Salaams Pukka Bundook ~That is an interesting play on the geometric figure 3 on sword and Matchlock..probably Talismanic...and looking at the rest of the pan construction I see a hollow rectangle reminding me of the hollow form on Talismanic archeological nails...apparently to prevent the Devil climbing up...See #10 at
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...itectural+Nail . All very interesting.
See~
http://www.omanisilver.com/contents/...ck.html:shrug:
for their rendition of MATCHLOCK/GUNS...with an exellent historical set of references on the Omani Matchlock and associated equipments..
On origin of species I saw this report recently at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musket viz;
Quote"The arquebus made its way to the island of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), though the date is disputed. The earliest date is the 14th century where a copperplate inscription of Parakarama Bahu IV (1302-1326) refers to two persons who were declared exempt from certain taxes which included "gun licenses". Many believe that it was the Portuguese who first brought over muskets during their conquest of the Sri Lankan coastline and low lands in 1505, as they regularly used short barreled matchlocks during combat.
However, P.E.P.Deraniyagala points out that the Sinhala term for gun, ‘bondikula’ matches the Arabic term for gun, ‘bunduk’. Also, certain technical aspects of the early Sinhalese matchlock were similar to the matchlocks used in the Middle East, thus forming the generally accepted theory that the musket was not entirely new to the island by the time the Portuguese came.
In any case, soon native Sri Lankan kingdoms, most notably the kingdom of Sitawaka and the Kandyan Kingdom, manufactured hundreds of Sinhalese muskets, with a unique bifurcated stock, longer barrel and smaller calibre, which made it more efficient in directing and using the energy of the gunpowder. These were mastered by native soldiers to the point where, according to the Portuguese chronicler, Queirós, they could "fire at night to put out a match" and "by day at 60 paces would sever a knife with four or five bullets" and "send as many on the same spot in the target."Unquote.