Object Title

Elephant armour (bargustavan-i-pil)

Date

17th century - 18th century

Object Number

XXVIA.102

Provenance

Acquired in India by Lady Clive, wife of Edward, 2nd Lord Clive (Governor of Madras), between 1798 and 1800, and transported to Britain in 1801; displayed in the 'Elephant Room' at Powis Castle. Placed on loan to the Tower Armouries in 1949 for conservation. Presented to the Armouries in lieu of death duty by the Earl of Powis, 1962.

Physical Description

The armour in its present state is composed of six elements: a shaffron, a throat defence, three panels for the left of the body and one central panel for the right. All the elements are of mail and plate construction, and are lined with modern black fabric. In total the armour now comprises some 5,840 plates, and would have comprised around 8,439 plates when complete.

The shaffron (head defence) is composed of some 2,195 plates, arranged in vertical columns, with cusped overlapping edges, and joined by riveted mail. It extends midway down the trunk, and has flaps for the ears. There are two small holes for the eyes, and two larger holes for the processes on top of the skull, all of which are bordered by radiating plates. At the base of the trunk and at either ear is a circular plate similarly bordered by radiating plates. At the centre of the trunk is a heart-shaped iron plate with a brass border, with a central boss containing a threaded hole, probably for a hair tassel. Small fragments of the original lining survive, under the leather straps retaining the iron loops under the ears on the shaffron. Next to the mail and plate is a thick layer of cotton wadding. The lining is of beige cotton, printed with alternating bands of dark brown, eight-leaved rosettes, and of dark brown, red, brown, red and brown stripes. These bands are separated by narrow dark brown stripes.

The throat defence comprises some 1,046 plates. It has a straight rear edge, extends up to the shoulders, and its front edge has a medial cusp for the lower jaw. It is made of columns of plates like those on the shaffron, with a broad band of mail at the centre.

The side panels are composed of columns of plates interspersed with large, embossed iron plates with brass borders: the front panel has eleven of these, each central panel has twelve, and the rear panel has ten. The front panel contains some 948 plates, each central panel some 780 plates, and the rear panel some 871 plates. The embossed plates of the front panel are decorated as follows; five with charging elephants, one with a lotus, one with a peacock, and the four in the bottom row with pairs of adorsed fish. The plates of the central panels have seven elephants, one lotus, one peacock and three pairs of fish, while the rear panel has six elephants and four pairs of fish (again forming the bottom row. All the elephants faced forwards in the original configuration.

Each element is joined to its neighbour by modern leather straps or ties fitted to original iron loops. The body panels are attached by a series of leather straps passing over the elephant's back.

The armour was extensively restored at the Tower Armouries in 1949-50, with around 600 plates and approximately 12,000 mail links being replaced. It was further repaired and cleaned before being put on display in its new home in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds in 1996.

Materials

Steel, Textile, Brass, Cotton, Leather

Dimensions

Overall	Height	3900 mm
Overall	Length	4850 mm
Overall	Weight	118 kg
Overall	Width	1750 mm
Left front panel	Length	1670 mm
Left front panel	Weight	18 kg
Left front panel	Width	1370 mm
Left central panel	Length	1700 mm
Left central panel	Weight	19 kg
Left central panel	Width	1060 mm
Right central panel	Length	1700 mm
Right central panel	Weight	19 kg
Right central panel	Width	1060 mm
Left rear panel	Length	1700 mm
Left rear panel	Weight	23 kg
Left rear panel	Width	1340 mm
Shaffron	Length	2430 mm
Shaffron	Weight	27 kg
Shaffron	Width	1900 mm
Throat defence	Length	2510 mm
Throat defence	Width	750 mm
Throat defence	Weight	12 kg

Component parts

Shaffron
Left front body panel
Right central body panel
Left central body panel
Throat defence
Left rear body panel

Inscriptions and Marks

None.

Associations

Places India/Asia

Events National Portrait Gallery, London, The Raj, 19 October 1990 - 17 March 1991.

Bibliographic References

List of items for transport back to England, Powis MS, about 1801

G Evans, The beauties of England and Wales, 24, 1809: 879, 'the model of an elephant with two Indians sitting upon its back; brought from India by the late Lord Clive'.

