Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jens Nordlunde · 3rd December 2005, 03:02 PM

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.

3rd December 2005, 03:02 PM	#10
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	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.