Tegha
 

Indian Sword. 38" long overall and 3 3/4" wide.

My intuitive feeling is that Indian swords with profuse brass inlays are more likely to be tourist grade, aimed at dazzling the unsuspecting Westerners... Please surprise me !

Hi Ariel,

Usually I would agree. First, this is a substantial sword. Has a sharp edge, not razor sharp, but enough to cut with the weight of this piece behind it.

Also take a look here.

http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=2194

Not a definitive answer, but a good indication.

Hi Bill, nice sword!

"Sacrificial" comes to mind :)
I wonder why the executioner is wearing all those spikes and carrying a shield when his job is decapitating a (presumably) tied victim. Must be an interesting story there.

Regards,
Emanuel

Thanks Emanuel,

He should not need protection against a tied victim, however there is always a question of a spiritual attack from the dead. Quite a concern, actually, especially if you were the one sending him on his journey!

I don't think that he is necessarily dressed for combat in a usual sense. For one thing he is barefoot which could indicate a desire for a good connection and grounding with the earth rather than protection from the physical weapons.

I do like the armor, but the spikes would be of marginal value against swords, spears, arrows, etc. But it might. if properly consecrated, keep a spirit away, at least in their belief system.

It is very difficult to even get a marginal understand another culture's symbolism unless you can dig deeply into their religion and psyche. Even then true understanding will likely escape you.

I don’t know what these teghas were used for, it could be executioner’s swords, or it could be swords used by guards – or maybe something else.

Egerton referrers to them in his book, see #398 and 399. He does not write what they were used for, but he writes that both were from Jodhpur, and in a note to the first one he writes. ‘….Much used by Mahrattes and Rajpoots in the time of Hyder Ali. Very hard and brittle’.

This could indicate that they were not used as executioner’s swords, as the number of executioner’s must have been limited.

I am also looking for references, but not finding much, however.

In Dr.Gaytri Nath Pant's "Indian Arms and Armor," (1980) Volume II, Page 84, he states:

"It is an Indian sabre with a broad curved balde and the hilt like that of a Talwar. It is used by the Muslim, Marathas and Rajputs. Those have hunting scenes engraved on the blades are are called tegha shikargaha.

"In the national Museum, New Dehli is displayed an heavy, 17th century A.D. Rajput tegha . . . ."

He provides no picture or further information.

And as Jens has already stated, Egarton of Tatton, "A Description of Indian and Oriental Armour," 1896, "In use by the Hindu Rangars..." and "Much used by the Mahrattas and Rajpoots in the time of Hyder Ali."

He was a Muslim ruler of Mysore, India in the mid-to late 1700s.

I am surprised that there is not more information about this sword as it would appear that it was popular, at least among the nobility. However I do wonder if the name "tegah" is confused or applied to something else as I have heard it compared to a nimcha.

I wonder whether this spiky gentleman might be a " jetthy" (not sure whether I spell it right): bodybuilding guards of the Indian rajas ( Tipoo had quite a lot) who doubled as executioners. The methods they used were designed to demonstrate their physical strength but were rateher gruesome: twisting the head off, hammering a large nail into the head with their one blow of a bare palm, crushing the chest with one blow of the fist or with a hug, tearing the limbs off etc, etc....
Arms and armour were used just as a fashion statement ( where is D2K when one needs it? :rolleyes: )

I like your thinking Bill.
I must admit I haven't considered this in relation to Indian cutoms. To me Indians seem more "down to earth" and less concerned with the spirit world than more shamanistic/animist cultures.
Something to keep in mind when I'll be able to consider starting to collect these!

All the best,
Emanuel

Hi Emanuel,

That depends on the century and the area. Would suggest reading Robert Svoboda's "Aghora Trilogy," or at least his seminal work, "Aghora, At the Left Hand of God." But I am straying into religious symbolism here. There are many different sects that have many different ways.

Perhaps we should stay on the weapons and try to find out more about these Tegha?

Ian once found and bought a manuscript written by Rawson, and was kind enough to put it on the net for others to read. Some of the pages seem to be missing, as some of the page references can’t be found, but here is what he writes about the tegha.

The term Tegha is, strictly speaking, the common Arabic word for the blade of a sword, but here, following Egerton, it is to designate a sword resembling the Tulwar, the blade of which has an exceptionally deep backward curve. There are two forms of Tegha; one is Islamic for discussion of which see p. 29 (missing), and the other Hindo, for which see p. 72 (missing).
Later he writes.
Nimcha or Tegha or Goliah. Small light sword slightly curved, made of hard waved steel (pigeons eye); plain handle, Hindostan 1780. Boorhampore. Taken at Seringapatan.

