It is Indian, but from where in India is it? It is a special sword from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, Deccan.
What is so special about it? The T spine.
What is it called? Sailaba.
Hilt 17 cm.
Blade 65 cm.
18th century
In ‘A Catalogue of Arms and Armour in the State Museum, Hyderabad’, 1975, I found this picture, and found it interesting enough to show. Had I not known from where the sailaba came, I might have guessed on a place far more to the north, but the text to the illustration clearly states that it is a special sword from Hyderabad. What is even more interesting is, that in the catalogue they have a kind of an inventory list of the weapons in the museum, and here it states that they have twenty-seven sailaba’s.
In the catalogue they have sailaba’s from 17th to 19th century, and the length of the blades are from 44 to 77 cm.
The sailaba shown have an inscription on the blade with the name ‘Saheb Ali’ and the date given is 1194 H.
Rick's sword is of course a kirach, but it is an unusual kirach as the false edge is very long, just as the heavy reinforcement of the spine is heavier than normally seen. Tulwar/basket hilts are seen, but not so often.
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