Massive Indian spear (sang)

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Ribeiro in his Fatalida De Histories written in 1685, describing the Sinhala Army states;-

” Amoung their fighting men are also men of the low cast. The Carias are fisherman, the Mainatos, washers and the Pachas, Sandal makers. Also these have brave Generals and Captains, but are serving in one army…….. Modelias, Appuames, Adigars and other great folk amoung them wear a shirt and doublet. The fighting men alone use arms;they carry swords of two and half spans which they call calachurros; the soldiers are lascarins, some are pikemen and their weapons eighteen spans long; others are espinggerdeiros and are skilled in firing; others use bows which they can shoot accurately. Some carry muskets with a barrel of eight palms and weighing forty pounds from which they shoot a ball of four ounces”.

Dutch influence. Since the Dutch came to the rescue and fought on the side of the Sri Lankans it is of interest that this could have heralded the use of the Partisan weapon and this could be where it transferred to Sri Lankan use through tactics transfer and copying of this weapon/issue by the Dutch to their Sri Lankan allies...and became accepted as part of their joint fighting style. Below joining of the Dutch and Srl Lankan forces....

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Dutch influence. Since the Dutch came to the rescue and fought on the side of the Sri Lankans it is of interest that this could have heralded the use of the Partisan weapon and this could be where it transferred to Sri Lankan use through tactics transfer and copying of this weapon/issue by the Dutch to their Sri Lankan allies...and became accepted as part of their joint fighting style. Below joining of the Dutch and Srl Lankan forces....

Are you suggesting that the Sri Lankan spear takes its from from the European Partisan??

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Yes. The Partisan was used by the Europeans probably during the Portuguese / Dutch period in Sri Lanka but introduced as a Sri Lankan weapon copied in / provided actually by the Dutch in the period they were fighting along side the Sri Lankans against the Portuguese about 1680...I believe the Sri Lankan weapon is called almost the same as the Partisan.

It is called a Patisthanaya .

There is some added depth seen at http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8187

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

To boot~ See https://sirimunasiha.wordpress.com/a...ese-dutch-and/ where it states;

Quote"The Portuguese, Dutch and British armies were the most modern armies of Europe at the time. To fight the invader a modern army was raised, armed and equipped in the European manner''.Unquote.

Since the Vanguard of the Portuguese and Dutch were Spear Men it stands to reason the Sri Lankan Army would be armed with similar weaponry.

Moreover it also is reasonable to posit that when the two armies joined ranks against the Portuguese that similar tactics would be employed and the order of Battle would be very similar in weaponry.

In addition I fuse together my posts above using #16 #18 #19 #20 and this post as the basis in viewing what I think was a fusing together of weapons types and techniques at the time in an order-of-battle using Partisan form as the Vanguard spear in Dutch and Sri Lankan units. Of course I wasn't there so nothing is written in stone here... and all comments are welcomed

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

See the Sri Lankan spear below. Spear base flanked by Deities..as in #22 above

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

It is interesting that the ancient Sri Lankan tribe called The Vel were quite famous for their use of arrows and spears ; Vel: the Tamil word for a spear, a lance, a javelin or, arrow. The arrow may be taken as the proto-type of the Vel. It denotes a long handled sharp metal pointed weapon of hunting or war of ancient time. The Vel of Murukan are of two basic types. One is Vel, the leaf shaped lance and the other is Sakti a double or triple headed lance commonly associated with the Goddess. The Vel became inter changeable with the Sakti in the 15th century.

SEE http://kataragama.org/research/krishnapillai.htm

[iskender]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

See the Sri Lankan spear below. Spear base flanked by Deities..as in #22 above

Hello Ibrahiim, my far away friend in the desert ,shall whe call them Makaras? greetings from the mountains Iskender

[David]

Originally Posted by iskender

Hello Ibrahiim, my far away friend in the desert ,shall whe call them Makaras? greetings from the mountains Iskender

They sure look like makara to me. Makara, of course, while vahana, or vehicles for certain deities and guardians of gateways and thresholds are not themselves considered to be deities.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by iskender

Hello Ibrahiim, my far away friend in the desert ,shall whe call them Makaras? greetings from the mountains Iskender

Greetings Iskender !! Ibrahiim al Balooshi