How "new" is Tulwar?

ariel · 23rd August 2017, 02:37 AM

Indian army still maintains a cavalry unit: the 61st Regiment. AFAIK, its current role is largely ceremonial. However Indian cavalry units were actively deployed in Europe by the Brits during WWI and continued their existence much later, to the point of being amalgamated into the 61st Regiment in the 1950s.

My questions:

Were they armed with traditional tulwars or with European style regulation sabers?
If the former, how late were tulwars actively manufactured? Where? I know of Tulwar examples marked Birmingham, but always assumed that covered post-Mutiny period and those were clearly marked. Were British-made Tulwars supplied to active Indian units even later? Or did their production change hands to native factories?

I am asking because the market seems to offer quite a lot of classical Tulwars with minimal decorative elements that somehow look rather new, although used, and with tarp-covered scabbards.

23rd August 2017, 02:37 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	How "new" is Tulwar? Indian army still maintains a cavalry unit: the 61st Regiment. AFAIK, its current role is largely ceremonial. However Indian cavalry units were actively deployed in Europe by the Brits during WWI and continued their existence much later, to the point of being amalgamated into the 61st Regiment in the 1950s. My questions: Were they armed with traditional tulwars or with European style regulation sabers? If the former, how late were tulwars actively manufactured? Where? I know of Tulwar examples marked Birmingham, but always assumed that covered post-Mutiny period and those were clearly marked. Were British-made Tulwars supplied to active Indian units even later? Or did their production change hands to native factories? I am asking because the market seems to offer quite a lot of classical Tulwars with minimal decorative elements that somehow look rather new, although used, and with tarp-covered scabbards.