Tulwar Hilt Types

[Mefidk]

I too find this topic very interesting as a new collector of these arms.

What strikes me about the tulwar hilts that we commonly see is that there are a limited number of features which can be mixed and matched, but which somehow must provide some reliable information if only we knew the history of the pieces.
I wonder does anyone know if there has been anyone working on morphometric studies of these perhaps in a similar way to cladistics in taxonomy? Such an analysis would always be reliant on good provenence (and messed up by the kind of battlefield collecting and subequent armory marking mentioned by Jens), but given enough material might be able to create some generic rules. Maybe this kind of study has been applied to other weapon groups already? I would imagine it would work well for Indonesian weapons too since these seem to well understood in terms for form and tribal origins. Just an idle idea from a biologist

[Jim McDougall]

Thank you so much guys for the kind words and encouragement! It is truly heartening to see the interest in Indian arms and armour drawing new interest and while there has been a great deal of study done, there is clearly so much more to be done.

Mefidk, most interesting approach and extremely well placed suggestions!
It does seem that many weapon groups have been discussed and considered in these kinds of considerations, such as the development of the sabre; the flyssa of Berber North Africa; the Kastane of Sri Lanka and numerous other ethnographic forms.
As for European and regulation military weapons, the same types of taxonomical approach is often used in a sense by associating features and elements of hilts of various countries and looking for influences by comparison.
Often interesting examples of the joining of ethnographic and military forms are seen, which leads to fascinating examples.

In this regard, there are numbers of instances of this with tulwars for example with the Native regiments of the British Raj. I have seen examples of British made tulwars (by Mole of Birmingham) as well as regimentally marked specimens.

Getting back to the subject of classification, I have always been a firm believer in comprehensive study of many subjects in researching a weapon or group of weapons with certain similiarities, but find the suggestion of classification in biological terms absolutely intriguing. Up until now, I had only thought of that perspective in terms of convergent evolution

As is well known, the movement of blades cross culturally via trade, warfare or colonial presence, and combinations of all of these, has brought wide diffusion worldwide to them. The study of hilt forms is typically a matter of local preference, though certain influences transmitted in much the same manner as blades cannot be discounted.

There have been many efforts to try to establish certain classifications for tulwar hilt forms, pribably one of the most well known being the work by Dr. G.N.Pant, "Indian Arms and Armour". While the examples shown in this work reveal certain styles of hilts of tulwars having a degree of consistancy, the classifications assigned can probably be best described as somewhat arbitrary. The intense diversity of ethnicity, religions, cultures, languages, tribal warfare and colonial incursions of many world powers are just the primary dynamics which reflect the constant state of flux constantly present in the colorful history of this fascinating nation, ironically also presents many challenges in the study of her weapons.

While these factors offer exciting opportunities in researching these weapons, in many respects they present undeniable barriers as well.
The diffusion of hilt forms in tulwars is one of the ever present reasons why it is difficult to assign regional classifications to thier variations. The examples with known provenance in early works ,by Egerton for example, are noted by the region from which they were presented. This meant that these specific examples may well have been indiginous to the region from which they were brought...but then again, may have been collected from the battlefields as described, or perhaps had been gifts or holdings in the local armoury from elsewhere.

The only remedy for this conundrum is typically noting significant volume of like provenanced examples, which would establish the likelihood that a certain type or style of hilt actually was prevalent in that region. With this, the next hurdle is to determine the 'morphometrics' with examination of examples that might reveal progressive dates or periods to discover chronological development of the form.

Again, thank you guys for joining in here! And while many of you note you are new to this field of collecting, please remember here we are all students....and we learn together by sharing. Please submit any examples and questions openly so that we might all gain by discussing them.

All the very best,
Jim

[Jens Nordlunde]

In Memorials of the Jaypore Exhibition 1883, Hendley in vol. II, plate LVIII shows three hilts. From left to right, Gujarat, Jaypore and Gujarat. A hilt like the last one is also shown on plate LVII, but this one has a double hand guard, to protect the fingers and the hand.

Often the old authors would use the armoury labels when they described a weapon, and if a weapon was wrongly labelled they did not always notice it, so later authors who used the books, as a source would repeat the mistake, and sometimes the mistake would be accepted, as it had been repeated many times. In this case however, I think it is safe to accept Hendley’s statement as the hilts were sent to the exhibition, and at that time they were newly made.

[Jim McDougall]

Jens,
We crossed posts!!
I had forgotten that magnificent reference, Hendley!!! Thank you for sharing the perfect illustration of the note on attribution of examples, and the great photo.

All the best,
Jim

[Jens Nordlunde]

I think it is a good thread, and I am wondering why more dealers do not participate, as they should be ineterested in this kind of discussion. There are a lot of dealers on this forum, so why do they not come forward and give their version?

[Gavin Nugent]

Fair call Jens.

Like weapons from many times and cultures, an exercise in absolute correct identification of Indian hilts is an exact science and one I am sure many of us all learn a little about each day, I know I do.

Learned colectors such as yourself, Jim and others from Mother England, I am sure would be better versed on the subject than most due to Englands long standing interest/history with India.

My Niche and passion is Chinese and this is where most of my spare time is directed, this Indian hilt ID is a steep leaning curve and something I personnaly have not commited to memory.
I rely on friends, generous people within this forum and reference books from some of the great authors throughout time and use these when needed and thus learn in the process...a good chance to learn further soon as three are on their way to me and I can add these hilts to the topic at hand.

From conversations I have had over time with various Sikhs (not always an absolute authority), they have always indicated sword hilts and blade shapes are based on religion so I would assume that one must consider Indian religions and the placement of these ethic groups devoted to certain worship throughout India to better gleam an idea of proper identification.

It is a very good thread that is going here and working through the processes to find if there is an exact science is what is needed but as noted above, one must also understand trade centres that made hilts and where they were traded to.
I know I'd love to pinpoint with a degree of exactness, the Sosun Patta I have in my personal collection so I will be reading and researching further when time permits and share these observations when they come to hand.

As I noted above, reference books are invaluable, if you can afford them, grab them, seek them out and ask fellow collectors for titles, we can't all know everything, but as a collective, such as this forum, so much more can be revealed as many heads are looking in many directions.

I hope these comments open up some further discussion too.

Regards

Gav

[Jim McDougall]

Fantastic post Gav!!!!
Jens, here is the one exception I know of to most dealers, who typically avoid involvement in discussions concerning the scholarly discussion of research on weapons.
Thank you Gav for these outstanding observations, which truly recognize the inherent complexities in organized study of these tulwars, as well as the well placed perspective you always add in these discussions.

All very best regards,
Jim