Coraza; India, Hyderabad, 1192 AH (1778/79 A.D.)

Breastplate; India, Hyderabad, 1192 AH (1778/79 AD).
Steel.
Measurements: 44.2 cm (height).
This Deccan cuirass consists of two steel plates hinged together at the shoulders and sides. The pectoral muscles and shoulder blades are highlighted the pectoral muscles and shoulder blades of a human torso. The edges are decorated with petal friezes, with fleurons on the shoulders and neck. It is part of a small known group of comparable breastplates with the same inscription and dating under the left shoulder left shoulder "Sarkar Mir Nizam "Ali Khan Bahadur" and "Sarkar Mir Nizam "Ali Khan Bahadur" and "Sarkar Mir Nizam 'Ali Khan Bahadur". 1192", probably in reference to the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Nizam 'Ali Khan Asaf Jah II (r. 1762-1803).
There is a very similar piece in the collection of the American Metropolitan Museum (Inv No. 29.158.165a, b) where it is described that "The cuirass, from the royal armory at Hyderabad, bears the name of a later ruler, the nizam 'Al? Kh?n (1762-1803), who led the state of Hyderabad during a period of economic growth in which it became the most important Muslim cultural center in India."