Ok, I will tell you what I have found so far.
Ibn Battuta who travelled in India during the first half of the 15th century described one, and for a long time it was considered to be the first description of a katar.
Mitra, Rajendralala in his book The Antiquities of Orissa, vol. I. The Government of India, 1875. Reprint Indian Studies, Culcutta, 1961, shows a drawing of an even earlier katar.
The katar is drawn from a frize on a Gauri temple, and the temple was build in the 10th or 11th century - it is no 205 on the plate.
When you see thjis katar, it is easy to see how much it has developed.
The plate shows weapons used at the time, and drawn from different figures decorating the many temples there.
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