Helm of the Khyber March

The full story

Armour had to accommodate the person wearing it. A rare Sikh turban helmet in the Wallace Collection, dated 1825–50 and probably made in Lahore, has an upper section shaped to allow for a turban and topknot. Its construction joins protective metal with the wearer’s distinctive requirements.

Its surface rewards close attention too: gold floral decoration conceals a small flaw with a bird motif, balanced by another bird on the opposite side. The mail at its edge alternates light and dark links into a flowing pattern. Function and ornament were carefully considered together.

This collectible imagines a different, dramatic helmet against a frontier backdrop. Its conical profile, plume, jewels and inscriptions are artistic choices, not a copy of the museum helmet or evidence of equipment from a particular Khyber campaign. Use the historical source to compare the two forms and discover why the surviving turban helmet is such a distinctive object.

Place it in the wider story.

The Khalsa army, arms and armour ↗

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