Indian "executioner" Tulwar

Jim McDougall · 16th April 2006, 11:54 PM

Very unusual 'hybrid'. Exactly as noted, this is the blade of a Khyber knife (Salawar yatahan) from typically Afridi and associated tribes of Khyber regions. I personally have never seen a tulwar hilt mounted on one of these, however during the British Raj, the armourers there became quite creative. As we have seen in previous posts of the last couple of years these blades have been mounted in the 'Anglo-Afghan' hilts of Afghan army sabres from end of the 19th century, but it seems doubtful such a blade would have been used in India for a tulwar . The 'executioner' denominator is often imaginitive and often appled to any Oriental sword with exaggerated proportioned blades.
Thus, it is possible that this sword may have been put together in the Northwest Frontier sometime in the early 20th century, but it is completely atypical of the swords usually used in those regions.
All the best,
Jim

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16th April 2006, 11:54 PM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,282	Very unusual 'hybrid'. Exactly as noted, this is the blade of a Khyber knife (Salawar yatahan) from typically Afridi and associated tribes of Khyber regions. I personally have never seen a tulwar hilt mounted on one of these, however during the British Raj, the armourers there became quite creative. As we have seen in previous posts of the last couple of years these blades have been mounted in the 'Anglo-Afghan' hilts of Afghan army sabres from end of the 19th century, but it seems doubtful such a blade would have been used in India for a tulwar . The 'executioner' denominator is often imaginitive and often appled to any Oriental sword with exaggerated proportioned blades. Thus, it is possible that this sword may have been put together in the Northwest Frontier sometime in the early 20th century, but it is completely atypical of the swords usually used in those regions. All the best, Jim