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Originally Posted by fearn
Cool weapons.
Not being a lawyer, I'll stay out of that discussion 
However, I think that the thin-bladed swords might be "firangi" blades, which i believe were European rapier blades (trade blades) fitted with Indian handles.
As for the patas, I thought the bigger ones got up to 4' long. 3' would look stubby if this is so, although I think it's a saner length. Then again, the losers had the short swords, so go figure.
Fearn |
They look awfully thin even for rapiers. |
The word rapier comes from Spanish "espada ropera", dress sword. The older European swords supplying their blades for the "firangis" were pretty broad and sturdy. Dress swords were semi-ceremonial and, if used for fighting, were mostly (not entirely!) for stabbing and as such often triangular.. They were shortish (one would not expect a fancy gentleman to drag a long piece or iron oved the dancing floor!).
The ones in the Nepalese museum look very long, narrow and flat: slashers mostly, like patas. Would be interesting to know their actual dimensions: that would help a lot.