An old Tibetan warrior

Philip · 7th March 2016, 07:12 AM

In Donald LaRocca's excellent catalogue of the exhibition WARRIORS OF THE HIMALAYAS, the spellings used are the "academic" transliterations. Likewise, the spellings of Sanskrit words in Dr Robert Elgood's HINDU ARMS AND RITUAL are the transliterations used in scholarly texts; both can be more than a little daunting to laymen trying to pronounce them!

In personal correspondence with Mr LaRocca some years ago, I brought up the term "ke tri" and was informed that there was no such term applicable to the classification of sword types. In identifying Tibetan swords by blade shape, the three most useful and accurate ones for students and collectors seem to be ral gri (acutely pointed blade), dpa dam (parallel-sided, straight, oblique tip profile), and shang-lang (convex curve, i.e. a saber, rarely encountered).

7th March 2016, 07:12 AM	#9
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Tibetan arms terminology In Donald LaRocca's excellent catalogue of the exhibition WARRIORS OF THE HIMALAYAS, the spellings used are the "academic" transliterations. Likewise, the spellings of Sanskrit words in Dr Robert Elgood's HINDU ARMS AND RITUAL are the transliterations used in scholarly texts; both can be more than a little daunting to laymen trying to pronounce them! In personal correspondence with Mr LaRocca some years ago, I brought up the term "ke tri" and was informed that there was no such term applicable to the classification of sword types. In identifying Tibetan swords by blade shape, the three most useful and accurate ones for students and collectors seem to be ral gri (acutely pointed blade), dpa dam (parallel-sided, straight, oblique tip profile), and shang-lang (convex curve, i.e. a saber, rarely encountered).