[Jim McDougall]

Wanted to add an example of another Rajput tulwar of 18th c, more munitions grade and virtually munitions grade. However note the yelman.

The Rajputs often were allied with Mughals, and Anup Singh was ruler of the state of Bikaner from 1669 appointed by Mughal ruler Aurengzeb. Bikaner is located in the Thar desert and the armory situated in Junagarh fort.

As noted the punch dot characters used at Bikaner are a kind of shorthand version of Gujerati script.

The Rajputs were notably the most powerful warriors in India, and the dynamics of their history is extensive.

It seems that weapons held in Bikaner are typically clean, well preserved. However in the 19th century many entered circulation with collectors, and of these likely many ended up in less than optimum conditions which might account for the active rust etc. on this example. Many of the armories of the princely states were broken up during the 1860s onward, and many of the weapons became souvenirs or the better ones into collections, while tons were scrapped. It seems Bikaner remained largely intact . As far as found, and Jens Nordlund studied this extensively, the Bikaner marks are the only definitive armory markings identified.