Nice Old Katar With a Little Restoration

[Runjeet Singh]

Hi Charles,

A quick answer, before I shoot out for the evening.....

Nice piece - my gut tells me 18thC. The quality and amount of silver work applied to the hilt, is what I'm going by.

The size and proportions seem to reflect early katars found in the South of India - in fact there is where I would place it - possibly the Deccan plateau.

If I have time later I will have a look through some books and try give you info on the floral patters. But they look distinctly Moghul, and the silver peacocks look Southern/Deccani.

So I suppose that's my synopsis - 18th (late 17th?) from the Deccan Plateau.

Regards,
Runjeet

[Battara]

Best South Indian katar I've seen.

Question: Never seen a South Indian katar with wootz. Is this common or unusual?

[Jens Nordlunde]

I find it is a very nice katar, although I find the pictures somewhat out of focus.
A thing which makes me wonder is, what is south India?
To my opinion we have the NW, Punjab, Rajasthan, Deccan (the Deccan Sultanates) and south India.
Correct me if I am wrong.
Jens

[CharlesS]

Apologies for the pics. I am not the best photographer nor is my camera the best.

[Runjeet Singh]

Jens,

I'm not sure what your question is, but my email was me thinking out loud, so let me say clearly where I think it is from. I see influences from early South Indian Katars (Tanjore principally), but I think this has more Islamic influence, and therefore I would place it coming from the Deccan.

I think the Deccan makers were good at fusing North and South together. I think the dagger I picture below is again from the Deccan, but takes the tiger tooth hilt from the North, and the blade from the South.

Regards,
Runjeet

[laEspadaAncha]

With regards to the katar, all I can say is, " !"

It's an absolute stunner - if one was to have just one katar in their collection, IMO this would serve the role nicely!

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

I find it is a very nice katar, although I find the pictures somewhat out of focus.
A thing which makes me wonder is, what is south India?
To my opinion we have the NW, Punjab, Rajasthan, Deccan (the Deccan Sultanates) and south India.
Correct me if I am wrong.
Jens

I think the confusion might arise from the use of the Deccan as more of a geographical description, exclusive from the cultural distinction between South Indians and north... The Deccan Plateau most definitely extends into areas of the subcontinent historically occupied by South Indians (e.g., the Vijayanagar Empire extended well onto the plateau).

South Indians generally consider Marathis (Bombay) as "South Indians," though I've met more than a few Marathis who consider themselves northerners (my word). I guess it all depends on one's perspective!

[Richard G]

Excuse me if this is a ridiculous question, but could the hilt be Bidriware? It seems an obvious material for a decorated hilt but I can't say I've seen many, or even any; perhaps it is too brittle.
I would be interested in opinions.
Best wishes
Richard