The etymology and origins of sword and dagger nomenclature and terms

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

In noting the above pictorial on Quillons I deliberately placed Tulvar in the mix. The rainguard extension is in itself a type of quillon which can trap an opponents sliding blade and either snap it or disarm him...with a twist of the wrist. Comments please.

I had some hesitation before including the ruby eyed Kastane hilt with its Vajra styling ...Quillons that fit snugly to the blade niche at the throat of the Kastane are not there to ensnare opponents blades but may have had a cushioning effect in an earlier form of the sword. At any rate the sword was not meant for fighting and was primarily a court sword or badge of office from the 18th C mainly with the Dutch in Sri Lanka then the British.

Below I add the fighting spikes with a central quilon format.viz The ancient Indian spiked Vajra Mushti The quilons shown are dragon form often seen in Northern Indian form (Afghan Pulour) and other swords including the Kastane.

The Portuguese chronicler Fernão Nunes records the practice of vajra-musti in the southern Vijayanagara Empire. Vajra musti is the martial arts form without the long spikes.

For further detail see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajra-mushti.

Also illustrated is a Falchion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falchion explains that this was not always a peasants weapon ...on the contrary...it goes on...