Books on Indian and regional swords

Jim McDougall · 25th March 2013, 07:29 PM

Hi Neil,
Its good to hear of your interest in the swords of India, one of the most fascinating fields of ethnographic weapons, and expectedly, probably one of the most complex. It would be good to know your more strategic interests to better facilitate recommending references, but the basics are:

"Hindu Arms and Ritual" Robert Elgood, 2004. In my opinion one of the most valuable references as it well covers many of the subjective perspectives of these arms, while others are primarily overall typology and classifications which often do not attend to variations.

"Indian Arms and Armour" G.N.Pant, 1980. Difficult to find at times and a large but usually poorly bound book, has valuable references and most useful guidelines and descriptions.Along with Elgood, I think essential for effective study of these arms, especially with regard to many hilt forms. While classification is useful on these, especially tulwars, it is rather arbitrarily applied and better regional instances remain pending as research continues.

"The Indian Sword" , P. Rawson, 1967. One of the standard references long venerated, and written as general cataloguing of arms in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Good attention to blade forms and many shown in silhouette plates. Certain flaws are limited and addressed by Pant in his work.

"Arms and Armour:Traditional Weapons of India" E. Jaiwent Paul.
An excellent overview with great illustrations and interesting details.

"Handbook of Indian and Oriental Arms" Egerton, modern reprint of the 1880 reference which set the standard for study of Indian arms and remains a venerable benchmark. I think it is a reprint by Dover.

These are the typically referred to references and of course we have been discussing these weapons here for over 16 years. By using the search feature on the header line on this page you can find details on specific topics. Among the members here who I regard as best versed in these arms are Jens Nordlund, Freebooter (Gav) and R.Sword and you will see this in thier posts.

Looking forward to your posts and queries!!! Hope these titles will help getting started.

All the best,
Jim

25th March 2013, 07:29 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,195	Hi Neil, Its good to hear of your interest in the swords of India, one of the most fascinating fields of ethnographic weapons, and expectedly, probably one of the most complex. It would be good to know your more strategic interests to better facilitate recommending references, but the basics are: "Hindu Arms and Ritual" Robert Elgood, 2004. In my opinion one of the most valuable references as it well covers many of the subjective perspectives of these arms, while others are primarily overall typology and classifications which often do not attend to variations. "Indian Arms and Armour" G.N.Pant, 1980. Difficult to find at times and a large but usually poorly bound book, has valuable references and most useful guidelines and descriptions.Along with Elgood, I think essential for effective study of these arms, especially with regard to many hilt forms. While classification is useful on these, especially tulwars, it is rather arbitrarily applied and better regional instances remain pending as research continues. "The Indian Sword" , P. Rawson, 1967. One of the standard references long venerated, and written as general cataloguing of arms in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Good attention to blade forms and many shown in silhouette plates. Certain flaws are limited and addressed by Pant in his work. "Arms and Armour:Traditional Weapons of India" E. Jaiwent Paul. An excellent overview with great illustrations and interesting details. "Handbook of Indian and Oriental Arms" Egerton, modern reprint of the 1880 reference which set the standard for study of Indian arms and remains a venerable benchmark. I think it is a reprint by Dover. These are the typically referred to references and of course we have been discussing these weapons here for over 16 years. By using the search feature on the header line on this page you can find details on specific topics. Among the members here who I regard as best versed in these arms are Jens Nordlund, Freebooter (Gav) and R.Sword and you will see this in thier posts. Looking forward to your posts and queries!!! Hope these titles will help getting started. All the best, Jim