 Reference Base  Under siege: poaching and protection of greater one-horne... |
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Menon, V., 1995. Under siege: poaching and protection of greater one-horned rhinoceroses in India. Delhi, Traffic India, pp. i-iv, 1-114
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Asia - South Asia - India |
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Value |
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Asian Rhino Species |
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India - Skin. Rhinoceros skin shields were also common in history, the warrior clans of Rajasthan (of Udaipur, Mewar, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, etc.) curing rhinoceros skins to a transparent amber colour, and decorating them skilfully as shields (Watt, 1904). Martin (1983b) documents that the shields were painted with black lacquer and decorated elaborately with gold and gilt. He also documents the European-style emblems on many of them and this was very common among the aristocracy of that period. He suggests that the origin of the hide for these shields would more likely have been Africa than Assam, basing his hypothesis on the fact that it was far easier for trading vessels to travel the oft-used trade routes between India and Africa rather than doing on perilous jungle expeditions. In view of later imports of African rhinoceros horn into India, such a hypothesis does indeed have a valid base.
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