The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c9.21

c9.21

Zirih. — This was a coat of mail with mail sleeves, composed of steel links (Dastūr-ul-Inshā, 228). The coat reached to the knees (W. Egerton, 125, note to N°. 591). It is N°. 57 in the Āīn, i, 112, and N°. 46 on plate xiii of that volume. There are six examples in the Indian Museum—W.E. 361, 362 (p. 103), 453 (p. 112), 591, 591 T (p. 125), 706 (p. 135). Apparently, judging from the plate in the Āīn, the baktar (fish scales) or the chahār āīnah (cuirass) was worn over the zirih. W. H. Tone, “Maratta People,” 61, note, gives a word beuta as the Mahratta name for the chain-mail shirt that they wore. I cannot identify or trace this word.