Emanuel,
Thanks for the pictures from Bikaner. I have never been there, unfortunately, but I have seem pictures from the armoury, and it is quite impressive.
A lot of weapons formerly in the Bikaner armoury are now in museums or private collections, so the collection must have been very big before they started to sell from it.
It is well known that a lot of the weapons in the armoury come from Adoni, when the Bikaner Maharaja Anup Singh sacked the fort and returned a lot of booty to Bikaner, while he stayed down there. Other of the weapons likely come from other places in Deccan where Anup Singh also participated in fighting. The problem is, that I have never seen a list showing which weapons come from the south, and which were made at Bikaner.
When looking at your pictures it is interesting to see how many of the katars are chiselled but without any gold or silver decoration, and how many are undecorated.
The plate you show from Egerton shows different types of katars, but they all have the V-shaped base - it must have been fashion at the time.
Robert's book from Jaipur is out and for sale. Arms and Armour at the Jaipur Court. The Royal Collection. ISBN 978-93-83098-77-4.
The Jodhpur book showld be out later this year I have been told.
Jens
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