Burka is also an alternative spelling of Burqa, an all-enveloping cloak worn by Muslim women of Central and South Asia.

A burka is a coat made from felt or karakul (the short curly fur of young lambs of the breed named Karakul). Karakul being quite expensive, burkas were usually sewn from felt treated to look like karakul. Burkas are sewn with high, squared off shoulders, and wearers will have a distinctive high-shouldered silhouette.[citation needed]

Burkas were part of the customary male garb of various peoples inhabiting the Caucasus region (long contested between Russia, Iran, and Turkey, as well as prone to inter-ethnic conflict). Burkas were adopted by invading Russian cavalry, and worn as part of the Russian military uniform from the middle of the 18th century until the 1850s. Vasily Chapayev wore a burka as a part of his military uniform.