What is this: a Kard or a Pesh Kabz?

[rand]

The Persian influence was very strong in India, the court spoke Farsi (Persian), Persian style and decoration motifs were widely copied, style or arms and armor was also copied. Also, relics from the time of Muhammad were highly valued too. Just look at the sword of Babur at the Met, Museum of Art, it has a fblade with square kufic script used at the time of Muhammad, Babur names is chiseled into the cross guard.

The floral decoration, especially the birds look very Persian influenced, being that the Mughals also copied Persian costume its hard to say who was wearing what. But the blade looks very Mughal influenced and more to the taste of an Indian (Mughal).

It gets into the realm of what if a Persian makes a blade for a Mughal while in India, with an Indian style blade, but opts for a Persain hilt style, the floral decoration done to the most favored flower of the current Raja. Is this Mughal? Indian? Persian? All of them? None of them? Does the blade determine origen? Does the hilt determine origen? Does the desiign motif of the decoration determine origen? No simple answer here that I see. Must be why you see that word "Indo" so much, or "Sino". Next it will be IndoSino....hmmmmm, IndiSino? Now that covers about everything!

No matter what its a very nice dagger that stands on its own.....

rand (sinoing off) and very ( Indocisive)