The Sharbush or Harbush, Sarposh, Serpush (, , ) probably derived from the Persian word Sarpush,E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. BRILL. p. 891. which means "headdress". was a special Turkic military furred hat worn in Central Asia and the Middle East in the Middle Ages. It appears prominently in the miniatures depicting Badr al-Din Lu'lu' (ruled 1234–1259). It was a stiff cap of the military class, with a triangular front which was sometimes adorned with a metal plaque. It was sometimes supplemented with a small kerchief which formed a small turban, named takhfifa. The wearing of the Sharbūsh was one of the key graphical and sartorial elements to differentiate Turkic figures from Arab ones in medieval Middle-Eastern miniatures.
The Sharbush could vary in size and shape, sometimes taking huge proportions, as in the depiction of the emir in the frontispiece of the 1237 Maqamat of al-Hariri. The shape of the sharbush seems to have varied depending on geographical regions: The sharbush of Artuqid manuscripts (example) has a very tall cap behind the headplate and the usage of fur around the rim is limited; The Seljuk sharbush as seen on Persian ceramics, or on objects from Mosul such as the Blacas ewer, or in Jazira and Syria manuscripts had a much lower cap, almost hidden behind the band of fur surrounding the head and the frontal plate; The frontispiece of the Baghdad Schefer Maqamat shows another sharbush, consisting of a tall mass of fur, hiding the cap from view.
The sharbush headgear was a rallying sign for Saladin, and he wore it on his Mayyafariqin coinage. When Henry II, Count of Champagne, king of Jerusalem, tried to build a friendly relationship with Saladin, he requested the gift of a qabā robe and a sharbūsh hat, which he wore in Acre.
The Sharbush was also a symbol of investitute under the Egyptian Mamluks, as it was part of the khil'a given to an amir on the occasion of his accession. The sharbush was worn by high-ranking officers of the Ayyubid and Bahri Mamluk period.
In Mamluk Egypt, the wearing of the Sharbush was banned in 1382.
See also Saraquj List of hat styles
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