Indian sword blades

[Jens Nordlunde]

The length of the Indian sword has puzzled me for a long time, but while reading Elgood’s ‘Hindu Arms and Ritual’, I found an explanation. On pages 205-16 he writes about ‘Nujum al-‘Ulum’, and in section 1 the author of’Nujum al-‘Ulum’ writes. “About the types/conditions (ahwal) of swords. A sword is the best of arms and is regarded as superior and noblest of all arms in defending against enemy. Therefore I begin with this. Those who are aware of the art of using a sword or are expert in it all agree that swords are of three types, the superior, the middle and the inferior type of sword.
The superior sword is one, which is fifty fingers-width long while the inferior is twenty-five fingers-width in length and this is called a nimcha. The middle type of sword falls between these two lengths. One must take care while wearing these swords that the number of fingers of measurement should be even rather than odd. The reason for this is that the sword has its own absolute (tamam) influence in overcoming an enemy.
Moreover you should know that the masters and experts of this art that any sword is to be regarded auspicious which has the mark of an umbrella or a sivalinga (which are essential to the infidels of India and hang round their neck), or the profile of a standard (alam) or the leaves of papal tree which are very well known in India; or the profile of the blue-water lily flower (nilofar, Nymphaea cyanea), or an earring. On the occasion of actual fighting one should use such swords and on other occasions when not fighting it is very auspicious to have such swords on one’s person. Furthermore, the blade should not be short in length or be broken or cracked, should have very good and brilliant watering (ab) and should produce a good resonance. If something is hit against it, its sound should be very clear, In short, a sword should have all the necessary good qualities. Its point, which according to the Indians is called kori, is like the leaf of a tree called cow’s tongue (the Indians call it tinalakie), or like the leaf of the plant called bamboo (binu), ore cane or reed (nai), sharp and pointed. The Indians regard a sword of this type as one of good qualities.
When tried and experienced it was found that the smell of the good sword should be like a lotus flower or a kaner/chanar flower, which is found everywhere in India; or is could smell like must (mad), the smell of an elephant in rut, or like the smell of certain oils. The indications of bad (mazmum) sword are that the johar resembles poisonous leprosy sores, or that it bears on it the forms of a headless man, a kite or any of the forty-seven (or forty-nine) forms of scorpion. That the sword bears irregularities or cracks and does not look well, or that it smells like the fat (charbi) from fat-tailed sheep. Or that it smells like cow’s urine, slimy mud, animal’s guts or the blood of a tortoise (dallak pusht). The use of such a sword in time of war, or the carrying of such a sword in peacetime, is inauspicious.
The next thing that should be known concerning swords is that, if there are undulations on the sword blade that one wishes to make flat or, if the sword is extremely long and one wants to cut the blade down, the job should be done with a file and not with an instrument like an ishkanah or a hammer and the like, because we have come to the conclusion after experience that work done in this latter fashion does not have good results and leaves inauspicious influence in the sword.”

We still don’t know what kind of a measure a ‘finger’ is, but on page 214 there is a clue.
“You should know that the length and breadth of all arms described in this chapter heve been measured by fingers. It is therefore appropriate to specify the meaning of a finger. It should be made clear that when we say finger it is not the length of the finger but the breadth at the tip. The average breadth of a finger is eight grains kept width wise side by side. But since of men’s fingers are not equal in size, some being broad and others thin, therefore a limit has been fixed so that a standard can be set, namely, whenever we say finger it should be eight grains. For example, if it is said that a certain arm is ten fingers long it means its length is equal to eighty grains kept side by side widthways, and so on and so forth.
These are the arms which were used in ancient times in India but gradually during the reign of each king there were improvements and new arms were invented with a view to better defence."

We now know that a fingertip was equal to eight grains, but what is eight grains equal to? It does not say what kind of grain was used, and is it not likely that grains at the time (1570), were smaller than today?