Helmet with mail neck guard

The unusual shape of this rare helmet was dictated by the needs of the Sikh warrior, who wore it into battle with his uncut hair rolled into a topknot beneath it. Uncut hair was among the five emblems (also known as the “Five Ks”) of solidarity adopted in the 1600s by Sikhs suffering from religious persecution. Traditionally associated with South Asian ascetics, uncut hair came to represent Sikh religious devotion.

The iron and brass links of the helmet’s chain-mail neck guard are arranged in a diamond pattern that is said to reflect the churning waters at the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna, India’s greatest rivers.