It is a bit confusing that he writes ‘Small light sword slightly curved’. But the one Egerton mentions #399 has a blade width of about 4.5 cm – it is shown in fig. 24.

The Tegha on the picture is from Leth, André: Islamic Arms and Armour from private Danish Collections. Davids Samling. Copenhagen 1982. No 174, page 208 and 209. Weight 3.2 kg without scabbard, length scabbard incl. 101 cm, and width of blade at the base 8.3 cm.

Bill, I have had a couple of giant Indian kukri in the past with virtualy identical figures.

The steel wasnt tempered on either of them though.

Is the tegha tempered?

Spiral

In ‘A Catalogue of Arms and Armour in the State Museum, Hyderabad, A.P., 1975’, they write that they have five Teghas, and they show a (bad) picture of three of them. I find it strange that they only have five, as the museum is in the area, where Egerton writes they were used, so I would have expected a lot more – but five it is.

#123, hilt 18 cm, blade 67 cm, 18th century. #124, hilt 18 cm, blade 84 cm, 18th century. #125, hilt 16 cm, blade 70 cm, 19th century. #126, hilt 23 cm, blade 85 cm, 19th century. #127, hilt 19 cm, blade 81 cm, 19th century.

What Bill is showing can very well be a Tegha, but there seem to be a lot of other sword types which are called Tegha as well.

Hi Jens and all,

First of all let me say how much I am enjoying this thread! I am going through old reference books in my library that I haven't looked at for far too long. (Also realizing I really need to do some organizing), and I am finding some fascinating, though unrelated information. Especially in Pant's books. He has one on indian elephant armour .... but let's get back to the tegha.

Ian sent me a hard copy of the work Jens mentions, but I can't find it right now. Perhaps Ian has the "missing pages?" This would be very helpful.

Ian?

It appears to me that there were plain and functional versions shown by Jens above. It also seems that there were heaviliy adorned sacrifical swords that were just as valid.

Rajput nobles were particulalry fond of very ornate weapons.

Here is a tegha from E. Jaiwant Paul's "Arms and Armour, Traditional Weapons of India," where he states

"Sacrificial sword, Rajput, late 17th century A.D., National MUseum, The broad blade is engraved with figures of gods and goddesses, . . . . The sword was used to sacrifice buffaloes during the festival of Dussehra."

Hi Jonathan,

Mine does seem to have a hardened edge. It resists a file. You might also note it has a heavy point, sort of like an armor piercing weapon. While I do not think that was the intent, it shows that care was taken when it was made. I don't think it was made for tourists.

Bill



Hi Jens,

It certainly does appear that tegha was a name for other swords as well. Perhaps we should be looking more specifically for the tegha in Dr.Gaytri Nath Pant's "Indian Arms and Armor," (1980) Volume II, Page 84, he states:

"It is an Indian sabre with a broad curved balde and the hilt like that of a Talwar. It is used by the Muslim, Marathas and Rajputs. Those have hunting scenes engraved on the blades are are called tegha shikargaha."

Hi Bill,

From the Rawson manuscript I have 15 pages describing different swords, a front page saying ‘The Indian Sword, A catalogue Raissone of the Indian collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, by P.S.Rawson, part two, Catalogue, and then I have the following pages 94-289, but I don’t have the pages 1-93. Do you have them?



Bill you wrote. ‘It appears to me that there were plain and functional versions shown by Jens above. It also seems that there were heavily adorned sacrificial swords that were just as valid.’ Yes you are right, but if you look at post #13, the sword to the right, if that is a Tegha, what does a Tulwar then look like? We know swords and daggers were called differently in different places, so maybe the name Tegha was used in a broader sense to the south than to the north.

Would you say the sword on the picture is a Tegha? I think one could, but it is definitely a Tulwar.

We may as well try; another author on the subject.Dr. Sued Zafar Haider, Islamic Arms and Armour of Muslim India. On page 176 the author writes. Tegha. I was a sword with a broad and very deep curved blade, deeper than shamshir and mounted with an Indo-Muslim hilt. It could be differentiated from the tulwar by its broad and deeply curved blade.


Whatever it is called Bill, it is still a very nice sword you have:).

Cool. A properly hardend edge sounds good. ;)


Spiral

Take This A Step Further ...
 

You wind up with this. :)

Rick,

I know what you have here, and yet the blade shape reminds me of another sword from far-away China.

Oxtail saber (niuweidao). Qing Dynasty. Commonly known today as " the Chinese Broadsword."

Many of these niuweidao were for the relatively unskilled bloke as a "chopper."

My pictures show an above average sword. Most were cheaply made and mass produced.