This is an outstanding example of one of these, as far as I have known, reasonably rarely seen weapons. It appears to have some age, and seems certainly of 19th century but how far back hard to say without handling it.
These 'parrying shields' are discussed in most references but only briefly (Stone, Burton, Paul, Robinson, Egerton, Elgood, Pant), and are referred to as Madu; Maru or Singhauta.
These fall into the class of Indian arms associated with Hindu mendicants (sometimes termed faqirs but that is a Muslim term), who were technically prohibited from carrying arms. These paired horn weapons were apparently a Dravidian form adopted by the Bhil tribes of the Deccan.
In later times the Bhil tribes, who were Hindu, were employed by the ruling Rajputs and in many cases were trained by Rajput warriors as they sought to help protect their homeland.
By the 16th century an army of Hindu Sadhus, warrior ascetics known as Nanga Sanyasis was formed by Madhusadana Saraswati of Bengal, and again trained by the Rajput armies to stop massacres and action which was apparently waged against them by Muslims, particularly in the Benares regions.
In searching through examples of dhal (shields) as well as these madu, I wanted to find the distinctive crescent moon motif. While it seems I have seen these in many cases the one example I found was a madu in Egerton (#693) stated with antelope horns , a 9" shield, with the four bosses and the crescent moon.
This example was shown as from Benares.
Other similar examples were from Punjab and Delhi.
It would seem that the crescent, significant to Hindu's as a symbol of Shiva, also is known significant as symbolic to the Chandravanishi Rajputs (Chandra =moon) (E Paul, 2005, p121).
With the representation of the moon having these associations, and the information on these warrior ascetics from Benares, it would seem plausible, pending further research, to tentatively presume this may be a madu from Benares and associated with these groups.
Interesting suggestion on the bells, and in certain Oriental and Asian contexts bells are attached to weapons (I believe they are tiger bells? in China). I am inclined to think in this case these may be intended for processional use, much in the way jingles are used in temple ceremonies to ward off evil spirits etc.
Absolutely fascinating piece Brian!!! and thank you for sharing it here.
While my research on these Hindu warrior ascetics was fascinating, I must admit little true understanding on the particulars. I hope those more familiar might offer corrections as required and I beg their indulgence.
All the best,
Jim
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