Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Radu Transylvanicus · 20th May 2005, 01:10 AM

At any given point, no Afghanies were known to sport such martial attire, without doubt this is a depiction of a Hindustani warrior, likely Mughal or post-Mughal if I judge by simplistic eliminational logic, the undergarments seem rather Islamic or Eastearn Hindoo and then there is the jamdhar (kattar) which is quickly eclipsating the fact that he might be Persian and definatelly excludes the very tought of a local Afghani. Indeed Persian soldiers were very common in Afghanistan in 18th and 19th century fighting the locals in endless wars of conquest so the presence of such garments in Kabul is almost certain, however as "foreign" and not to be regarded as local. Equally, many Hindoo troops, from very early Timurid times all the way to the British Sikh regiments were deployed to the area, all the way to the last part of 19th century.
I believe this is just another one geo-historical error sprunged from the classical semi-docent thinking of Eurocolonial-Victorian views of the "fascinating Orient" , this is not a fashion victim, it is a victim of geographical misplacement ; we discussed similar in few other past threads like the paintings of Dutch masters and Indonesian weaponry like keris and tombak to give one example ...
Quick reminders that the artist is pushing his knowledge a bit are the presence of a nasal piece and a ostrich feather over a coif rather tha a khula-khoud and the mismatch of the char-aina plates of armour but on the other hand there is excelent detail on the bazou-band armguards and patterns present on the zirah on the chainmail shirt makes this piece of art a very desirable one...
I quickly reminded I have many similar mild erroneous drawings in my library and here is an example from the 1870 Parisian book of P. Lacombe entitled "Les Armes et les Armures" depicting a fierce display of Japanese battle dress and arms that might seem alright to the untrained eye perhaps with the gross exception of the Chinese falchion rather a "dao" than a katana and the other sword having rather Chinese features as well ...
However they were the "creme de la creme" then at the time and Tsarskoe Selo was, if not still is, the Tower of London of the Eastearn Europe, the conquerer and conquered Royal armouries...
Oh well, those were the times; " O, TEMPORA, O, MORES!"

20th May 2005, 01:10 AM	#7
Radu Transylvanicus Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: 2008-2010 Bali, 1998-2008 USA Posts: 271	At any given point, no Afghanies were known to sport such martial attire, without doubt this is a depiction of a Hindustani warrior, likely Mughal or post-Mughal if I judge by simplistic eliminational logic, the undergarments seem rather Islamic or Eastearn Hindoo and then there is the jamdhar (kattar) which is quickly eclipsating the fact that he might be Persian and definatelly excludes the very tought of a local Afghani. Indeed Persian soldiers were very common in Afghanistan in 18th and 19th century fighting the locals in endless wars of conquest so the presence of such garments in Kabul is almost certain, however as "foreign" and not to be regarded as local. Equally, many Hindoo troops, from very early Timurid times all the way to the British Sikh regiments were deployed to the area, all the way to the last part of 19th century. I believe this is just another one geo-historical error sprunged from the classical semi-docent thinking of Eurocolonial-Victorian views of the "fascinating Orient" , this is not a fashion victim, it is a victim of geographical misplacement ; we discussed similar in few other past threads like the paintings of Dutch masters and Indonesian weaponry like keris and tombak to give one example ... Quick reminders that the artist is pushing his knowledge a bit are the presence of a nasal piece and a ostrich feather over a coif rather tha a khula-khoud and the mismatch of the char-aina plates of armour but on the other hand there is excelent detail on the bazou-band armguards and patterns present on the zirah on the chainmail shirt makes this piece of art a very desirable one... I quickly reminded I have many similar mild erroneous drawings in my library and here is an example from the 1870 Parisian book of P. Lacombe entitled "Les Armes et les Armures" depicting a fierce display of Japanese battle dress and arms that might seem alright to the untrained eye perhaps with the gross exception of the Chinese falchion rather a "dao" than a katana and the other sword having rather Chinese features as well ... However they were the "creme de la creme" then at the time and Tsarskoe Selo was, if not still is, the Tower of London of the Eastearn Europe, the conquerer and conquered Royal armouries... Oh well, those were the times; " O, TEMPORA, O, MORES!" Attached Images Last edited by Radu Transylvanicus; 20th May 2005 at 01:37 AM.