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Old 24th November 2019, 04:17 PM   #20
Jim McDougall
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Location: Route 66
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In the original post, it was asked, (1) if southern and northwest examples of these distinctive 'chakra disc' type blades could be separated by the hilts mounted on them.
(2) it was asked if the South Indian examples could have 'replacement' hilts.

If I am understanding correctly, the objective is to determine the regional place of origin of these blades as a type, and if they indeed became used as far north as Afghanistan, given the oft appearance of the paluoar hilts on them.

It seems to me that the incorporation of the disc is agreed to be a religiously inspired element from the Hindu 'chakra', and that it is indeed placed symbolically is further indicated in the unusual placement toward tip instead of forte of the blade on the khanda illustrated.

The blades seem to be typically deeply fullered or channeled in the manner of earlier Vijayanagara types, and with the chakra feature added.

These factors considered lead me to believe the origins of this style of blade to be effectively a southern convention, and that the use of the disc element may have evolved from similar blade 'widenings' of perhaps earlier forms.
It is clear that there have been atavistic adoptions of diverse blade forms from iconographic sources in southern India for some time, and as well noted by Jens, these styles often, if not typically moved northward in the regions of the subcontinent.

Whatever the case, it would be difficult to try to assess the regional provenance of an example with this type blade simply by the hilt it bears given the obvious disparity of the hilts seen on them. That being the case is directly in line with question (2), the replacement of handles on these type blades, which is well known in India with the propensity for refurbishing weapons.
It is well established that blades were a widely traded and exchanged commodity, whose often long working lives in many cases resulted in rehilting with favored local styles and upgraded fashions.

In the case of the paluoar hilted versions, it seems these were likely to have been syncretically joined in regions of the Deccan and northward as suggested in Elgood in accord with the Pathan element from Afghanistan.
As far as I have known, these distinctive blades are not known in Afghanistan regionally, while obviously the paluoar hilt style found its way southerly into the Pathan enclaves described.

In the cases of these type blades with tulwar; khanda or other hilts, including the curious case of the katar, it would appear mounting again to local favor.
If I recall, it seems that the katar with this feature was even suggested at some point for possible origin of the blade style, unsure on that one.
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