Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Marcus
This is going to be an interesting and challenging piece to write up.
|
Indeed it will.
The history of British regulation swords is tumultuous enough, without the complexity of Afghanistan and 'The Great Game' (highly recommend Peter Hopkirks book by this title) thrown into the mix.
That is what makes this paluoar so unique, with a blade in transitional circumstances either a prototype from Enfield just as the Crimean War loomed or a blade copied in British subsidized Afghan factory in Kabul.
As I mentioned, the font on this stamp seems correct for markings on blades of 19th c . as is placement. It may be a worn stamp supplied to these projects accounting for the degraded letter at the end.
Naturally these are just speculations on my part, but hopefully they might provide some ideas for further research toward a more accurately detailed account of this sword.
The use of British blades in native hilts is far from unusual, and the favor of the British light cavalry M1796 became legion in India. As a result of these blades being used remarkably successfully in native tulwars, the 'hatchet point' type blades remained in production for Indian cavalry sabres through the 19th century (long after superceded by the M1821 series) In fact even the stirrup hilt also remained in use as long.