Iron mughal sheild

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Hi,
Here's a steel Indian one, different style of decoration and chiseled rather than etched, ceremonial and probably Rajput.
Regards,
Norman.

Excellent example Norman!!
These are indeed ceremonial items or 'parade' pieces, often used in 'durbars' or in such court contexts of gatherings, events etc. The fact that it is chiseled suggests of course probably either earlier 19th c. (possibly earlier) or of an artisan following early styles for a notable figure.
I would say with the sun on the boss, it is Rajput, and representing the Suryanvanshi clan (or of that lineage in sub clan) which is the Rajput clan of descent from Hindu sun god Surya.

With the Indo-Persian term, it seems that was a collective term used in describing many Indian items with the profound presence of Persian influence throughout northern Indian courts (primarily). As Kubur has noted, the presence of Persian artisans as well as melding of styles made in difficult to determine distinctly one from the other so Indo-Persian covered it.

The term Qajar, is often used in antique-speak to lend to antiquity in essence. By classifying an item 'Qajar era or dynasty' it sounds instantly of great antique character, but the dynasty ruled 1781-1925, so 'Qajar' sounds better than c. 1915.
Its like 'Qing' dynasty in Chinese, actually the rule was 1644-1911, so Qing sounds impressive, rather than actual date which might be 1910.