1906.64.1.1

Collection type

Object

Description

War quoit; damascened with gold [El.B 16/4/2007]

Geographical reference

India

Asia > Southern Asia > India

Pakistan

Asia > Southern Asia > Pakistan

Punjab

Person

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Henry Edward Abrams

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1906

Date collected

Before 1906

Acquisition information

Purchased: 01/1906

Materials and processes

Material Steel Metal, Material Gold Metal, Process Damascened, Process Forged (Metal)

Dimensions

Diameter: max 257 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1906.64.1.1

Research and responses

The following notes are drawn from research compiled by Andy Mills as part of the DCF Cutting Edge Project in 2006-2007. While there is clear variation in the quality and manufacturing labour-intensity of different chakra, there is no clear distinction between practical military and dress weapons; the chakram participated in the same northwest Indian tradition of gorgeous visual appearance in the heat of battle, which can be seen in the shields and metallic armour from the same region of India. The quoits are constructed from steel, and overlaid in gold using the koftgari technique.

The akalis were Sikh religious zealots, who wore amongst other things three to four pairs of chakram, fastened to their turbans. Akali turbans for this military purpose did not resemble the conventional Sikh turban we are all familiar with, but were tall conical hats (like a wizard’s cap) constructed from cotton, and decorated with quoits, which decreased in size as they ascended up the height of the turban.

British observers in the 19th century remarked on the esteem and high repute in which the Sikhs held chakram, asserting that these weapons were capable of taking the head or a limb off a man at a range of 60-80m. However, eyewitnesses of their use remarked on their inaccuracy, and that few warriors were capable of sending the chakram in the intended direction. In this, we can perhaps see that the distinctiveness of the chakram was perhaps their greatest attraction to the Sikhs – a possibility further strengthened by the fact that, in Raj times, Sikh regiments often wore epaulette and head badges which took the quoit as their symbol (see ‘The Military Sikhs’ by I. Knight, in The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms, edited by S. Stronge. 1999. pp. 135-51.). [SM 09/04/2008]

Search terms: Weapon, Quoit