Helmet in the Form of a Turban

Location: India, the Deccan

Materials: steel, forged and engraved, steel wire, yellow velvet lining

Dimensions: 13.4 cm (height)

Accession Number: MTW 1442

Other Notes:

The helmet, composed of three separate parts, is made to resemble a type of turban fashionable in late 17th- and early 18th-century India [see MSS 874]. The forehead bears a retractable nosepiece, and behind is a socket for a plume. According to tradition, this helmet was presented by Awrangzeb to Chin Qilich Khan, who was to become the first Nizam of Hyderabad in 1725, as a reward for his bravery at the siege of Golconda in 1688.

Bibliography:

D. Alexander, The Arts of War. Arms and Armour of the 7th to 19th Centuries, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XXI, London 1992, cat.104, pp.168–9.
J.M. Rogers, The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili Collection, London 2010, cat.448, p.372.