The earliest known illustration of an Afghan Pulwar

[Turkoman.khan]

Originally Posted by Sakalord364

In the Drawings British artists made during the 1810s-1840s in Afghanistan, all the swords worn by Afghans were either Shamshir or Tulwar variants, yet in the photographs from the 1870s onwards Pulwars appear to be extremely common and ubiquitous, worn by regular footsoldiers, to tribesmen, to Generals, all the way up to the Emir himself.

So why would the sword hilt that is uniquely Afghan skyrocket in popularity during the late 19th century, which was a time of profound outside (European) influence in Afghanistan? Of course this could be simple coincidence and the British simply happened to draw people who weren’t wearing pulwars.

I think the drawings made in 1810-1840 are just more primitive. The arms on them are shown more schematically.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Turkoman.khan

I think the drawings made in 1810-1840 are just more primitive. The arms on them are shown more schematically.

Precisely what I was thinking!

The early drawings of Afghans focus on their dress and overall appearance and not necessarily on detail of accessories such as the sword they were wearing. And since the Indian Tulwar was much better known to the early European travellers and looked very similar to the Afghan Pulowar it might have been depicted instead of it for convenience and familiarity. Besides, the Tulwar was also quite popular with Afghans so the Pulowar might have been seen as an insignificant variety of Tulwar.

Just my speculation.