Certain “Indian” swords and their relation to the Afghan Shashkas
The swords below (with the Knucklebows) supposedly have a South Indian provenance, and it can be seen that their handles are very similar to the late 19th century Afghan military Shashkas. Now my question is did these supposedly Indian swords serve as the inspiration/prototype for the Afghan Shashkas, or was it the otherway around?
A part of this puzzle is the Khyber knife style metal bolster that is present on these swords. These type of bolsters are only found on weapons of Afghan origin (like Khybers and Afghan Shashkas). Was this metal bolster a component of Indian origin that traveled up to Afghanistan, or was it an Afghan component that traveled to India? (That is of course if these swords with the knucklebow are infact of Indian origin in the first place)
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