244 Chinese Clay Figures 



netted hood of the same metal to protect the head, neck, and face. Un- 

 der the network are worn linen garments quilted thick enough to resist 

 a sword. The steel plates are handsomely decorated with gold wreaths 

 and borders, and the network fancifully braided." 



Thus Persian chain mail spread to India in the Moghul period. 

 W. Egerton x observes that Persian arms were generally worn by the 

 upper classes in India, and that the blades of swords were often Persian, 

 even though mounted in India; in fact, as Persian artificers were fre- 

 quently employed at the principal native courts, it is difficult sometimes 

 to say whether a piece of armor is Persian or Indian. 



Whether ancient pieces of chain mail are still preserved in Persia, 

 I am unable to say. 2 Plates XXIII— XXV illustrate a piece of mail com- 

 plete with all paraphernalia, the shirt with long sleeves being open in 

 front. It was obtained at Tiflis by Mr. Charles R. Crane of this city, 

 and is said to have served as the parade armor of a chieftain of the Khew- 

 sur. 3 It is doubtless of Persian manufacture, as proved principally 

 by the Persian designs on the arm-guard (Plate XXV, Fig. 2). J. 

 Mourier 4 has already observed that the helmets with coifs of mail and 

 the suits of chain mail found among the tribes of the Caucasus seem to 

 be of Persian origin. The rings forming the texture of that mail con- 

 sist of thin iron wire loosely twisted together, being neither welded nor 

 riveted. This rather degenerate style of workmanship testifies to the 

 fact that the suit in question was merely intended for ceremonial or 

 pageant purposes: an energetic sword-blow would probably shatter 

 the whole outfit. The iron casque of the well-known Persian form, 

 called in Persian zirih-kulah, is provided with a sliding nasal (nose- 

 guard), and with a couvre-nuque consisting of a long coif of mail guard- 

 ing forehead, cheeks, neck, and shoulders. On Plate XXV the two-edged 

 sword, arm-guard, hauberk, and gauntlet, completing the set, are shown. 



The Arabs have undoubtedly derived chain mail from the Persians. 

 All the available historical evidence is decidedly in favor of Persian prior- 



1 An Illustrated Hand-Book of Indian Arms, p. 142 (London, 1880). 



2 According to Egerton (/. c, p. 141), armor is now no longer worn in Persia, 

 except to add to the pageant of their religious processions, held annually in the month 

 of Muharram, to commemorate the death of Hassan and Hussain, the Shiah martyrs. 

 Many that are of modern manufacture have been made for ornament rather than 

 use, and betray in their style the decline of the art. The best period, judging from 

 the examples preserved, seems to have extended from the time of Shah Abbas to 

 that of Nadir Shah. The armor of Shah Abbas is in the British Museum; it is figured 

 in G. Migeon (Manuel d'art musulman, Vol. II, p. 251, Paris, 1907). 



3 I am under obligation to Dr. Charles B. Cory, the present owner of the armor, 

 for his courtesy in placing it at my disposal. 



4 L'art au Caucase, pp. 156, 157 (Paris, 1907). 



