Zaghnal

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Bally,
Thank you very much for stepping forward, and I second Ricks comment, it takes distinct courage to admit error especially publicly...but in this case it is a matter of simple oversight, so no apology is necessary.

Actually, as I previously noted, I was pleased that my work was considered worthy of such application, and particularly that it was 'one of our own'..which you profoundly are!

This thread actually resulted in some good discussion, not as much on the topic of the accrediting in use of material, as on the study of these interesting dagger axes. This caused my review of earlier notes and adding somewhat I believe to what we know on them from extant sources.

Thank you for your kind words and for your forthright action, and especially for being a valuable member here........right on Bally!!!

All the very best,
Jim

[Anandalal N.]

Dear Jim,

Your effort in bringing these sources together is appreciated; even whilst hampered by impaired access to your books. Since you refer to Pant I shall add the following from A Catalogue of Arms & Armours in Bharat Kala Bhavan by Pant and Yashodhara Agrawal. As you see he uses the spelling Jaghnol, the same as Nicolle I believe? I have added his description of Tabar in order to clarify Tabar-Jaghnol.

Tabar – It was a single battle-axe consisting of a curved blade with a broad cutting edge. The wooden shaft was inserted into the socket of the blade. The sharp-edged blade was semi-circular. It had many sub-types. The size of the blade varied from 7 inches to 15 inches.

Jaghnol – It contained a steel handle and the head was thick and shaped like the beak of a bird. It had cutting edges on both the sides and a thickened point which was very useful in piercing a helmet or a coat of mail.

Tabar-Jaghnol – It was the combination of tabar and jaghnol hence the name. On one side it had the blade like that of the jaghnol and, opposite to it, one similar to that of a tabar.

There are no illustrations however. Note the reference to the steel handle and cutting edges.

The Weapons of War of the Indo Islamic Armies by A. I. Makki states the following:

Another favorite weapon was a narrow-bladed axe with a spike attached to its back that was used as an armor-piercing weapon (Jaghnol). Its use was widely popularized by the Ghurid armies and was later fashioned by the Rajputs into an advanced war weapon.

This can be found at:

http://www.alshindagah.com/marapr2006/islamic.html

Bally; your humility does you cerdit and Jim, yours too.

Best Regards.

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you very much Anandalal, and I appreciate the references you have added here as well. It is interesting, as I noted earlier, that Pant, in his 1980 work "Indian Arms and Armour" , nowhere makes reference to the 'zaghnal' or 'jaghnol' or any variation of it, dagger axe etc.as far as I can find. He does make note of the Sindhi 'bhuj' , which is of course a hafted knife mounted inline with the shaft though.
While he discusses Rajputs and Rajput weapons, it seems odd that these are not included in a work widely discussing Indian arms.

Dr.Pant did write numerous works, as I understand he did work with the National Museum in New Delhi, but I was not aware of this title from 1995, "A Catalog of Arms and Armours in Bharat Kala Bhavan", written with Yashodha Agrawal. In this work, the 'jaghnol' is included. I am absolutely no linguist, but would I be correct in assuming the use of the letter 'z' in place of 'j' would be a Persian spelling characteristic?

In checking other sources, I have two books by E.Jaiwent Paul, and cite them here even though they are decidedly general in scope. They do however, emphasize the Rajput's in reference to the weaponry discussed, by the broader references to them in various text.

"By My Sword and Shield" (E.Jaiwent Paul, New Delhi, 1995), on p.84,
notes that according to Pant discussion on battle axes, "...another type was the zaghnol (crows beak) in which the head was pointed and provided with two cutting edges".

It would seem that Pant, by 1995, was including the zaghnol in his discussions, but as quoted by Paul, used the 'z' in the spelling. Perhaps the co-author used the 'j'...who knows?

I dont know on Nicolles reference, but every reference I have seen from Egerton, Stone, Paul, and the later Pant reference use zaghnol.
Probably not relevant, but curious.

In E.Jaiwent Paul's more colorfully illustrated "Arms and Armour: Traditional Weapons of India" (2004) the 'zaghnol' is illustrated p.99, using the same text from his previous book. The example shown is from Rajasthan.

Still not finding the 'hamstring' note, but it seems well established these type dagger axes were used by Rajputs, and it does seem that many of the references note cutting edges, despite emphasis on armor piercing blows. The reinforced tip seen on these resembles of course the malle perce tip on the katars and many of the edged weapons incl. 'zirah bhonk'.
It would seem that the spike atop the head would serve well in stabbing at mail in close quarters, and as many Indian weapons, provide multi functional elements in combination.

Thank you again for these additional references that I can add to notes,

All the best,
Jim

[Sikh_soldier]

Thanks Rick and Jim, for making me feel better and also Katana for defending my reputation

But it gets worse.....I am a Law Graduate, and one of my electives was Intellectual Property Law (Trademarks and Copyrights) so I really should have known better!

To add something to the discussion, as you may already know, in indian languages definately punjabi, urdu and hindi, The letter J and Z are interchangeable in some words so that is probably why you get Zaghnal written sometimes and other times Jaghnal.

For example a very important Sikh Gurdawara (temple) is called Sri Hazoor Sahib, but also called Sri Hajoor Sahib, and both are correct.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Sikh_soldier

Thanks Rick and Jim, for making me feel better and also Katana for defending my reputation

But it gets worse.....I am a Law Graduate, and one of my electives was Intellectual Property Law (Trademarks and Copyrights) so I really should have known better!

To add something to the discussion, as you may already know, in indian languages definately punjabi, urdu and hindi, The letter J and Z are interchangeable in some words so that is probably why you get Zaghnal written sometimes and other times Jaghnal.

For example a very important Sikh Gurdawara (temple) is called Sri Hazoor Sahib, but also called Sri Hajoor Sahib, and both are correct.

Hi Bally,
You truly are a good sport as well. Thank you for sharing the note on your studies in copyright law!
It is funny that it is not unusual for someone in a profession or well studied in a particular field to sort of drop ones guard. I was a gate agent for a major airline for nearly 40 years, and we often joked among ourselves that we were often our own worst passengers..late for flights etc. I recall one harrowing day when I somehow managed to board an entirely full planeload of people on the wrong airplane!! Incredibly, I was able to cover it by announcing there was a problem with this plane but we fortunately had another standing by!!
No one was ever the wiser until I confessed years later, and since no delay or problems occurred it was never an issue.

Thank you for the explanation on the interchangable letters z and j. It does seem that in the English language there are instances between British and American spelling interchanging the z with an s on occasion as well.
Also, though I am presuming, is the co-authors name with Dr. Pant on the title mentioned by Anandalal, Mr. Agrawal, a Sikh surname? If so, perhaps this may explain the spelling, jaghnol, since it would seem this author has added the weapon to the forms discussed.

All the very best,
Jim

[Sikh_soldier]

Hi Jim,

Thats an amazing observation and a correct one at that!