Shako, other ranks, East India Company Forces, 1806 (c)

Blue wool serge (purpet).

The East India Company was quick to combine Western weapons, uniform and military training with Indian martial traditions. In a society where warriors were respected, it could always recruit men with the prospect of good pay, pensions, land grants and honoured status. This headdress, a cross between Indian turban and European shako, was probably issued by the Madras Army.