Jamdhar katari - a theory

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by ariel

Jim McDougall:
“I once somewhat dismissed the relevance, I have come to view it quite differently.”
——————————————————————————————


Jim,
I am glad you have seen the light:-)
History of everything consists of multiple facets and needs to be looked at from different angles.

The “ name game” can be ridiculous or enlightening depending on the question asked and the quality of an answer. But the same is true about engineering aspects of different weapons, their usage, materials, decorations, etc.

Each and every approach adds something new and potentially important to our understanding of the fascinating subject of the history of weapons. Ignoring names or mis-naming the objects is as detrimental to our understanding of their history as ignoring their sacral meanings.

I have a term for it, “ The Rumpelstiltskin syndrome”: know my name and you become my master. And the corollary: misname me at your peril.

In a way, our Kris colleagues got it right: they are meticulous about naming different pamors and minute details of structure and decorations and correlating them with local traditions of manufacture, sacral and mystical features of their objects of interest, names of masters, materials, age etc. I tried but could never become really interested in Indonesian weapons, but I admire their aficionados.

Ariel, it does seem I have a good number of ephiphanies of late.......does this mean Im getting old?

I like the Rumpelstiltskin bit!!!!

[ariel]

You are not the only one with epiphanies:-)
But, as they say, not always wisdom comes with old age, sometimes old age comes alone.And.....youth is wasted on the young.

[fernando]

Originally Posted by ariel

... But, as they say, not always wisdom comes with old age, sometimes old age comes alone. And.....youth is wasted on the young.

Brilliant ...and so true .
Another one to be beaten is:
“Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.... “
FZ (1940-1993).

- Herewith an Indo-Portuguese oil painting depicting three Malabar warriors with musket, tulwar, katar, shield an pata. In the back a view of Pangim over the river Mandovi, backed by the fortresses of Aguada and Reis Magos.
(collection Georg Scheder-Bieschin. How i envy this guy

... And by the way, pick one of these below... from the said glossary. "Cotari" was the key (in Portuguese).



.