Hunting Tulwar (Tulwar Shikargah)

[Jim McDougall]

One thing I think being overlooked is the fact that many animals, birds and other fauna were much admired in Mughal courts as seen in cases with the Mughal emperor Akbar (16th c.). The Mughals were much enamored and influenced by Persian poetry along of course with most everything Persian.

With this, depictions of various animals were used in art metaphorically and allegorically. Notice in these scenes, the animals are in various combative situations with each other, or in some cases unarmed humans are involved.

Akbar was intrigued by cheetahs, and actually captured many with the intent of training them for the hunt. Elephants obviously were used in warfare and hunting.

The tiger is much admired, and feared, and Tipu Sultan was well known with the sobriquet "The Lion of Mysore". His regalia was of course heavily decorated with bubris (tiger stripes) The symbol known as the cintamani
of Timur from whom the Mughal dynasty derived is comprised of lines for the tiger and spots for the cheetah.

Tipu was also known for using metaphor such as a tiger attacking a European in artistic creations, symbolizing his power defeating them.

It seems that it is well represented that shamshirs and tulwars were indeed used in the hunt, however these blades and weaponry highly adorned with various animals appoear to be more toward Mughal admiration of them and perhaps in cases used metaphorically.

In this blade example, we see the individuals apparently training or attempting to control the elephants, which of course was normal as the elephants were used in hunting. The threat of attack by tigers on hunting parties was of course well known.


These seem the more esoteric aspects of these arms worthy of further note here.

Question: are there any examples of these 'hunting' arms which actually show men with weapons hunting the animals? As far as I have seen the depictions of these events are typically in miniatures and similar art.