[iskender]

to be or not to be is the question! as firangi in my understanding means outlander , every type of indian weapon with a foreign blade will be addressed as "firangi" . mostly (many) indian blades are arbitrated and polished ,you will never see the wootz-structure or a lamination visible! but for sure , a european export-blade will never be forged from wootz. what can give a hint on a blade whitout etching it , is the way the rustpittings eat into the iron.(many little holes in old rusty wootz blades). the relativ long sword of yours is used ,as i have read ,specially for gunners in the deccan. the age can range as stated by other members from the sixtheenth-century onwards.many of thes items are mutch older then the look ,it is the same as in the keris -buisness , very hard to say sometimes,the blades dont talk! hindu arms and ritual from robert elgood has good pictures and datings ! i have traveld through half india from arsenal to arsenal to get more knowledge ,i still have the feeling im a little ignorant boy! greetings iskender