Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks, sometimes called simply dreads, are twisted ropes of hair which will form by themselves if the hair is allowed to grow naturally without the use of brushes, combs, razors or scissors for a long period of time and knots and mats into distinctive locks. Dreadlocks are a universal phenomenon and through the ages, people of various cultures have worn dreadlocks. It may be said to be one of the oldest hairstyles, as dreads develop naturally over time.

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First records of Dreadlocks go back to at least 2500 BCE with the dreadlocked Vedic deity Shiva and his followers, reported in the Vedic scriptures of India as "jaTaa", meaning "wearing twisted locks of hair", probably derivated from the Dravidian word "caTai", which means to twist or to wrap.

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In Jamaica, the term dreadlocks was first recorded in the 1950s. The style was worn first by members of the "Young Black Faith", an early sect of the Rastafari, which began among the marginalized poor of Jamaica in the 1930s. Different theories exist about the origin of Rastalocks. Some sources trace them back to Indians who arrived in Jamaica to work as indentured laborers in the late 19th century, some of whom were among the first followers of Leonard Howell. Others believe the first Rasta dreadlocks were derived from the "dreaded locks" of the Mau Mau, the violent, largely Kikuyu protonationalist insurgency against British colonialism in 1940s Kenya. Most Rastafarians, however, explain Rastalocks with the Nazarite vow, in the Book of Numbers, the fourth of the books of the Pentateuch.

Vedic: Vedic may refer to:...

Shiva: :This article is about the Hindu God Śiva. For other uses of the word, see Śiva (disambiguation)...

India: The Republic of India is a country in South Asia which comprises most of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres, and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh...