The bird-shaped finial on Islamic royal parasols: A Ghaznavid or Fatimid innovation?

Abstract

and chatr 3 in the Persian-speaking areas. It is attested as a royal insignia in almost every Islamic dynasty, but the Islamic period was not at all its starting point. In fact, the history of the parasol is far more ancient. The device has been in use throughout a very long period extending from Antiquity to the Modern Age, and in different cultural areas. Evidence come from Egypt, 4 Assyria, Achaemenid and Sasanian Persia, 5 where the parasol is usually held by an attendant standing behind the figure of the king as an attribute of royalty; 6 a further spread concerned Asia from China 7 to the west. 8