Short-bladed Indo-Afghani sabers

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by ariel

Infantry: foot soldiers, organized in defined units. Like ( see above) “regiments”:-)

Question: if there were so many foot soldiers in the 18-19 century Afghan armies, why are Afghani “ cutlases” so rare?

I'm curious about what qualifies as an 'Afghan cutlass'. If the reference to to quite heavy bladed and often relatively short blade length swords, in post #1 the 3rd and 4th swords (tulwar with khanda type stem and paluoar hilts respectively) these would seem to fit the bill.

It seems to me that foot soldiers were far more available than cavalry, which obviously required a horse, and like much of the arms etc. were at the expense of the individual so at a premium. Perhaps that is too simplistic a notion?

I guess it depends on which Afghan region or demographic, as I know parts of Afghanistan the horsemen are outstanding as well known from the sport of Buzkhashi (cf.polo).