Dr. Jorge Caravana, a medical surgeon, started collecting antique arms & armour by 1998 and in 2009 he organized an exhibition in the Portuguese city of Évora. An actractive catalogue was then published, composed by the collection and vast texts covering the places touched by the Portuguese, namely an introduction by historian Rui Manuel Loureiro and thematic material like an article on Indian Weaponry Goldsmiths by Nuno Vassalo e Silva, another on Persian swordmakers by Manouchehr Khorasani and even another on Islamic Arms and Armour by Robert Elgood. Eventualy i have acquired one copy and, having posted its reference in the forum, i was required by several members to send them a copy.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=caravana.
The collection is composed of Oriental items associated with the Portuguese expansion during the discoveries period, a theme adviced by Collector/Historian Rainer Daehnhardt, from whim he acquired his first examples in 1998.
In the case of Ceylon, not much data is referenced and only four examples are present in the collection, being one of them an XVIII century Kastane. The description of this example includes, besides its visual details, the interpretation of its origin as a weapon, not a scholar assumption by Dr. Caravana but one more based on the classics that are published out there, which he promptly mentions below the sword support text; among others, Cameron Stone, from whom apparently he brought the pommel 'monster's head' idea and, from another (Czerny's, Rickets ?), the version of the Kastane
origin being
connected with European contacts in the XVI century, a presumption rather more doubtful than being an earlier sword, later suffering European (Portuguese) influences. I don't think that Dr. Caravana's third party quotations are more accountable than just that: quotations ... not personal qualified evidence.