Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7.405

v2.c4.s7.405

Varman denotes ‘body armour,’ ‘coat of mail,’ ‘corselet,’ in the Rigveda¹ and later.² Of what material it was made is uncertain; there are references to sewing (syūta)³ which may be reckoned in favour of the use of linen corselets such as those recorded by Herodotus,⁴ but there is a later reference⁵ to corselets of Ayas, Loha, or Rajata, on which it is doubtful whether much stress can be laid. They may, however, have been either of metal or of leather covered with metal.