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Originally Posted by ariel
In this case I misunderstood your thesis, or you might not have expressed it clear enough.
However:
Katars were in use all across India, in humongous numbers and over a very long period of time. Why do we have to suggest that they had especially high status ( vs, Khanda? Tulwar? khanjar?) and, if indeed they had, that tiger hunting had anything to do with it?
They were just a very effective weapon for a particular circumstance, I.e. close quarters fight, and were used by Rajahs and commoners alike with different degrees of rich decoration or total absence thereof. High status belonged to their owners, either because of their royal/court positions or because of their individual feats ( See Jens’ entry on a person killing a berserked elephant with a Katar and being rewarded with a governorship position for it).
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The study of values and statuses is another level of understanding of Eastern culture. What is suitable for thechnical sciences is not suitable for cultural or religious phenomena. Maybe such an approach seems unnecessarily complicated, but it allows you to penetrate into the culture deeper and eventually learn much more. The usual logic does not work in traditional culture.
I can not explain more, may be it is my problem, let it go.