Poisoned pearls

Jim McDougall · 27th November 2017, 07:19 AM

Jens,
Always an interesting topic, and good to see it back up again! Thank you.
It seems we had a good look at this some years back, but we really never came up with anything conclusive.

It seems that the presence of the term 'abhradar' referring to poison blades in the Indian glossary on weaponry certainly suggests this may have been an actual practice. However, as discussed before, and as you noted, poison on a blade could prove disastrous to the user of the knife as well as to the potential victim.

Mercenary, interesting note about the pearls and the poetic metaphor about the blade and these pearls in Persian. I am curious about the term 'jauhar' though. It seems the Persian term 'poulad jauhardar' =waved steel, and refers of course to 'Damascus' or watered steel.

The word jauhar in India refers to the practice of Rajput women and in dire situations their practice of self immolation; or alternatively the use of a dagger they carried (called by that name) to prevent indignity or capture.

In India the term jauhardar foulad refers again to watered steel.
("Indian Arms & Armour", Pant, 1980)

Perhaps there might be transliteration at hand?

You are right about the misunderstanding of Indian arms being a prevalent circumstance in the west, and the very reason many of us here have worked this many years to learn more on them.
I know Jens has studied these arms long before I met him nearly 20 years ago, and we have come a long way.

27th November 2017, 07:19 AM	#9
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,281	Jens, Always an interesting topic, and good to see it back up again! Thank you. It seems we had a good look at this some years back, but we really never came up with anything conclusive. It seems that the presence of the term 'abhradar' referring to poison blades in the Indian glossary on weaponry certainly suggests this may have been an actual practice. However, as discussed before, and as you noted, poison on a blade could prove disastrous to the user of the knife as well as to the potential victim. Mercenary, interesting note about the pearls and the poetic metaphor about the blade and these pearls in Persian. I am curious about the term 'jauhar' though. It seems the Persian term 'poulad jauhardar' =waved steel, and refers of course to 'Damascus' or watered steel. The word jauhar in India refers to the practice of Rajput women and in dire situations their practice of self immolation; or alternatively the use of a dagger they carried (called by that name) to prevent indignity or capture. In India the term jauhardar foulad refers again to watered steel. ("Indian Arms & Armour", Pant, 1980) Perhaps there might be transliteration at hand? You are right about the misunderstanding of Indian arms being a prevalent circumstance in the west, and the very reason many of us here have worked this many years to learn more on them. I know Jens has studied these arms long before I met him nearly 20 years ago, and we have come a long way.