Unusual South Indian Sword

wepnz · 20th December 2008, 09:25 PM

Ah, I was meaning to reply to this but the time just slipped by. Anyhow I agree with Ashoka (I'm guessing you are actually from the Ashoka Arts site), I find this sword unusual and rare. I am planning to find some time to look up Rawson's book which is rare to find and havn't yet thoroughly checked other detailed tomes, but from common reference books or anything on the web this type of sword simply cannot be found. I have not found it on any auction sites, arms dealers or swap forums.

Also another reason this sword is probably old, because the post 17th century examples are dominated by curved tulwar or khanda and firangi type for straight swords. An interesting feature as I noted is the sharp point, and this convergence to the point actually begins quite a ways before in the blade so it's it's a smooth triangle all the way back to hilt. Many of the straight swords have khanda type flange like heads or straight uniform width blade with triangle point at end liek gladius. Closest thing are sword in sculptures which date back to earlier periods (actually one of the few sources for earlier centuries as very few pieces seem to exist before 16th). Yet again I don't see long flowing point like this sword, usually they bulge out before coming to a point.

In fact, if it hadn't been noted on the site as Indian origin, I would never have guessed it. The handle and hilt are the only Indic like features at first, yet even the pattern on the pommel could be mistaken for Chinese type styling. I would appreciate if Gonzalo can refer me to any other examples of this type of Indian sword.

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20th December 2008, 09:25 PM	#13
wepnz Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 5	Ah, I was meaning to reply to this but the time just slipped by. Anyhow I agree with Ashoka (I'm guessing you are actually from the Ashoka Arts site), I find this sword unusual and rare. I am planning to find some time to look up Rawson's book which is rare to find and havn't yet thoroughly checked other detailed tomes, but from common reference books or anything on the web this type of sword simply cannot be found. I have not found it on any auction sites, arms dealers or swap forums. Also another reason this sword is probably old, because the post 17th century examples are dominated by curved tulwar or khanda and firangi type for straight swords. An interesting feature as I noted is the sharp point, and this convergence to the point actually begins quite a ways before in the blade so it's it's a smooth triangle all the way back to hilt. Many of the straight swords have khanda type flange like heads or straight uniform width blade with triangle point at end liek gladius. Closest thing are sword in sculptures which date back to earlier periods (actually one of the few sources for earlier centuries as very few pieces seem to exist before 16th). Yet again I don't see long flowing point like this sword, usually they bulge out before coming to a point. In fact, if it hadn't been noted on the site as Indian origin, I would never have guessed it. The handle and hilt are the only Indic like features at first, yet even the pattern on the pommel could be mistaken for Chinese type styling. I would appreciate if Gonzalo can refer me to any other examples of this type of Indian sword.