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Old 9th January 2005, 03:54 AM   #5
Jim McDougall
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Location: Route 66
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John,
You do manage to acquire most interesting items !!
There really is precious little known on detail concerning the arrows of SE Asia, and while there is a degree of data on Naga weapons, the emphasis is on the daos, axes and spears, and virtually nothing on arrows.
The bamboo shaft does of course suggest an arrow from these regions, and the feathers used as fletching may as Tom suggests, hold some clues.

Examining the distinctive barbed head, the patina suggests some age, and as has been noted, this is quite crudely done. With this noted, the twists at the base of the head seem an unusual feature for such a simple item as an arrow.
The most obvious feature to check would be of course the head and compare it to other arrowheads from these regions. The most typologically similar examples I have seen thus far are four illustrations shown in Egerton (1880), fig.15, #18, described as arrows termed 'tir' (on.p.78) and being from Chota Nagpur. While it is unclear in the drawings whether any such twisting at the base occurs, the shape of the shaft end wound and holding the tang seems similar, and the barbed heads have similar shape.

In Egerton, #155, he notes that Sikkim arrows are often painted black. Although the Sikkim arrows shown in Stone (p.73, #22 and #23) have the barbed form head, they are not of the more elongated profile as this example.

In another interesting note concerning Chota Nagpur (p.76), Egerton mentions the tribes Munda and Kol, when they rose in insurrection in 1831, sent an arrow to every village to rouse inhabitants to arms. I include this simply to note significance of the arrow in symbolic sense in certain degree in these tribes (with attention to the added twists and lack of supportive wrap noted for actual use which this example lacks).

Chota Nagpur is a hilly, forest covered plateau in India due west inland from Plassey in Bengal, and SW of Sikkim (which is located between Nepal and Bhutan) and from Assam and the Naga regions to the east.

Without further distinct data on the arrows of the Naga, we cannot rule out that possibility, but may consider that this arrow is quite possibly from the Chota Nagpur tribes with the noted references, pending further data. As always, despite apparant patination, it is hard to determine age from photo. The crude twists and bevels on the head do certainly suggest native work .

All the best,
Jim

Last edited by Jim McDougall; 9th January 2005 at 04:14 AM.
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