Scabbards

[Marcus]

I have a couple of swords that I might like to have scabbards made for. Can anyone suggest an appropriate craftsman? The sword I would most to get fit for a scabbard is my Sailaba:
(http://www.mbi.ufl.edu/~papke/pics/blades/IndianSailabaSword.JPG)

Marcus

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi Marcus,

I suppose it depends quite a lot on where you live. If you live at the west coast of America an I suggest someone at the east cost of India – would that be a good suggestion for you?

Funny that you write Sailaba, it is a seldom used word for Susan Pata. Where did you see it used?

Jens

[Marcus]

I bought the sword from Artzi Yarom of Oriental Arms. He had it described with both terms, although he spelled it "Sousson pata".
I am new to this field so I did not know which term was most common.
Marcus
P.S. I live in Florida and would probably like to deal with someone in this country.

[RhysMichael]

Jose Albovias and Phillip Tom both make scabbards and are forum members

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi Marcus,
I asked be course Sailaba is a term seldom used. You will see that several of the Indian weapons have more than one name, according to from where in India they were used.

Here is a link to a discussion on Sailaba's. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=678&highlight=Sailaba

Jens

[Marcus]

Jens,
The link you posted is actually the thread that Google found which led me to this forum. I have enjoyed following the various active discussions since then. One comment that I received when I first posted pictures of my sword was that since it lacked the T-back ridge, it was not really typical for this sword type. I wonder if that helps place its origin (either temporally or geographically), or just confuses the issue.
Marcus

[Marcus]

RhysMichael,
I would like to contact the members you mention but I did not find them in the member list. Do they have different user names?
Thanks,
Marcus

[RhysMichael]

Marcus , PM sent

[ham]

Likewise, please?

Ham

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi Marcus,

Had I not seen the name Sailaba in a old catalogue from an Indian museum, I would not have known what it was, as I also know it under the name Sosun Patta.

G. N. Pant in Indian Arms and Armour, vol. II describes two different kinds, one he calls the Mughal sosun patta, with a normal Indian hilt and a blade without a T-spine. The other he calls the Maratha sosun patta, with a basket hilt like on a firangi, and on this one the blade the reverse edge is reinforced. I guess with a T-spine, but he does not write what kind of reinforcement. I have never seen a sosun patta with a basket hilt, but he writes that the museum in New Delhi has one.

BTW Sailaba can also be spelled Sailapha. In the museum catalogue from Hyderabad 1974 they mention nine Sailaba’s and only one of them is described as having an Indo-Muslim hilt, but unfortunately they don’t write anything about the hilts on the other Sailaba’s.

I have a list, published in ‘The Indian Antiquary’ by W. F. Sinclair, August 1873. Pp 216-18. Its about weapons used in Dakhan (Deccan) and Khandesh. If you are interested, let me know.