Ethnographic Arms & Armour - Weapons shown on Indian coins

If you are interested in Indian weapons, then there is one thing, which you should not ignore, and that is the coins. I did for too long, but Nidhin opened my eyes for, how many interesting pieces of information you can find in a coin catalogue.

On the obverse side you find the most important information’s and on the reverse side, the lesser important information’s. Marks on coins can be mintmarks like katars, daggers flowers and so on – they are placed on the reverse side, emblems are on the obverse side, so this is the most interesting side.

Jim sent me a quote from Egerton’s book, Indian and Oriental Armour, and that made me think of a thread when blades with katar marks were shown, on one of the blades even with a trisula as well, and with some help from Nidhin, I think we have come closer to from where these blades may come – no proof yet, but a possibility.

The following quote is from Egerton’s Indian and Oriental Armour, page 137.

kathiawar.

The Kattees of Guzerat carry a sword, shield, and spear. The latter is about 8 ft. long, and is made so slender as to break when thrown at the enemy, to whom it thus becomes useless.

Till the establishment of the British supremacy in 1835, no deed or agreement was considered binding unless guaranteed by the mark of the " Katar," and on the failure or breach of a contract they inflicted " traga," on themselves, (i.e., committed suicide) or, in extreme cases, carried out the murder of relations with that weapon. The Bards of Guzerat were hereditary heralds, and guardians of " traga." They seldom appeared without the Katar, a representation of which was scrawled beside their signatures, and rudely engraved on their monumental stones.2

" Traga” as generally performed, extends no farther than a cut with the " Katar " in the arm, and those people who are in the habit of becoming security generally have such cuts from the elbow downwards.

I found Gujerat and Kathiawar on a map, and with the help from Nidhin, there were two states of special interest, Kutch and Nawanagar, both ruled by Jareja Rajputs, most likely out of the same family. When looking on some of the coins from these two states it shows that Kutch have a katar on the obverse side and a trisula on the reverse side, and Nawanagar has a katar on the obverse side – so, both states use the katar as an emblem, which, of course, is more important than if it was a mint mark.

Several of the states used a katar as a mintmark, but fewer use it as an emblem.

This was a longer story, and it brings no proof, but it may help to bring more clues, when we know in which direction to look for them.

Krause Publications, The Standard Guide to South Asian Coins and paper Money Since 1556 AD.