Hindu Armour and the Katar?

Jim McDougall · 1st May 2006, 01:10 AM

Thanks very much Jens, I'll check Abe!! Not sure about 'angular' or what the eel word is, Spanish is a bit rusty without my handy dictionary.

Interesting notes on this shield Brian. It seems someplace in our earlier research, there was some Russian shield with dagger in the center but cannot recall location of that reference. It would seem that arming a defensive implement such as a shield with a dagger has been known in numerous instances, including the Indian 'madu' used allegedly by mendicants. Possibly the concept of transverse grip, as typically found in shields, and the thrusting dagger incorporated in a shield led to the concept of this feature in katar and pata? As always, we get to the million dollar question of where and when this innovation occurred.

Then we get to the puzzle of the so called 'manople'...the Moorish (?) thrusting, gauntlet boarding dagger seen under that heading in Stone (also found in Calvert, "Spanish Arms & Armour"). If this weapon indeed came from Spain, or anywhere in the Islamic sphere, might it have been the source for the Indian gauntlet weapons?

All the best,
Jim

1st May 2006, 01:10 AM	#11
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,295	Thanks very much Jens, I'll check Abe!! Not sure about 'angular' or what the eel word is, Spanish is a bit rusty without my handy dictionary. Interesting notes on this shield Brian. It seems someplace in our earlier research, there was some Russian shield with dagger in the center but cannot recall location of that reference. It would seem that arming a defensive implement such as a shield with a dagger has been known in numerous instances, including the Indian 'madu' used allegedly by mendicants. Possibly the concept of transverse grip, as typically found in shields, and the thrusting dagger incorporated in a shield led to the concept of this feature in katar and pata? As always, we get to the million dollar question of where and when this innovation occurred. Then we get to the puzzle of the so called 'manople'...the Moorish (?) thrusting, gauntlet boarding dagger seen under that heading in Stone (also found in Calvert, "Spanish Arms & Armour"). If this weapon indeed came from Spain, or anywhere in the Islamic sphere, might it have been the source for the Indian gauntlet weapons? All the best, Jim