Looking for a good suit of armor? Go to India
Middle Ages inspires success in nation’s bid to draw manufacturers
A slick “Make in India” campaign aims to attract cellphone and high-tech manufacturers to the country, but one successful firm is taking a cue from the Middle Ages.
A company named Lord of Battles in the northern city of Dehradun supplies handcrafted swords, shields, armor and other medieval artifacts to famous shows, including HBO’s Game of Thrones, the BBC’s Merlin series and FX’s The Bastard Executioner.
The secret to beating out competitors from China, Poland and the Czech Republic: “We don’t use any modern methods,” said founder Saurabh Mahajan, a former captain in the Indian army. “All the items are handmade, hand sewn, hand hammered.”
Lord of Battles takes advantage of India’s ample cheap labor, but it also relies on the country’s pool of skilled craftsmen. When starting his business in 2005, Mahajan traveled to the leather-making hub of Kanpur, an industrial city in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, to convince a few dozen craftsmen making belts and bags to switch to armor.
“We’ve got people who have been doing it for many years and who are used to making items by hand. So we can give good volumes in less time at a much lower price,” he said.
That’s what attracted Road’s End Films, based in Portland, Ore., which used medieval props created by Lord of Battles on its production of Runestone, a film about Vikings in ninth-century North America that is now under production, director Sterling Fiock said.
“They didn’t just make what they wanted but would create what we desired — so much more than just armor, helmets and swords,” Fiock said.
Shortly after his stint in the army, Mahajan happened to meet an Australian costume designer looking for medieval props. He secured his first order, for $300.
Happy with the props he delivered, the designer helped him make contacts with other theatrical companies until Lord of Battles got its big break.
“The company that really gave me a big jump was the Royal Shakespeare Company,” Mahajan said. “Their costume designer really helped me to get more orders.”
Today, Lord of Battles exports 100% of its products, with nearly all its customers in Europe and the United States. Mahajan’s contract with Game of
Thrones prevents him from giving details about what he supplied for Seasons 4 and 5. But a look at what Lord of Battles provides to other productions offers some hints. For Assassin’s Creed and Mer
lin, the company created riveted aluminum chain mail tunics, steel gorgets to protect the throat, medieval helmets and titanium armor. For other productions, the company routinely provides swords and daggers, leather items, broaches, cauldrons, kettles and locks.
“We started in 2005 with three craftsmen. Now we have 130 skilled craftsmen, as well as many other people working from home,” Mahajan said.
The most labor-intensive product is a suit of chain mail, costing $40 for authentic-but-heavy steel to $500 for light-and-strong titanium. The company can make as many as 50,000 armor pieces in a good year.
The company is an unexpected example of success from the “Make In India” campaign, launched in 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create export-focused businesses in areas such as auto parts, electronics and biotechnology.
The initiative helped India surpass China as the world’s top destination for foreign direct investment. But most global manufacturers entered India primarily to tap the huge domestic market rather than create an export hub. Handmade products account for about $3 billion in exports and provide 7 million jobs, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation.