Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - How old is the kora, and from where did it come?

Jens Nordlunde · 9th April 2017, 01:23 PM

Ok - I cant ansver any of the two questions, but should someone be interested in researching the subject, I can come up with a hint.
In A Catalogue of Arms and Armour in the State Museum, Hyderabad. A.P., 1975. M.L.Nigam writes.
"In the eastern part of Deccan, some new weapons seem to have been inreoduced to suit the regional needs of the People. The 'Kora', which could produce deadly blows with its forward-curved and broad-tipped blade, appears, for the first time, in one of the sculptural panels carved in the second gate of the Mukhalingesvara temple at Mukhalingam, the capital seat of the Eastern Ganga monarchs.
The temple is datable to the second half of the eight century AD. It may, therefor, be presumed that 'Kora', the favorit weapon og the Gurkhas, had come in vogue by the middle of the eight century AD."

The author, unfortunately, does not show any pictures if the panels, but long ago I have seen a relief from South India, showing a soldier with a kora like sword.

I knew we har had a discussion like this before, but not that it was exactly the same:-(. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10050

9th April 2017, 01:23 PM	#1
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,713	How old is the kora, and from where did it come? Ok - I cant ansver any of the two questions, but should someone be interested in researching the subject, I can come up with a hint. In A Catalogue of Arms and Armour in the State Museum, Hyderabad. A.P., 1975. M.L.Nigam writes. "In the eastern part of Deccan, some new weapons seem to have been inreoduced to suit the regional needs of the People. The 'Kora', which could produce deadly blows with its forward-curved and broad-tipped blade, appears, for the first time, in one of the sculptural panels carved in the second gate of the Mukhalingesvara temple at Mukhalingam, the capital seat of the Eastern Ganga monarchs. The temple is datable to the second half of the eight century AD. It may, therefor, be presumed that 'Kora', the favorit weapon og the Gurkhas, had come in vogue by the middle of the eight century AD." The author, unfortunately, does not show any pictures if the panels, but long ago I have seen a relief from South India, showing a soldier with a kora like sword. I knew we har had a discussion like this before, but not that it was exactly the same:-(. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10050 Last edited by Jens Nordlunde; 9th April 2017 at 01:36 PM.