On the Use of Indian Terms for Identification of Weapon Types

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Mercenary

Again very interesting!
But pata without any surprises first of all meant "wooden rapier". And there are a lot of information about pata-khilana and so )))

May i ask which illustrated dictionary you took this picture from ?
Is this the entire image in the book, or did you cut the lower part of the fencer's body with his 'weapon' for posting. It would be interesting to date this drawing. There could be a connection between this so called Pút-a and the appearing of the pata as an actual weapon; minding that the first examples that are recorded and available, first quarter XVI century, had a turned and carved wooden guard (gauntlet).
It would be pertinent to consider such evolution, as we may see in such earliest examples the presence of European blades, those from navigators of the XV-XVI centuries transiction.
On the other hand, if the drawing in the illustration is posterior, we may then consider that had either device had its own course.
Below two pata examples: one considered by its owner as the oldest and most primitive example known, with its gauntlet in wood, reinforced with iron straps and a later one with a 'basket' guard, in which a leather reinforcement was applied, now disappeared. The first one with an early European blade and the second with a weak one, of local production.
(Collection Rainer Daehnhardt).

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[Mercenary]

Dear fernando
These are unrelated things: dictionary of Urdu of 1838, and picture from book about Khonds of 1864. Both references and picture are in the article. I am sorry I can not put it all here. May be some later all of the articles in "Historical Weaponology" will be free.
In sources (not illustrated books about weapons) there are a lot messes about pata. Some times it is a wooden sword, some times a steel one, some times a rapier and some times a staff. I wrote about it and tried to explain but it is still not very clear. Very weak spot. This requires further research.