Santali spiked parrying shield

[Osca]

Hi all,

I picked up this shield from auction a few years back out of intense curiosity. Such an imaginative design, but is it practical?

Online research seems to place it from East India, with the people of Santal, Santhal or Sontal.

Mandarin Mansions offered up some fascinating insight into a similar shield of concave form, with some suggestion of it being a bullet stopper.

I've not found any pictures of a parry shield exactly like this one, other than past auction pics of this particular piece (it seems to have done some travelling).

I didn't have to fight hard to bag it at auction, which surprised me as although it's clearly not fancy, it's a pleasing example of combination/imaginative arms.