Khanda,what is it?

Jens Nordlunde · 21st May 2006, 04:18 PM

Nice pattisa you got – congratulations.
Hilts were reused as well as blades, and when the blades were worn out, they were used to make new blades out of. Some of the pattisa/khanda blades were very flexible, and as they wanted to have a flexible, but not too heavy, but still a stiff blade, they reinforced them. It is however not all the blades which were reinforced. I think reinforcement would need to be fastened at least in two places, so if there is only one hole, close to the hilt, on your sword, I doubt that it was for reinforcement.
Is the mark close to the tip the only on the blade?

Like Rick says, be careful when etching, especially if you have not tried it before, then a search on the forum for etching might be a good idea.

ariel · 21st May 2006, 07:40 PM

I have an old Tulwar with the European blade and it has a hole in the middle of the blade (just like this one) and it is surrounded by a very faint imprint of an old reinforcing part. Obviously, it used to be riveted to another handle (Basket hilt-type). The cementing is very old, and the patination is uniform along the entire blade. No doubt the two parts lived together in harmony for a very, very long time.
The practice of remounting blades was indeed very widespread and the "hole" should in no way serve as the final evidence of forgery.
However, in this day and age one cannot be too paranoid....

21st May 2006, 04:18 PM	#1
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Nice pattisa you got – congratulations. Hilts were reused as well as blades, and when the blades were worn out, they were used to make new blades out of. Some of the pattisa/khanda blades were very flexible, and as they wanted to have a flexible, but not too heavy, but still a stiff blade, they reinforced them. It is however not all the blades which were reinforced. I think reinforcement would need to be fastened at least in two places, so if there is only one hole, close to the hilt, on your sword, I doubt that it was for reinforcement. Is the mark close to the tip the only on the blade? Like Rick says, be careful when etching, especially if you have not tried it before, then a search on the forum for etching might be a good idea.

21st May 2006, 07:40 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I have an old Tulwar with the European blade and it has a hole in the middle of the blade (just like this one) and it is surrounded by a very faint imprint of an old reinforcing part. Obviously, it used to be riveted to another handle (Basket hilt-type). The cementing is very old, and the patination is uniform along the entire blade. No doubt the two parts lived together in harmony for a very, very long time. The practice of remounting blades was indeed very widespread and the "hole" should in no way serve as the final evidence of forgery. However, in this day and age one cannot be too paranoid....