, such as tirma wool and silk. However, only one single-colour textile per arakhchin was used. The textile was made into a round shape fitting the head and then decorated with embroidery, lace, beads and even pieces of gold. Men's arakhchins were relatively plain, especially those used for religious purposes.[6]
In Western Armenia, men, especially freedom fighters, wore a red arakhchin draped with a bandana with tinsel as their native headgear to identify themselves.[2] The Armenian arakhchin was a truncated skull cap, knitted from wool or embroidered with multicolored woolen thread and a predominance of red. The way this traditional headdress was worn was a marker of its owner's marital condition, just as in Eastern Armenia, the right to wear a arakhicki belonged to a married man.[3] Even though the arakhchin was traditionally a man's hat, Armenian women wore this headress as well; especially in Muş where Armenian singer Armenouhi Kevonian was known for her colorful arakhchin at her concerts.[7]
An arakhchin could be worn alone or under other headdresses, such as papakhi, a turban or a kalaghai.[5] Women's arakhchins worn as early as the sixteenth century often lacked a special sack intended for braids. By the eighteenth century, it was already one of the most widespread headgears.[8] Women used hairpins to secure their veils on the arakhchin.[9]
Arakhchins generally went out of use in the early twentieth century, with the mass adoption of European-style dress in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
