African chain mail shirt

estcrh · 7th July 2016, 07:09 AM

Now on to the typical Indo-Persian riveted mail which in the vast majority of examples will be made with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links. The use of round rivets mades identifying most mail from India, Persian and the Ottoman Empire rather easy.

Since most European riveted mail was not made with round riveted links since around the 13th century to 14th centuries, if you encounter a riveted mail hauberk with round rivets you can be fairly sure that it is Indo-Persian. There are some examples that were not made using solid links but if they have round rivets then for the most part you can assume that it is Indo-Persian.

Until very recently it was assumed that if a hauberk was made with wedge rivets that it was automatically European but recent examples of some Indo-Persian riveted mail have been shown to be made with wedge rivets, some of these examples are in the Met museum collection. These examples have been attributed to Ottoman Circassian mail makers. The links of these are very uniform in size and shape and the overlap, which is the flattened area were the rivet goes through is very neat with no overhang. So no longer can one assume that any wedge riveted hauberk is European.

Below is an example of Ottoman 16th century round riveted mail, it is used to connect the steel plates of a cuirass together, these are typical Ottoman alternating solid and round riveted links. Both sides of the links are shown and you can clearly see the round rivet head on both sides of the riveted links. You can also see that the solid links are not perfectly round, they almost look faceted, this seems to be fairly common on Ottoman solid links from that time period unlike the Ottoman Circassian solid links which are round.

What you are seeing here is both sides of the steel plates and the attached mail. The red arrows show the round rivet heads, there are clearly visable on boths sides of the links, these links are over 500 years old and you can still see the details, you can also see the overlap on the links were the rivet goes through is quite flat and long. The solid links are shown with yellow arrows, they not round at all but have flat edges on the outside, I have no idea how they were formed.

estcrh · 7th July 2016, 07:27 AM

Here is a typical example of Indian round riveted mail, probably from around the 17th century. Again it is made from alternating rows of silod links and round riveted links. No need for colored arrows here, the round rivet head are clearly visible, while this shows only one side of the links I can attest that the other side is pretty much a mirror image.

Most Indian solid links are very easy to identify, as you can clearly see they are not make from round wire. In the past it was assumed that these were punched from sheet metal, but this is not the case, they are actually welded strips of sheet metal, recent photos show some of the welds delaminating, proving that they were not punched.

estcrh · 7th July 2016, 07:31 AM

This photo is from a European wedge riveted hauberk which I believe is from around then 14th century, it shows a wedge shaped riveted link that has failed. The head of the rivet was not properly peened and it allowed the overlap to seperate.

estcrh · 7th July 2016, 07:35 AM

This all goes back to Colins hauberk, with pictures showing both sides of the links we can probably figure out is it is round riveted or wedge riveted.

Iain · 7th July 2016, 02:48 PM

Just a note to the very good information already shared in this thread, I have not encountered a single source, in addition to what Erik has posted, that has identified riveted maille made in Africa. Bivar's Nigerian Panoply examines a few examples as well which were all imported.

To the best of my knowledge the vast majority of maille to be found in Nigeria/Cameroon and Sudan was imported via Egypt, given that this was mainly during the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt it stands to reason that vast majority of examples encountered will be of Ottoman manufacture (as vague as that label is at times!).

estcrh · 7th July 2016, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iain

Just a note to the very good information already shared in this thread, I have not encountered a single source, in addition to what Erik has posted, that has identified riveted maille made in Africa. Bivar's Nigerian Panoply examines a few examples as well which were all imported.

To the best of my knowledge the vast majority of maille to be found in Nigeria/Cameroon and Sudan was imported via Egypt, given that this was mainly during the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt it stands to reason that vast majority of examples encountered will be of Ottoman manufacture (as vague as that label is at times!).

Iain, here is a reference to mail being exported to Africa from Eqypt and European sources.

Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa, Sydney Smith
Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1989.

kronckew · 7th July 2016, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estcrh

This all goes back to Colins hauberk, with pictures showing both sides of the links we can probably figure out is it is round riveted or wedge riveted.

