Poisoned pearls

[Jens Nordlunde]

In Ulwar and Its Art Treasurers by T.H.Hendley published in 1888, the author writes about the Ulwar armoury, and about other things comment on the katar: ‘The blades are grooved, and sometimes pierced with little cannels in which small pearls are allowed to run, partly with the view of adding to the beauty of the weapon, but also with some idea that they may poison the wound made by it’.

The author does not only suggest that the pearl could have two functions, he writes it. Pearl used for ‘the tears of the wounded’ were only for the very rich, in most of the weapons with these ‘pearls’ it is steel balls rolling, not pearls. Besides to use pearls was very unpractical as they are soft and will quickly be worn and drop out of the groove. To poison the edge itself would not have been a very good idea, as the user during the fight might happen to wound himself, so even a small wound could be fatal, but to poison the balls would mean no danger to the user, only to his enemy.
The katar shown has steel balls, and it is not from the book.

Thomas Tolbein Hendley was at the time he wrote the book
Surgent Major in India, and a good friend of the Maharaja of Ulwar.