One of the distinguishing elements of cold-weather uniforms for Caucasian Cossack and national units was a burka. It was also used in the units of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Escort.

The word probably originated from the Russian “bury”, meaning brown. The burka was a bell-shaped coat made of sheep wool or felt with fleece and was worn over clothes as a cape fastened around the neck with a cord or a chain. The upper corners of the burka where the cord was attached often had arbitrary metal ornaments in the form of a rosette with a Caucasian pattern. The prototype of the burka was the simplest cape made of felt and coarse cloth. The burka was a very practical garment in the mountains: it helped to mask weapons and protected them from getting wet.

However, during World War I, its practicality was called into question. Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, received a report:

The exhibition “Russia in the Great War” in the Martial Chamber of the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and Heritage Site displays a burka pierced by a bullet. It belonged to Vladimir Ilyich Lodyzhensky who was born in 1880 into a noble family. After graduating from the 3rd Moscow Cadet Corps, he entered the Nicholas Cavalry School, from which he graduated in 1900. According to the record of service, in the same year he joined the Life-Guards Uhlan Regiment of Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.