A Sikh watered steel quoit (chakram), Punjab, North India, 19th century, of circular form with sharp outer edge 23.3 cm diam. The chotta Chakkar or chakram (the small ring) is a steel ring, 5 - 12 inches in diameter of varying thickness. When used in battle, it usually has a sharp outer edge, but for ceremonial purposes, the outer edge is left blunt. It is classified as a quoit-type weapon which is thrown or hurled, either by being released after being twirled around the smooth inside edge by the forefinger (a favourite Sikh method) or released frisbee-like or discus style. It has an effective range of 40 to 50 metres.From about the 16th century onwards, it seems to be a weapon exclusively used by the Sikh military. Used in volley fire fashion by trained footmen in the centuries before Britain imposed its rule, it continued to be a viable part of the Sikh inventory at least in part as late as the 19th century. George Cameron Stone, writing in 1934 of a Sikh military exhibition he had witnessed many years prior, described the skilled use of the weapon from a distance of 50 metres, where trained warriors struck an archery-like target and usually hit their mark.A Sikh watered steel quoit (chakram), Punjab, North India, 19th century, of circular form with sharp outer edge 23.3 cm diam. The chotta Chakkar or chakram (the small ring) is a steel ring, 5 - 12 inches in diameter of varying thickness. When used in battle, it usually has a sharp outer edge, but for ceremonial purposes, the outer edge is left blunt. It is classified as a quoit-type weapon which is thrown or hurled, either by being released after being twirled around the smooth inside edge by the forefinger (a favourite Sikh method) or released frisbee-like or discus style. It has an effective range of 40 to 50 metres.From about the 16th century onwards, it seems to be a weapon exclusively used by the Sikh military. Used in volley fire fashion by trained footmen in the centuries before Britain imposed its rule, it continued to be a viable part of the Sikh inventory at least in part as late as the 19th century. George Cameron Stone, writing in 1934 of a Sikh military exhibition he had witnessed many years prior, described the skilled use of the weapon from a distance of 50 metres, where trained warriors struck an archery-like target and usually hit their mark.