Halberd?
 

A friend of mine sent me the following fotos. Is this really a halberd or does anyone know what this might be and where it was made?
corrado26

i'd vote for it being a indo-persian 'zaghnal', thus more ethnographic than european.

try searching the forum with that name.

mine: (photo as it waspurchased, i have gotten rid of the red rust.)

Yep. Let's try the Ethno forum :cool:

Although I personally have not seen this form before, I do see Indian aspects to it. Perhaps it is a form or sister to the zagnal.

dimensions and a full picture showing the grip end would be useful too.

Sorry, I forgot to mention: The pole is shortened and ends where the fotos end. The distance between the tip of the blade and the pole is 260mm
corrado26

what is the haft made of? hard to tell from the pics. was it just sawn off? how long is it.

yes, it was sawn of and the pole is of a rather thin piece of wood, so I think it is not original. Because of the material of the Long pike I have to ask the owner
corrado26

i suspect from the thin diameter of the haft that the original may have been metal, possibly steel and more in the range around 50 cm. long, and with a proper pommel to keep it in the hand. the (brass?) spike looks a bit slender for actual use, may just be decorative.

Zagnal come in quite exotic clothing... but with the same devastating effect at short range. Did they get their development from THE KATAR?? :shrug: SHOWN ALSO BELOW FOR COMPARISON.

Thanks to all who helped to answer my question. The pictures are wonderful and selfexplaining
corrado26

Possibly made in the Deccan?... I wonder if they evolved from Katar?

An interesting question, and reasonable, given the typical katar blade design.

But then, I've seen similar forms on such Indian blades as the kanjarli, or the tiger-tooth jambiya, or the occasional chillanum, with of course the curvature associated with those weapons' blades. If I had to guess - and of course I do, as the actual answer requires information far beyond what I have available - I'd say the blade structure is of a form that cuts across a number of Indian weapon styles. I personally find it particularly attractive, and am drawn in general to designs of that sort of elegance of form

I agree completely with your point. Although the Katar and Zagnali look similar in some variants, there is no proof that the one developed from the other and vica versa.....There are blade forms and spike forms that could have design links to Katar and half a dozen other blades including Khanjarli and the ones you note... as well as to elephant spikes and a host of other styles. In a country with deep rich traditions of bladed weaponry it is hardly surprising that designs morphed though these were as likely to be accidental or parallel developments down the ages.

I was just looking at the Hafted Bhuj at http://www.simonray.com/catalogue.php?id=96 and how that can also be worth considering in the mix...and worth considering in the huge variety and ensemble of Indian Arms...

Meanwhile below in considering a link to Katar I found the circular chart showing Zagnal (just the loose heads without hafts) and Katar blades...and next to that some Hafted Bhuj style sometimes called Elephant Knives,often with a dagger concealed in the Haft and with some sort of carving of an Elephant in the design..