Tulwar Hilt Types

[Gavin Nugent]

better late than never, as promised, I will start listing a number of varients I have images of.

One to start.

Gav

[Gavin Nugent]

Some more, others to follow with some discussion when time permits.

Gav

[Iain]

Indian weapons are completely not my area, but I wanted to thank those that posted in this thread as I have found it very informative.

Having only had personal access to "munitions grade" tulwars I've never found them that interesting - perhaps because of the all metal construction and very uniform designs. However the examples posted in this thread - in addition to being beautiful - have really excited my interest to learn more about regional variations and the associated period history. I'm not usually interested in highly decorated or ornate pieces but the second example posted by Gav really strikes me as a wonderful combination of functionality and individualistic design.

Again many thanks to all for a fascinating topic!

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi ISPN,
Yes there are many very interesting tulwar hilts you only have to find them, and 'encode' them.

[Gavin Nugent]

Another beauty Jens, what I find most interesting is the manufacture, it seems from close examination there are about 8 parts both forged and braised together to create these hilts.
One could imagine picking and choosing the styles you want in a hilt and having it made for you and then according to budget having it embellished in copper, silver and golds.

Does anyone have documents pertaining to the manufacture of the hilts? I'd love to read it.

Gav

[Jens Nordlunde]

When it comes to the tulwar hilts there are a few things, which we should not forget.

Many hilts were made in series, and maybe the decoration as well. Some hilts were made after the customers wish and so would the decoration be. Our problem is, that we don’t have any indications of how many were made after the customers wish and how many were pre fabricated.

The pre fabricated hilts and the pre made decoration would, most likely, have been made according to the fashion used at the time and place where it was sold – even hilts sold in other parts of India could have been of this kind. However the custom made hilts and decorations can differ quite a bit from the first type – we will never know for sure.

These are some of the things, which makes it difficult to place a hilt with 100% certainty.

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

When it comes to the tulwar hilts there are a few things, which we should not forget.

Many hilts were made in series, and maybe the decoration as well. Some hilts were made after the customers wish and so would the decoration be. Our problem is, that we don’t have any indications of how many were made after the customers wish and how many were pre fabricated.

The pre fabricated hilts and the pre made decoration would, most likely, have been made according to the fashion used at the time and place where it was sold – even hilts sold in other parts of India could have been of this kind. However the custom made hilts and decorations can differ quite a bit from the first type – we will never know for sure.

These are some of the things, which makes it difficult to place a hilt with 100% certainty.

Jens,

Breaking the hilt types down further, have you ever looked in to the actual process of the piecing together of the no less than 10 different pieces to create the hilt shape before the embellishments are applied?

Here is another example for display that I have been saving for a rainy day.

Gav

[Stan S.]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

The pre fabricated hilts and the pre made decoration would, most likely, have been made according to the fashion used at the time and place where it was sold – even hilts sold in other parts of India could have been of this kind. However the custom made hilts and decorations can differ quite a bit from the first type – we will never know for sure.

Since this thread had been revived and having a great interest in Indian swords, I would like to share a little theory of mine on the manufacture/decoration of tulwar hilts. This is based solely on inspecting a number of identically shaped hilts with greatly varying styles and quality of decoration, and on having a first hand experience dealing with small merchants and manufacturers in India.

As was pointed out by other members, I too would like to venture a guess that hilts, while made in quantity of different styles and sizes, were not embellished before the sale. A customer would choose a particular hilt and if his budget allowed, it would be sent to a coftgari artist (often operating next door to the hilt maker/swordsmith’s shop) where a design would be hand carved into the steel and inlaid with silver or gold. Hence a coftgari artist is essentially a jeweler. Alternatively, a buyer could save a bunch of rupees by going with a plain hilt. Considering a ridiculously low cost of labor (true to this day) and metal for plain hilts being readily available and inexpensive even in 17-19th century, the price difference between coftgrai vs. no-coftgari option must have been staggering. It is a concept not really changed by time, as there are still plenty of people who pay thousands of dollars for a piece of flashy jewelry. And in case of decorated tulwar hilts, we are looking at a piece of jewelry that is not only flashy but is also quite deadly