Bijapur ‘Bikaner’ Chainmail Coat

Chain mail was worn in a wide range of cultures, from Europe to East Asia, and proved effective against sword strikes. The basic form of chain mail is made of iron rings, often riveted in an interlocking pattern creating an entire shirt, pants, or aventail. The Indian word for chain mail shirt is called “zirah” or “zirah bagtar” and was widely adopted by Persian, Ottoman, Eastern European and Indian armies from the 15th until the end of the 19th century . The type of manufacturing varies among most cultures, but Islamic and Eastern European designs were often forged in molds, drilled, and riveted. Sometimes armor plates were attached to the front and rear of the armor to provide additional protection such as on our example here.

This mailshirt comes in a series known as the Anup Sing of Bikaner loot. Anup Sing was the Mughal ruler of the Kingdom of Bikaner from 1669 until 1698.
During the battle of Adoni in 1689, a large amount of chainmail and arms were looted and held in the Bikaner armory, where they received their typical Bikaner markings. The plate armor has a Devanagari script inside that reads ”Si Maharajah Anup Singh 1689 Adoni”  a lower cartouche is numbered ”no.s 199”

The front of the shirt features two steel plates to provide efficient cover for the vital organs. The steel plates are connected with several side plates.
The back shows three lines of horizontal lamellar plates to provide cover on the back and maximum movement on the battleground. The neck is padded with a thick cotton collar to provide comfort and protection.