The Cap That Survived Alexander

The so-called Macedonian kausia was originally identical with a cap often called a chitrali still worn today by men in Afghanistan, Pakistan and, above all, in Nuristan. No kausia is mentioned in Greek literature before 325/24 B.C. No depiction of the cap can be securely dated earlier than that time. The kausia came to the Mediterranean as a campaign hat worn by Alexander and veterans of his campaigns in India. Descendants of the people from whom the cap was taken may well survive in Asia today.