Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jim McDougall · 17th February 2022, 03:19 AM

"...No mention has been made of Oriental swords because no swords were designed in the east solely for the hunt. "

"...The sword seen almost exclusively in Indian and Persian illustrations of the hunt is the curved talwar or shamshir, the most common of Eastern swords.
The blades of some of these are decorated with animal or hunting scenes and have been named as hunting swords 'shamshir shikargar', but nothing else distinguishes them from the rest. Judging from Indian and Persian paintings, hunters wielded them with great effect, leaning from their saddles to deliver great slashing blows which almost cut an animal in two".

"...the painting of Umed Singh, Raja of Bundi, N.India (1749-1773) in the Victoria & Albert Museum (I.S.554-1952)( shows him on horseback slicing the throat of a giant boar with his talwar, having unsuccessfully attacked it with bows and arrows. Another Bundi painting of c.1820 depicts a huntress, a lady of the court, striking down a tiger with a wide bladed tulwar".

"Hunting Weapons: From the Middle Ages to
the 20th Century"
Howard L.Blackmore
Dover edition, 2000, pp.47-48
from 1971 edition.
Clearly shamshirs and tulwars were used in hunting. The blades of some of these have the shikargar designation from the animal and hunt scenes, for which they are named hunting swords.

I searched through "The Indian Sword", Philip Rawson, 1969....but there is no mention whatsoever on shikarga, nor hunting scenes on blades etc.

17th February 2022, 03:19 AM	#24
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,100	"...No mention has been made of Oriental swords because no swords were designed in the east solely for the hunt. " "...The sword seen almost exclusively in Indian and Persian illustrations of the hunt is the curved talwar or shamshir, the most common of Eastern swords. The blades of some of these are decorated with animal or hunting scenes and have been named as hunting swords 'shamshir shikargar', but nothing else distinguishes them from the rest. Judging from Indian and Persian paintings, hunters wielded them with great effect, leaning from their saddles to deliver great slashing blows which almost cut an animal in two". "...the painting of Umed Singh, Raja of Bundi, N.India (1749-1773) in the Victoria & Albert Museum (I.S.554-1952)( shows him on horseback slicing the throat of a giant boar with his talwar, having unsuccessfully attacked it with bows and arrows. Another Bundi painting of c.1820 depicts a huntress, a lady of the court, striking down a tiger with a wide bladed tulwar". "Hunting Weapons: From the Middle Ages to the 20th Century" Howard L.Blackmore Dover edition, 2000, pp.47-48 from 1971 edition. Clearly shamshirs and tulwars were used in hunting. The blades of some of these have the shikargar designation from the animal and hunt scenes, for which they are named hunting swords. I searched through "The Indian Sword", Philip Rawson, 1969....but there is no mention whatsoever on shikarga, nor hunting scenes on blades etc. Last edited by Jim McDougall; 17th February 2022 at 03:37 AM.