Hello,
Has anyone any opinions as to whether these Tulwar hilted Kora were used as fighting weapons and not just as sacrificial tools. I was always under the impression that the small hole at the top of the hilt in Tulwar type weapons was for a metal ring to enable the use of a sword knot or similar type accessory. If this was the case would it be necessary to have this feature on a blade that was only ever going to be used for ritual sacrifice. I have seen this feature on various different styles of Tulwar hilt so it doesn't seem restricted to a particular area or time period. Wrist type loops would appear to have been used on Indian all steel single handed axes as the examples I've seen, apart from some of the ones with a bulbous end, have an indentation at the base of the grip, I think, to facilitate a wrist binding of some sort. Anybody who has hefted a single handed weapon of any size will know how useful and comfortable a sword knot is and I'm reasonably sure this fact will not have been overlooked by Indian swordsmen.
The above is of course speculation on my part but I would be interested to know the facts if available.
Regards,
Norman.
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