An immense Khyber sword

[Jim McDougall]

[QUOTE=Lew]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

I and to me I see nothing suggesting this might be from Indian regions to the south.

Jim

The monster motif can be seen on many examples from Southern India but they tend to be in a serpent form except for the bottom one which looks like a cross between some type of tiger or lion? The only thing that I could come up with that resembles the hilt is the demon head hilt on a Bhutan sword. Patas also have similar designs on the hilt.

Well observed Lew. While it is true that most grotesque zoomorphics are generally held to be used in 'southern' Indian motifs, it is also known that stylized versions were quite present in northern regions. The yali and makara are of course deeply represented in Hindu theology, but the applications seem adopted in other contexts as well. The diversity of influences affecting weapon and component industry in many areas in Rajasthan certainly reflected many of these kinds of representations.

The bottom sword is I believe from the western Malabar regions and perhaps into regions of the Deccan, and the zoomorphic head is most interesting as it strongly resembles 'doghead' or 'lionhead' pommels on 18th century British military swords (c. 1770s-90s).

All best regards,
Jim