Descends from a family of traditional Indian blacksmiths. His Grandfather worked with fulad (wootz) and was the main influence for Jin getting involved with blacksmithing and wootz steel.
Founder of Wootz Militaria, arguably one of the most trusted organisations for the restoration of antique arms & armour, is respected all over the world by collectors, institutions & museums and has worked on thousands of wootz swords.
He has been a Consultant for television channels such as the BBC and The History Channel (Forged in Fire). He is one of last traditional Indian Wootz Smiths involved in making and forging Wootz steel. As a Sikligar (Indian Weapons maker) he has a wealth of knowledge on how ancient weapons were made using wootz steel. He is an active collector of Indo Persian arms & armour and promotes active research in the field. Jin is also one of the very few practitioners of the traditional weapons based martial art of Shastar Bidiya.
Jin received his first sword at the age of 15, which belonged to his late grandfather (Sardar Dileep Singh), who worked as an experienced blacksmith in northern India. It was whilst watching him work that his passion for swords & military history began. Listening to stories from his past ignited a passion within him that has remained to this day.
Years later Jin began his study of Indo Persian military history, ranging from ancient Indian scriptures right up to the days of the British Raj. Researching anything he could reference his growing collection of Arms & Armour! To help strengthen this foundation of knowledge, he undertook various martial arts and eventually gained first hand practical knowledge of northern Indian battle field arts. Collectively these experiences gave him a comprehensive understanding of Indo Persian warfare & weaponry.
Jin is one of the last makers of traditional Wootz steel (Indian crucible steel) in the world and is still producing wootz steel today. The famed Indian wootz steel sometimes referred to as Pulad, Fulad or watered steel can be quite challenging to make and forge into those wonderful patterned blades, but we are still very much active in this area of expertise. We also offer elemental analysis of most metals and have amassed a catalogue of data on wootz steel blades.
Over the past few decades Wootz Militaria has focused efforts on restoring antique arms & armour. Just like the great British armourers and craftsmen, Robert Mole & Sons, Birmingham Small Arms and the famous Jewellery Quarter our inception occurred in the skilled city of Birmingham. Although we began providing our services throughout the UK we now cater to clients all over the world. Our team have been working closely with well established galleries and institutions and have an envied understanding of the antiques market.
Our craftsman hold specialist training and skills in the various fields of restoration. The team proudly consist of a dedicated skilled smiths and armourers. We currently hold fire arm and explosive licenses, which enables us to offer our services to firearms collectors. Assisting me with Wootz Militaria is my good friend Mark. He himself is an expert armourer and is personally involved in many re-enactment events across the United Kingdom.
We have been dealing with antique weaponry for over 25 years and have had the privilege of restoring antique Arms & Armour from private collections, institutions and museums across the globe. We also occasionally exhibit at arms fairs across the United Kingdom.
We are confident in the services we provide, especially as a lot of the traditional eastern techniques we implement have been lost to the past and not practiced anywhere else! We are extremely proud of the quality of work we have done for our clients and regularly showcase projects on our website. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about the services we offer.