European blades in India

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Why, if they had such high regard for their own blades, would they add spurious European marks and inscriptions to imply 'quality' ?

A good question and i think, that an european blade has an exotic flair for an Indian warrior.
What i can say from my own collection is, that a well made pattern welded Indian sword easily reaches european quality in toughness and flexibility but with a higher sharpness.
Many of the famous Indian wootz-blades (woodgrain wootz) are trash from the technical point of view compared to european blades or well made Indian pattern welded steel.

Roland

[Jens Nordlunde]

I find that Roland comes with an interesting view on the subject.
The excotic interest for foreign blades.
The foreign armies did win a lot of battles in India, so their blades must have been better.
Only later the Indians found out, that it was not only the blades - but the battle decipline/orginasitation that mattered.

[Mercenary]

If not good with the references, let's get statistically. How many Indian sabres and swords with European blades do we know? I think 20-30 percent of the total. And what the Indians preferred?

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Mercenary

If not good with the references, let's get statistically. How many Indian sabres and swords with European blades do we know? I think 20-30 percent of the total. And what the Indians preferred?

Percentage and preference cannot necessarily be correlated when availability is a factor.

In any case, given that references have been something of a theme in this thread, I think a somewhat more empirical evaluation is required than a guesstimate of 20-30%. 20% of how many examples?

[Mercenary]

Originally Posted by Iain

Percentage and preference cannot necessarily be correlated when availability is a factor.

In any case, given that references have been something of a theme in this thread, I think a somewhat more empirical evaluation is required than a guesstimate of 20-30%. 20% of how many examples?

I don't know. Everyone is speculating and I began the same.

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Mercenary

I don't know. Everyone is speculating and I began the same.

Taking an approach grounded in extant examples is never a bad thing and worth pursuing. I hope you can take the time to put some numbers together. I for one always enjoy reading primary research.

However, beyond the pure figures of European and none European blades it is necessary to consider factors such as:

a) region

b) the European trade links in place within that region

c) Blade production in the region which could influence the potential market for European imports

d) Political relationships with European trade partners within that region

And of course a host of other factors. I really dislike the sort of generalization such as "what the Indians preferred" given the size of the India not just in population but diversity. A question of the type proposed at the start of this thread requires a certain level of nuance.

Certainly I and I would hope the majority of readers and participants of this thread, advocate a grounded study of extant examples over the single, anecdote that started this thread. Although certainly using period accounts as supportive material.

[Jens Nordlunde]

Very good Iain, but there is another thing which should be taken up as well, and that is, that many blades were used for generations due to family threads - very important to them.