The best "Tulwar" I have ever bought

[Royston]

A nice find at a local antiques fair.

The Vendor had several Tulwars and this. He charged me a little more than the others as he thought it was a slightly unusual Tulwar as it had a brass hilt and silver bands on the scabbard.
I did not complain and gladly paid the money.

Has anyone ever seen a straight bladed Piso Podang ? Or would it then have another name ? I cannot find any references or photographs. I would appreciate it if anyone can let me have any information on this.

Thanks

Royston

[Rick]

Nice example; I like the engraving .
European blade ?

[ariel]

Here is one you asked for:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1706

[CourseEight]

And another:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5096&highlight=piso

[Lew]

It's not a tulwar :( That is a piso podang ;) :D


Very nice pick up.

Lew

[Royston]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your replies.

Rick, it is a European blade, I just haven't cleaned it yet !!

Ariel and CourseEight. Thanks for the links. I have never seen another with a straight blade so I am supposing that they are rare. The iron hilt looks even more uncommon.

Photographs attached of mine. It is large at 92cm long with a 82 cm blade. The blade is definitely paterned but I would not like to say if it is native or not. Anyone got any suggestions?

The scabbard appears contemporary and is a good fit.

Regards
Royston

[fernando]

I wonder where Zonneveld fetched the version that Podang derives from a Portuguese term.
Espadão means 'large sword' and is the alternative name for Montante (Great sword), a huge thing, about twice the size of the Podang (pedang/Peudeung).
On the other hand he tipifies Podang as a slightly curved sabre, whereas what the Portuguese dealt with, at the time their weapons and namings might have left their influence, were straight swords.
Later he sugests that the Podang's shape maybe an imitation of Indian and Portuguese swords, and i fail to discern how such two are comparable ... specially on the hilt langets :confused: .
Finaly, you don't write 'Espadao' but 'Espadão', which makes a lot of difference. The nasal (unique) diphtong 'ão' sounds more like 'espadaum' than 'espadan' ... and never 'espadang'; no word terminates or sounds as having a 'g' in Portuguese.
... this not pretending that Zonneveld's proposal is wrong :shrug:
I wish i could find some track.

Fernando

[Rick]

Royston,
First you show us a curved Piso to discuss; then you post a straight example ... :confused:

Which sword are we discussing ??

[Royston]

Royston,First you show us a curved Piso to discuss; then you post a straight example ...* :confused: Which sword are we discussing ??Rick,Sorry about the confusion.* I get sidetracked too easily* :D I think the straight blades are more interesting,* so I'll stick to them.Any more information or photos would be gratefully received.RegardsRoyston

[RSWORD]

Your straight bladed example has a lovely pattern welded blade and you can clearly see the lamination which is a bold pattern in the central portion of the blade with wavy laminations along each edge. Hard to say if it is native or Indian made. You do see similar patterns in both cultures. For example, sikim blades from Atjeh can have similar patterns but I have also seen tulwar with very similar forging. Given the long standing trade routes between India and Sumatra and the fact the Piso Podang hilt is based on an early tulwar style hilt I wouldn't be surprised if the forging techniques also crossed over.