Indian ? spear for I.D. and comment
 

Hi

Can anyone assist with identifying this, presumably Indian ? spear I have. I would be interested to know the area of origin and approximate date range. For use on horseback, or perhaps by a foot soldier ? Any other pertinent information or comments are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

I have this piece which I still believe is an African version of the Indo/Persian model you show here. At the Stratford Armoury there is a group of India all metal lances very similar to my example, they are far more easily recognised as Indian in the same way as the example you show but I know little of Indian arms really.

Length and balance can give some idea of whether it's a lance or an infantry spear. My first thought is that it's a pretty long blade for a cavalry lance (or a very short haft).

Might not be the original haft.

Colin, I have seen a couple of spear/lance heads similar to yours but I have not found any definite origin. Yours is the first I have seen that is complete, it looks Indian to me, the cane shaft and the end spike are common elements on Indian spears that I have seen, hopefully someone here knows about this particular type.

Hello Colin,

I'm very sure, that this lance was made for a foot soldier.

1: The spike at the lower end can damage the horse in the heat of the battle.

2: The reason for the spike at the lower end was normally to ram it in the ground with the hope, that a horseman is dumb enough, to ride into the lance. By the way this happened very seldom.


Roland

Many thanks for the information and comments so far. Does anyone know the area of origin in India, and approximate age etc ?

I find it very interesting that the blade is a separate piece fixed to the lance head. That must be indicate the origin.

This kind of separate blade can be seen on various Indian spears. In this case, it (probably) means the blade is relatively thin. So not a lance head intended to pierce armour with. So if a cavalry lance, it's probably late (perhaps 19th century) rather than early.

The ball-and-spike butt was used on Indian (and Persian?) cavalry lances. Or at least, there is contemporary art showing cavalrymen with such lance butts. The spike on the butt isn't sharp, so not that dangerous to one's horse.

Can anyone recommend reference books on Indian shields & polearms, maybe also books on Indian shields ?

Vol 3 of G. N. Pant's "Indian Arms and Armour" covers armour and shields. There is also Pant's stand-alone book on shields: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=OaXQAAAAMAAJ

Other than that, Robinson's "Oriental armour" discusses them in his chapter on India: https://books.google.com.au/books?id...AQBAJ&pg=PT178

As for polearms, there is some in Elgood's "Hindu arms and ritual": http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/...bo3705137.html

Otherwise, Stone and Egerton.

While not Indian, the section on shields in Khorasani's book on Persian arms is relevant: http://www.moshtaghkhorasani.com/bio...mor-from-iran/

Many thanks.
:)