Remarkable tulwar with unusual provenance

Jim McDougall · 29th February 2024, 12:15 AM

Peter, what an outstanding video, and Matt Easton is a great speaker making things so clear, while illustrating with actual examples.

I believe this 'diamond hilt' form is from Udaipur in Rajasthan, probably Rajput, late 18th into 19th c. and the cartouche with lines resembles one on the blade of a Mughal example (Rawson, 1970, plate 44) . While the Mughal hilt does have the turn back swans neck knuckleguard, it does not have the 'sharp' character of this Rajput example.

The florets in the steel decoration, the 'stem' from the pommel disc, the long squarish langet, and unusual discoid quillon terminals all seem to emphasize Rajput, and certainly a high end example.

This deeply inset circular cartouche seems to appear on tulwar blades which do appear to be of Rajasthani type. While this blade has the distinctive 'Indian ricasso' it is nicely curved, and with shamshir character, extremely sharp to very sharp point.

With Matt Eastons demonstration in the video you can see how this tulwar was designed for the draw cut he describes. The 'diamond' grip fits the hand perfectly, with the forefinger wrapped around the quillon, to firmly control the arc of the sword cut.

29th February 2024, 12:15 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,785	Peter, what an outstanding video, and Matt Easton is a great speaker making things so clear, while illustrating with actual examples. I believe this 'diamond hilt' form is from Udaipur in Rajasthan, probably Rajput, late 18th into 19th c. and the cartouche with lines resembles one on the blade of a Mughal example (Rawson, 1970, plate 44) . While the Mughal hilt does have the turn back swans neck knuckleguard, it does not have the 'sharp' character of this Rajput example. The florets in the steel decoration, the 'stem' from the pommel disc, the long squarish langet, and unusual discoid quillon terminals all seem to emphasize Rajput, and certainly a high end example. This deeply inset circular cartouche seems to appear on tulwar blades which do appear to be of Rajasthani type. While this blade has the distinctive 'Indian ricasso' it is nicely curved, and with shamshir character, extremely sharp to very sharp point. With Matt Eastons demonstration in the video you can see how this tulwar was designed for the draw cut he describes. The 'diamond' grip fits the hand perfectly, with the forefinger wrapped around the quillon, to firmly control the arc of the sword cut.