Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Ethnographic Weapons
FAQ Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 11th June 2024, 09:52 AM   #1
Sakalord364
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 52
Default Why do some pulwars and Tulwars have sloppily and roughy cut fullers?

I would assume it’s because some smiths (such as individual smiths or those belonging to a small workshop) did not have the time nor the resources to practice cutting fullers precisely, and their main focus was to make good blades, and foreign aesthetic elements such as fullers thus took the back seat.

On the other hand smiths who belonged to large workshops or smiths who had well off patrons could afford to practice cutting fullers and other design elements finely and with precision perhaps?
Sakalord364 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12th June 2024, 06:56 PM   #2
Nihl
Member
 
Nihl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 90
Default

So, I'm guessing that the swords you're referring to are mostly 19th century products, as that's when most of the examples I've seen have been made (specifically in the second half of the 19th century). If that is the case then there is indeed a fairly simple reason why quality suffered during this time period: colonization.

Colonial restrictions effectively prohibited the production of quality mid-level swords, such that only low-level village smiths could get away with weapon production, while conversely high quality products were reserved exclusively for elites and/or wealthy western tourists. Subsequently, the skills required for competent sword making were slowly but surely strangled out of most of the population, as only a select few would ever make it to high enough levels to be permitted to learn the trade, while rural production was slowly stomped out with increasing regulations and modernization. The combination of all of this is what results in weapons of poorer and poorer quality being made.

In the case of Afghan pulwars, afghanistan was actively resisting colonization for pretty much the entirety of the 19th century, so it would make sense that weapon quality might not be too high of a priority other than, again, in specific elite workshops.

Edit: this is to say that, basically, you are correct, but there is an underlying reason why these lesser quality items were produced in the first place.
Nihl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12th June 2024, 09:47 PM   #3
Sakalord364
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 52
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nihl View Post
So, I'm guessing that the swords you're referring to are mostly 19th century products, as that's when most of the examples I've seen have been made (specifically in the second half of the 19th century). If that is the case then there is indeed a fairly simple reason why quality suffered during this time period: colonization.

Colonial restrictions effectively prohibited the production of quality mid-level swords, such that only low-level village smiths could get away with weapon production, while conversely high quality products were reserved exclusively for elites and/or wealthy western tourists. Subsequently, the skills required for competent sword making were slowly but surely strangled out of most of the population, as only a select few would ever make it to high enough levels to be permitted to learn the trade, while rural production was slowly stomped out with increasing regulations and modernization. The combination of all of this is what results in weapons of poorer and poorer quality being made.

In the case of Afghan pulwars, afghanistan was actively resisting colonization for pretty much the entirety of the 19th century, so it would make sense that weapon quality might not be too high of a priority other than, again, in specific elite workshops.

Edit: this is to say that, basically, you are correct, but there is an underlying reason why these lesser quality items were produced in the first place.
Thanks, I deliberately left out Persia because they produced blades on an almost industrial level there, it was a massive industry to I’m assuming they were able to weather hardship more efficiently?
Sakalord364 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13th June 2024, 08:30 PM   #4
Nihl
Member
 
Nihl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 90
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakalord364 View Post
Thanks, I deliberately left out Persia because they produced blades on an almost industrial level there, it was a massive industry to I’m assuming they were able to weather hardship more efficiently?
Not really, Qajar era (19th c) persia made some pretty poor quality stuff as well. Most of it was shoddy "revival" (of older styles) -type stuff intended for parades and just general nationalism. A lot of the higher quality stuff was admittedly pretty good, but it was again stuff intended for elites and not fighting warriors per say. I'd guess on average the quality might be better than some indian or afghan items, but I'm no expert on persian arms so I really can't comment much on the quality of mid-level qajar era swords.
Nihl is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:57 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.