Tulwar Hilted Shamshir

[Interested Party]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

This seems a pretty standard tulwar, probably Rajput, typical 19th c. but the blade is bit more curved than usual, not really a shamshir (note the 'Indian ricasso' )....., and this deep curve lent well to the draw cut, meant business.

What are your ideas, lets compare notes,

Thanks, Jim, for taking a look. Yes Ian, Indian blades are intimidating for several reasons. They have a variety of silhouettes and nuisances of use. They came from a large variety of places, times, and cultures. Then there were the vast trading networks so that almost any blade manufactured in the old world could end up on this subcontinent. All this, plus a lot of BS has been written about them that a student has to sort through. This makes one wonder if what you know is true. Then there are the fakeries.....People are afraid of putting their foot in their mouth in front of a worldwide audience preserved for everyone to see. To get past this I think of this forum like auditing a class. Not much to lose and you learn more if you participate.

Let's start with the ricasso. It is sharp not blunt. The rest of the blade is pretty blunt. I think this blade has a fair bit of corrosion and got a quick clean and etch, to tart it up for sale. I think if it is a fighting blade the ricasso may be from repeated sharpening that started above the langets. That was one of the issues I hoped people would key in on. The cross section is almost lenticular shaped with a high point towards the back of the blade that portion being about 1/3 of the blade. Like a vestigial central ridge. This slopes towards the edge for 2/3 of the blade like a gradual convex wedge. There is no hint of the second steep flat grind to the edge seen on many Indian blades.

The second is the abrupt change in the etched pattern on both sides of the blade in the forte. This triggered several theories. 1) A repair. 2) It was hung at an angle not completely submerged in the etching solution. 3) a change in metal at the forte from the original manufacturing process.

These are some of the ideas I have been working through each with its own spider web process. I thought I would stop before I got too far out on a limb.

Thanks
IP