Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Emanuel · 18th May 2012, 10:04 AM

Well folks, I had hoped to show you more from the Salar Jung Museum but sadly they did not allow entry with cameras.

The museum is undergoing total renovation so things were a mess, but the arms actually on display were quite nice.

A fair number of swords of all kinds, unfortunately all of them in scabbard. The collection has a huge number of jade-hilted daggers of all kinds. Jade + gems + gold/silver + enamel, lots of it. A good number of rock crystal handles as well. Invariably these daggers do not have tangs. The blades might be amazing, but such knives were purely ornamental.

Another interesting thing is this "monstrous" zhulfiqar-type tulwar with serrated edges. When it first came up on the forum, it was opined that, based on the hilt, it might be an 18th century type, but that the blade might be later 19th century. In the pictures above (post #7) you can see two identical pieces from the Chowmahalla Palace collection. I saw two more, nearly identical at the Salar Jung museum, with the same beefy tips and serrations, with matched khanda basket hilt and blade. So we have four examples in Hyderabad, where they enjoyed some popularity with both the Nizams and their prime ministers (salar jungs).

Has anyone seen them elsewhere in India? Could these be a native Deccani type, or were these collected as curiosities by the Hyderabadi rulers? Upon re-reading the old "Monstrous..." thread I see that Jim's nickel is very well placed, as usual

. B.I. considered the handle of southern style but couldn't reconcile the Islamic zhulfiqar symbology with the Deccan. Hyderabad seems to fit the bill.

Emanuel

18th May 2012, 10:04 AM	#29
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	Well folks, I had hoped to show you more from the Salar Jung Museum but sadly they did not allow entry with cameras. The museum is undergoing total renovation so things were a mess, but the arms actually on display were quite nice. A fair number of swords of all kinds, unfortunately all of them in scabbard. The collection has a huge number of jade-hilted daggers of all kinds. Jade + gems + gold/silver + enamel, lots of it. A good number of rock crystal handles as well. Invariably these daggers do not have tangs. The blades might be amazing, but such knives were purely ornamental. Another interesting thing is this "monstrous" zhulfiqar-type tulwar with serrated edges. When it first came up on the forum, it was opined that, based on the hilt, it might be an 18th century type, but that the blade might be later 19th century. In the pictures above (post #7) you can see two identical pieces from the Chowmahalla Palace collection. I saw two more, nearly identical at the Salar Jung museum, with the same beefy tips and serrations, with matched khanda basket hilt and blade. So we have four examples in Hyderabad, where they enjoyed some popularity with both the Nizams and their prime ministers (salar jungs). Has anyone seen them elsewhere in India? Could these be a native Deccani type, or were these collected as curiosities by the Hyderabadi rulers? Upon re-reading the old "Monstrous..." thread I see that Jim's nickel is very well placed, as usual . B.I. considered the handle of southern style but couldn't reconcile the Islamic zhulfiqar symbology with the Deccan. Hyderabad seems to fit the bill. Emanuel Attached Images Last edited by Emanuel; 18th May 2012 at 10:14 AM.