The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c9.1

c9.1

The generic name for arms and armour was *silaḥ*, plural *aslaḥ* (Steingass, 693). Weapons and armour of all kinds were much prized in India, much taste and ingenuity being expended on their adornment. Every great man possessed a choice collection. The following extract describes that of the Nawāb Wazīr at Lakhnau, in 1785: — "But beyond everything curious and excellent in the Nawāb's possession are his arms and armour. The former consist of matchlocks, fuzees, rifles, fowling-pieces, sabres, pistols, scymitars, spears, syefs (long straight swords), daggers, poniards, battle-axes, and clubs, most of them fabricated in Indostan, of the purest steel, damasked or highly polished, and ornamented in relief or intaglio with a variety of figures or foliage of the most delicate pattern. Many of the figures are wrought in gold and silver, or in marquetry, with small gems. The hilts of the swords, etc., are agate, chrysolite, lapus-lazuli, chalcedony, blood-stone, and enamel, or steel inlaid with gold, called *tynashee*¹ or *koft* work. The armour is of two kinds, either of helmets and plates of steel to secure the head, back, breast, and arms, or of steel network, put on like a shirt, to which is attached a netted hood of the same metal to protect the head, neck, and face. Under the network are worn linen garments quilted thick enough to resist a sword. On the crown of the helmet are stars or other small device, with a sheath to receive a plume of feathers. The steel plates are handsomely decorated with gold wreaths and borders, and the network fancifully braided." ("Asiatic Miscellany," i, 393. Calcutta, 1795. 4to.)