Unusual South Indian Sword

wepnz · 28th August 2008, 06:03 PM

Hello all, I've been a lurker for a while and finally decided to join. I had accidently stumbled upon the world of ethnographic weapons and discovered the amazing vareity of weapons especially in those cultures outside of mainstream western media that exist (I admit my initial interest in weapons came about because of video games

). Anyhow I came across this website eventually as well, a primary interest of mine is in seeing actual weapons or depictions of them rather than just reading a tidbit somewhere (which is ofcourse still better than nothing). Such info was easily found on Japanese weapons (well they have become part of mainstream pop culture here in the west as well I guess) as well as Chinese ones. However, I have discovered less info on weapons from other areas such as South Asia (especially in terms of actual photos or depictions of them), I had initially not thought much of weapons from that area except for some strange (and in my opinion ineffective loooking) thin, bending, curving swords seen on goddess depictions. This is why I have found sites such as these to be an excellent source of information. For instance, I have since learnt about and grown to become a big fan of khandas

. Anyway another bad habit of mine I talk too much! Well enough of boring intro from me.

Here is a sword which didn't look to be of Indian origin at all to me and I havn't seen on any other sites. It's a straight sword from the south and said to be from 16th century (earlier than most of the indian swords found out there). It has a sharp point tip, again unusual in Indian swords, and a thick rib running down center of blade and somewhat unusual wide hilt (though the site calls it typical) and widening of of blade near hilt. I quite like the look and style and am surprised that it has been on sale for so many monthes. It's from the Ashoka Arts website at : Sword at Ashoka Arts
Would appreciate any comments or additional info on this type of sword.

28th August 2008, 06:03 PM	#1
wepnz Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 5	Unusual South Indian Sword Hello all, I've been a lurker for a while and finally decided to join. I had accidently stumbled upon the world of ethnographic weapons and discovered the amazing vareity of weapons especially in those cultures outside of mainstream western media that exist (I admit my initial interest in weapons came about because of video games ). Anyhow I came across this website eventually as well, a primary interest of mine is in seeing actual weapons or depictions of them rather than just reading a tidbit somewhere (which is ofcourse still better than nothing). Such info was easily found on Japanese weapons (well they have become part of mainstream pop culture here in the west as well I guess) as well as Chinese ones. However, I have discovered less info on weapons from other areas such as South Asia (especially in terms of actual photos or depictions of them), I had initially not thought much of weapons from that area except for some strange (and in my opinion ineffective loooking) thin, bending, curving swords seen on goddess depictions. This is why I have found sites such as these to be an excellent source of information. For instance, I have since learnt about and grown to become a big fan of khandas . Anyway another bad habit of mine I talk too much! Well enough of boring intro from me. Here is a sword which didn't look to be of Indian origin at all to me and I havn't seen on any other sites. It's a straight sword from the south and said to be from 16th century (earlier than most of the indian swords found out there). It has a sharp point tip, again unusual in Indian swords, and a thick rib running down center of blade and somewhat unusual wide hilt (though the site calls it typical) and widening of of blade near hilt. I quite like the look and style and am surprised that it has been on sale for so many monthes. It's from the Ashoka Arts website at : Sword at Ashoka Arts Would appreciate any comments or additional info on this type of sword.