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Originally Posted by Chris Evans
Yes, indeed. I remember reading that the English General John Jacobs, who served in mid 19th century India, opined that in his day, English cast steel swords were considered superior to all and highly sought by the locals.
Cheers
Chris
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Now theres some fascinating history! In 1841, Jacobs formed a second unit of the irregular cavalry regiment 'Sind Horse', which later became known as the 36th cavalry, Jacobs Horse. He was known as a very scientific soldier as keenly aware of inadequacies and proposing revisions, so his observations would have been well placed....he was rather a burr under the saddle in London's eyes though.
Addendum:
I just remembered that years ago I had an unusual Indian tulwar which had a hilt of shamshir form, vertically faceted grip, the usual domed quillons and palmette style langet, all in solid steel. Most remarkable was its blade, distinctly a M1788 British light cavalry sabre, beautifully koftgariied at the forte. I have always regarded this sabre from Sind (or Scinde as it was often spelled in those days), and this would serve as perfect illustration of what Jacob was saying.
While the Khorasan region was key in supplying wootz blades in these northern areas, it was clear that these blades were often less than favorable in pitched combat. I recall discussions we have had in the past where it was noted that the British were stunned after they found that Sikh warriors had thier tulwars mounted with old M1796 type sabre blades discarded as obsolete by the British.
It would seem that by early to mid 19th century, advances in warfare technology brought in by European incursion and colonization opened new doors to increased weapons production and with new methods. Clearly the 'firangi' blades were well known even into the Deccan, and both Hyder Ali and Tipu used foreign advisors and mercenaries. Both were known to have had weapons mounted with European blades, and I believe Tipu had an Andrea Ferara blade if I recall.
The steel blades on most later tulwars seem to have used the European type steel in later years as they adopted those processes in forging.