[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi Katana,

This is a bit complicated. In the start, that is almost two thousand years ago, the Indian Sri Lankan steel was the one most sought after, and also the most expensive. It was exported to the west of the time,west Africa, Arabia, Egypt, Rome and so on, and later it was known as being better than even the Swedish steel which was very famous, but later again it seems as if the European steel was better sold, even in India, at least in the south and on the west coast. Part of this is may be due to the fact that the English forbade ingot making in big parts of Deccan due to deforesting – or maybe the reason was, to be able to sell more blades to the Indians, it is hard to know which version is the right one.

I think you are right, when you write that many, those who could afford it, had their own weapons made, to suite their size and ability, weapons that were treasured in the family, which were inherited from farther to son, but there were still a lot of swords made for the armories – and they would be common size – or whatever you would call it. Read Hindu Arms and Ritual by Robert Elgood, chapter one and you will see the different ways the Indians and the Europeans regarded swords.