Tulwar with a hidden text
 

The tulwar shown below is interesting for several reasons, first be course of the special decoration of the hilt, the gold decoration is framed with silver, and secondly be course of a text hidden under the quillons. The blade is broad and flexible, but not heavy. The text reads, 'this sword will destroy anything to dust'.
Total length 103 cm. Length of blade 88 cm.

Hi Jens, simply beautiful! :)

Very nice, especially the blade, and the fact it hasnt been resharpened alot, or even at all ;)

"Destroy anything to dust?"

With a good beefy blade like that, I believe it.

Hi Jens,
Fantastic motif!!! I agree with Joe, that blade means business.
This decoration seems extremely unusual, it seems almost a herringbone type effect. Since the chevron patterns have key significance symbolically, and we know that there are key symbolisms in the floral patterns, I wonder what may be held in this one? It seems that often it is tempting for many to presume aesthetics are the only goal in such unusual motif, but with the weapons of India, there are often cleverly assigned symbolisms. That with the very intimidating message hidden beneath the quillons suggest there may be more.

The closest thing I can see typologically to the style of decoration as well as hilt form on this hilt would be that shown in Rawson (plate 44) which suggests that it is of Lahuri type, and probably early 19th c. The example shown in Rawson carries a floral theme, but distictively uses the bordering technique that outlines the features of the hilt.

Maybe we can find this type of 'herringbone' motif in other Indian art or metalwork?

All the best,
Jim

I believe this may also be a plant motif, albeit a stylized one. If you look closely, there's a thin line down the center of each stripe in the 'chevron'. I think they may be leaves, set in a geometric pattern.

I don't know the traditions of India, but in Viking culture runes inscribed on weapons weren't just names or descriptions, but were often active spells or charms to give the weapon more potency. Given the hidden nature of the inscription, is there any chance of the same being present here, a spell placed by the weaponsmaker to make the sword more deadly?

I remember a discussion with a Sikh collector, who came across as an authority. He told me the reason that Sikhs put their inscriptions on the inner knucklebow, and not on the blade (or a place of show) was because they fought the British in the 19thC, and by then, our technology in telescopic equipment was so advanced, that we could look across a battlefield, and pick out a leaders name on the blade, and single him out!
I was amazed at this insight. Not only at this individuals level of knowledge, but at the intelligence of his ancestors, and the keen eyesight of the British.

So Jens, maybe the placing of your inscriptions was so the owner could charge into a battlefield, pointing his sword forward and displaying this curse to dispell any telescope-carrying invader.

What's interesting is that according to your source this is a practice of the Sikh, since their religion specifically forbids them from trafficking in black magic. From a website on the Sikh religion:

So apparently the inscription is a description of the quality of the blade, and not a charm meant to enhance it. Either way, a fine sword!

Thanks for the mails. It is of course easier for me, who sits with the tulwar, to have a close look, and I believe that it could very well be stylized leaves arranged in a chevron design. I have no doubt that a sword with a curse written on it was supposed to be more dangerous than one without a curse, so I think it worked like it did between the Vikings. We must remember that although some Vikings had changed religion, as well as some Indians had, their roots were still in the old religions, and trying to get protection from both religions, when going to battle, would no doubt have been very common. Some, no doubt, used the old designs, although the knowledge of what they meant had been forgotten, so to them it was a decoration, and others used it, still knowing the meaning.

Yes B.I, I agree fully with you, there is an immense amount of valuable knowledge out there – the only problem is to find it:).

No problem at all, Jens, if you have a telescope!

A very fine Tulwar Jens ....very nice indeed :)

Someone recently wrote on a keris forum a thing that made me think a bit. He wrote, and I quote from memory – the discussion was about the symbolic values.

‘If you want to know something about the symbolic value, you have to marry into one of the families which still knows about them, and even then you may not be told all.’

I do think, this tells us, that this knowledge is not easy for us to find, but somehow we will have to find it, to understand the weapons we collect the better.

tulwar
 

very nice tulwar, very ornate hilt.

regarding the inscription, indeed sikhs do not have any association with black magic. Also, this text is not inscribed in Gurmukhi (or punjabi) which was the language of the sikhs at that time (as well as present)
Some of the sikh scriptures where written in sanskrit but this is not sanskrit either.
(pictures attached of sanskrit and gurmukhi alphabet)