? - colin posted pics in post no. 5 that appear to show round rivets.

estcrh · 7th July 2016, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronckew

? - colin posted pics in post no. 5 that appear to show round rivets.

Actually Colin's image only shows one side of the riveted link. The rivet heads that are showing do not have the appearance of typical round rivet heads.

Usually there would be much more of a dome or mushroom shape from the rivet being peened. If these are round riveted there will be a corresponding round rivet head on the opposite side, if the links are wedge riveted the opposite side will be flat and no rivet head will be showing.

The red arrows point to the rivet heads, the yellow arrows point to the solid links. The rivet head here are just not formed well enough to determine if they are actually round riveted.

Take a look at the Ottoman and Indian round riveted examples I have provided and compare the rivet heads to Colins hauberk and you will see the difference.

7th July 2016, 07:09 AM	#1
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,492	Now on to the typical Indo-Persian riveted mail which in the vast majority of examples will be made with alternating rows of solid links and round riveted links. The use of round rivets mades identifying most mail from India, Persian and the Ottoman Empire rather easy. Since most European riveted mail was not made with round riveted links since around the 13th century to 14th centuries, if you encounter a riveted mail hauberk with round rivets you can be fairly sure that it is Indo-Persian. There are some examples that were not made using solid links but if they have round rivets then for the most part you can assume that it is Indo-Persian. Until very recently it was assumed that if a hauberk was made with wedge rivets that it was automatically European but recent examples of some Indo-Persian riveted mail have been shown to be made with wedge rivets, some of these examples are in the Met museum collection. These examples have been attributed to Ottoman Circassian mail makers. The links of these are very uniform in size and shape and the overlap, which is the flattened area were the rivet goes through is very neat with no overhang. So no longer can one assume that any wedge riveted hauberk is European. Below is an example of Ottoman 16th century round riveted mail, it is used to connect the steel plates of a cuirass together, these are typical Ottoman alternating solid and round riveted links. Both sides of the links are shown and you can clearly see the round rivet head on both sides of the riveted links. You can also see that the solid links are not perfectly round, they almost look faceted, this seems to be fairly common on Ottoman solid links from that time period unlike the Ottoman Circassian solid links which are round. What you are seeing here is both sides of the steel plates and the attached mail. The red arrows show the round rivet heads, there are clearly visable on boths sides of the links, these links are over 500 years old and you can still see the details, you can also see the overlap on the links were the rivet goes through is quite flat and long. The solid links are shown with yellow arrows, they not round at all but have flat edges on the outside, I have no idea how they were formed. Attached Images

7th July 2016, 07:27 AM	#2
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,492	Here is a typical example of Indian round riveted mail, probably from around the 17th century. Again it is made from alternating rows of silod links and round riveted links. No need for colored arrows here, the round rivet head are clearly visible, while this shows only one side of the links I can attest that the other side is pretty much a mirror image. Most Indian solid links are very easy to identify, as you can clearly see they are not make from round wire. In the past it was assumed that these were punched from sheet metal, but this is not the case, they are actually welded strips of sheet metal, recent photos show some of the welds delaminating, proving that they were not punched. Attached Images

7th July 2016, 07:31 AM	#3
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,492	This photo is from a European wedge riveted hauberk which I believe is from around then 14th century, it shows a wedge shaped riveted link that has failed. The head of the rivet was not properly peened and it allowed the overlap to seperate. Attached Images

7th July 2016, 07:35 AM	#4
estcrh Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 1,492	This all goes back to Colins hauberk, with pictures showing both sides of the links we can probably figure out is it is round riveted or wedge riveted.

7th July 2016, 02:48 PM	#5
Iain Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Olomouc Posts: 1,708	Just a note to the very good information already shared in this thread, I have not encountered a single source, in addition to what Erik has posted, that has identified riveted maille made in Africa. Bivar's Nigerian Panoply examines a few examples as well which were all imported. To the best of my knowledge the vast majority of maille to be found in Nigeria/Cameroon and Sudan was imported via Egypt, given that this was mainly during the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt it stands to reason that vast majority of examples encountered will be of Ottoman manufacture (as vague as that label is at times!).