The so-called " cobra swords"

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

Marius is right, this is the only way to describe it, and this goes for a number of other weapons as well.


Ariel, the first sword you show seem to have a lotus decoration on the hilt, and the lines would represent water. The strange thing is, that the pommmeel also seem to be a lotus flower together with the missing quillons- this I have never seen such a pommel before.


Jim, I just read your post and yes, we have had this name game several times, but we never seem to learn:-(.
You write "Afghan influence in the Deccan", but it could also have been Deccan influence in Afghanistan. See one of Ariel's latest posts.
In Robert's book Hindu Arms and Ritual he shows a sword from Vijayanagara from the 15th century with a chakra (chapter 11), so this sword type is very old, although later the hilts were often replaced.

Hi Jens
We crossed posts, and we are in complete accord. As we have often discussed, which direction the influence was generated remains unclear, but the connection between the styling in comparison is compelling.