Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Persian clothing" in English language version.
In the endless debate on the origin and practice of veiling in the Islamic world, which many see as symbolic of woman's inferior status to man, some historians argue that it was Cyrus the Great who, ten centuries before Islam, established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to this theory, the veil passed from the Achaemenians to the Seleucids. They, in turn, handed it to the Byzantines, from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)In the endless debate on the origin and practice of veiling in the Islamic world, which many see as symbolic of woman's inferior status to man, some historians argue that it was Cyrus the Great who, ten centuries before Islam, established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to this theory, the veil passed from the Achaemenians to the Seleucids. They, in turn, handed it to the Byzantines, from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.