Kaskara

shayde78 · 20th December 2021, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

I had an Indian Pata sword with a blade looking exactly the same.

Could it be an Indian blade?

Was your Pata blade flexible (as many, but not all, are)? Or, was it rigid, like the one on this kaskara?

mariusgmioc · 20th December 2021, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shayde78

Was your Pata blade flexible (as many, but not all, are)? Or, was it rigid, like the one on this kaskara?

It was quite flexible. So maybe only the appearance is similar.

Jim McDougall · 22nd December 2021, 02:08 AM

The occurance of 'kaskara' blades on pata swords of S. India seems to be an occasional phenomenon, and here is an example I came across back in the late 70s. While I have seen evidence of blades from India come up in North African situations, having these European trade blades travel from Sudan to India seems very unusual.

This blade has the typical sun, moon etc. of the European blades that came into N.Africa about mid 19th c. possibly earlier, and the blade is incredibly worn from the kind of sharpening done by tribesmen there.
The metalwork seems possibly of the sort done about turn of century, and this may have been for the ceremonial dancing of groups in S. India, Kerala?
How this pairing came about..who knows

ariel · 22nd December 2021, 04:32 AM

Apparently. very flexible Pata blades were popular among the Mahratta irregular cavalry, the Ghoracharra.
They attacked their enemy en masse, delivered one or two strikes and rode back in a hurry.
The flexibility of the blade decreased its lethality, but prevented it going deep into body and easy to recover.

mariusgmioc · 22nd December 2021, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

Apparently. very flexible Pata blades were popular among the Mahratta irregular cavalry, the Ghoracharra.
They attacked their enemy en masse, delivered one or two strikes and rode back in a hurry.
The flexibility of the blade decreased its lethality, but prevented it going deep into body and easy to recover.

Exactly.

The flexibility also prevented the full transfer of the shock to the elbow and shoulder of the wielder in case the blade hit a shield or a piece of armor.

22nd December 2021, 02:08 AM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,189	The occurance of 'kaskara' blades on pata swords of S. India seems to be an occasional phenomenon, and here is an example I came across back in the late 70s. While I have seen evidence of blades from India come up in North African situations, having these European trade blades travel from Sudan to India seems very unusual. This blade has the typical sun, moon etc. of the European blades that came into N.Africa about mid 19th c. possibly earlier, and the blade is incredibly worn from the kind of sharpening done by tribesmen there. The metalwork seems possibly of the sort done about turn of century, and this may have been for the ceremonial dancing of groups in S. India, Kerala? How this pairing came about..who knows Attached Images

22nd December 2021, 04:32 AM	#4
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Apparently. very flexible Pata blades were popular among the Mahratta irregular cavalry, the Ghoracharra. They attacked their enemy en masse, delivered one or two strikes and rode back in a hurry. The flexibility of the blade decreased its lethality, but prevented it going deep into body and easy to recover.