Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - A gift for Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughluq of India

Jens Nordlunde · 16th May 2005, 06:33 PM

I did not suggest that the mamluks were armed with inferior quality swords, what I did suggest however was, that the swords most of the mamluks were armed with, however good quality, hardly were of a quality fit for a gift to the Sultan. The Egyptian sword given to the Sultan must have been something very special.

Robert Elgood in ‘The Arms and Armour of Arabia’ pp 103-9, tells about the big international trade with iron/steel and blades. Blades trade stretched from Spain to China via the caravan routes or via Basra and the Gulf, or through Egypt and the Red Sea, and a very big part of the iron/steel for these blades was coming from India. This could mean that the ‘Egyptian sword’, given to the Sultan, could have been made of Indian steel, but Egyptian swords sold in India, or coming by caravan from Egypt, would hardly have been sold as having a blade made in Egypt of Indian steel, and authors from the time and before fame the Indian blades for being the best. So why was the Sultan presented with one or more ‘Egyptian sword(s)’?

BTW maybe 'the slave trade and slave soldiers' should have a thread of their own, as I think it could be a big one, and the only thing I wanted was to know if anyone knew about the 'Egyptian swords'.

16th May 2005, 06:33 PM	#9
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	I did not suggest that the mamluks were armed with inferior quality swords, what I did suggest however was, that the swords most of the mamluks were armed with, however good quality, hardly were of a quality fit for a gift to the Sultan. The Egyptian sword given to the Sultan must have been something very special. Robert Elgood in ‘The Arms and Armour of Arabia’ pp 103-9, tells about the big international trade with iron/steel and blades. Blades trade stretched from Spain to China via the caravan routes or via Basra and the Gulf, or through Egypt and the Red Sea, and a very big part of the iron/steel for these blades was coming from India. This could mean that the ‘Egyptian sword’, given to the Sultan, could have been made of Indian steel, but Egyptian swords sold in India, or coming by caravan from Egypt, would hardly have been sold as having a blade made in Egypt of Indian steel, and authors from the time and before fame the Indian blades for being the best. So why was the Sultan presented with one or more ‘Egyptian sword(s)’? BTW maybe 'the slave trade and slave soldiers' should have a thread of their own, as I think it could be a big one, and the only thing I wanted was to know if anyone knew about the 'Egyptian swords'. Last edited by Jens Nordlunde; 16th May 2005 at 07:05 PM.