H R Robinson, Oriental armour, London, 1967: 120-1

P Hammond, Royal Armouries official guide, London, 1986: 58

M Archer et al., Treasures from India, the Clive collection at Powis Castle, London, 1987: 29, 72.

C A Bayly, The Raj, India and the British 1600-1947, London, National Portrait Gallery, 1990: 97-8, no. 105

S Z Haider, Islamic arms and armour of Muslim India, Lahore, 1991: 278

D Nicolle, Mughul India 1504-1761, Osprey Men-at-Arms 263, London, 1993: 20

T Richardson and D Stevens, The elephant armour. Royal Armouries Yearbook 1 1996: 100-6

Thom Richardson, An introduction to Indian arms and armour, Leeds, Royal Armouries, 2007: 28-29

Indian Arms and Armour

Notes

The tusk swords which are associated with this armour and which also came from the Clive Collection at Powis Castle now reside in the Royal Armouries collection as accession number XXVIM.40.

Another (apparently complete) example of an elephant armour, also of mail and plate construction, is supposed to have been in the armoury at Bikaner, Rajasthan (according to correspondence in 1993). The head defence of another armour, of mail on a fabric backing, was in a private collection in London circa 1991. There is also a copy of the Royal Armouries armour which was made in England, and which is now in a private collection in America.

A nice illustration of an elephant armour is in the Philidelphia Museum of Art, no. 1994-148-394, painted in Kota, Rajasthan about 1750.

Information

The collections data published on Royal Armouries Collections Online has been compiled over the life of the museum. We are aware that some of the records reflect ideas that are now outdated or contain terminology that may now be considered discriminatory or offensive. We are actively taking steps to resolve these issues and will review and update records accordingly. Please contact us to improve our knowledge of the collection or draw our attention to any material that you believe to be discriminatory or offensive by using the "improve our records" button above.

Elephant armour (bargustavan-i-pil), South Asia, 17th 18th century, XXVIA.102
In 2004, this elephant armour set a Guinness World Record for 'largest suit of animal armour'. It is the only surviving, near-complete mail and plate example from the Mughal era in a public collection. The armour currently contains around 5,840 plates, and weighs 118kg. If complete (two body panels are missing) it would weigh nearly 160kg.

In South Asia, elephants featured in warfare from the first millennium BC until the 19th century. Throughout India, from at least the 11th century AD, armies often protected their war elephants with armour using materials like padded fabric, leather, mail and metal plate defences. Paintings often show metal elephant armour covered in colourful textiles.

This armour was probably made around the 17th century, but it is difficult to say exactly where or for whom. The plate and mail structure was most widely used in northern and central India, particularly in Muslim states. However, the peacock, lotus bloom and fish motifs embossed on the larger panels may indicate it was made or used in an area which maintained at least some frameworks of Hindu belief and reference. The known history of this armour also suggests possible ties to southern India, as it was acquired between 1798 and 1801 by Lady Henrietta Clive, whilst her husband was Governor of Madras.

Tusk swords. South Asia, 16th 17th century, XXVIM.40
When lodged on the tusks of a charging elephant, these swords would have made fearsome weapons. Surviving tusk swords are extremely rare. Most other surviving examples are later in date, flimsier and decorative, suited to parade and display. In contrast, these swords are extremely robust with massive reinforced points, strengthening bands moulded around the bases, and rings which presumably allowed the sockets to be strapped firmly to the tusks. During the later Mughal era, references to such swords being used in battle across India became much less frequent, so these hefty fighting examples are probably from the earlier period. The graceful, double-curved and heavily grooved blades are very similar to those found on south Indian spears, daggers, and elephant goads.

Like the elephant armour, these swords were acquired by Lady Henrietta Clive when she was in India between 1798 and 1801. Lady Clive's time was spent in the southern territories; as well as her official duties in Madras, in 1800 she conducted a seven-month tour through the surrounding states. She then returned to Britain in 1801. In an inventory of the objects she brought back with her, she recorded the tusk swords alongside the armour as '2 swords for the Tooth'.