Āftāb: (Persian). Sun.
Ankush: Elephant Goad. Haft with hook to control the movement of the animal.
Archer’s Ring: Throughout the greater part of the East the method of drawing and loosing the bow differs radically from those used in Europe. In it the thumb id put around the string and a ring is worn on it to protect it from the pressure and friction of the string when it is drawn and released. It also allows of bringing the pressure on the string at a single point close to the nock which makes the bow much more effective than the European method where three or four fingers are used to pull the bow.[1]
Asā: (Arabic). Staff.
Ashţ Dhātu: (Hindi). Eight metals.
Asi: (Sanskrit). A sword used in war and sacrifice.
Assadullah: The most celebrated of the Persian sword smiths. He lived in Ispahan in the time of Shah Abbas, 1587 – 1628. He is the best-known Persian sword maker and his blades are of the most beautiful sweep and balance, besides being of very finely watered steel.[2]
Astra: (Sanskrit). Boomerang. Any kind of missile.
Assay mark: Examination Marks.
Bāgh nakh: ‘Tiger Claw’. An Indian weapon. The name means tiger’s claw. It consists of four or five curved blades fixed to a crossbar or glove and carried concealed in the palm of the hand. On the opposite side of the bar there are two rings for the fingers.[3]
Baktar: (Persian). Coat of mail, a cuirass. Literally fish scales.
Barchhā: A spear. The word occurs in the Ain-i-Akbari and the Jahangirnama. Irvine concludes that the weapon was made entirely of iron and steel and was too heavy for use on horseback. This description does not allow for region variations in design. {Barchha A spear. The word occurs in the Ain-i-Akbari and the Jahangirnama. Irvine concludes that the weapon was made entirely of iron and steel and was too heavy for use on horseback. This description does not allow for region variations in design.}
Barchī (Hindi, Rajasthani, Marathi and Bihar). In Kannada this weapon is called a bharji in the Mysore Armoury. The Maratha weapon is described by Sinclair. ‘Short pike for use on foot. Generally has a spiked butt and long narrow square head, with no edge.’ Steingass gives ‘barchakh, a small spear of the Hindus.’ The spear is described in an account of the battle of Samel in 1544 between Rao Malde Gangavat of Jodhpur and Sher Shah Sur where the Rajputs ‘attacked the army of the Afghans with their short spears, which they call Barchha, and with their swords…’[4]
Bārud: (Arabic). Bārut (Persian and Turkish). Gunpowder.
Bicchwa or bichhwa: An Indian dagger with a doubly curved blade and a loop hilt. The shape is derived from that of the old horn daggers which had the curve of the buffalo horns from which they were made.[5]
Biduh: A square block with Persian numeric (equivalent to Sri Yantra to capture the blessings of the Almighty). Buduh[6] (Arabic). Protective magic square (also Arabic tā’wiz) found on Muslim arms, particularly swords. It is popular in Islamic society because it is believed to contain the first nine letters of the Arabic alphabet in the old Semitic sequence, which was revealed to Adam. These letters carry a numeral value and are centred round the number five. Each arrangement was considered to relate to the four elements. The letters in the corner of the square are invariably 2, 4, 6, 8 that carry a numerical value read a buduh.
Bluing: Heating of metal (iron / steel) till it turns blue in colour.
Bhuj – A short, heavy, singe-edged knife blade mounted in line with a straight handle. It was quite common in India, particularly in Sindh and the north. It frequently has a small knife concealed in the handle.[7]
Blunder Buss: A short gun or a pistol of large bore with a bell mouth. They were not regularly used as military weapons, but were kept and carried for protection against thieves. These were introduced in England, probably from Holland, in the latter part of the 16th century and into Persia and northern India in the eighteenth century.[8]
Cartouche: Design of Alams etc. that usually has inscriptions in it.
Chadi: Walking stick. It often had a hidden weapon attached to the knob at the foot of the stick that unscrews to reveal a rapier.
Chahar-Kham: Four curved Indian steel bow.
Chamfer: The angle or slope.
Chevron: Chequered pattern. Chharwālī (Rajasthāni).
Chilanum: Steel dagger associated with the Deccan, forged in one piece with a recurved blade and a thin baluster grip; with flaring quillons and a variety of pommels surmounted by an ornamental knop.[9]
Churri: Knife.
Cutlas: Comes from the family of backswords like Cutlax, Curtle Axe, Coutelace, Coutel Axe, Coutelas, Coutel Hache, Cutlash and Cutlace. The names have been in use since the 15th century, in the 18th – 19th centuries it has been practically confined to the sabres used on naval vessels.[10]
Dhūp: A straight-bladed Indian sword. It is much used in the Deccan. [11]
Farsa: Hooked steel axe head attached to a haft.
Farsi: Village Farsi mounted on a lathi.
Flintlock: In the flintlock a piece of flint held in the jaws of the cock is struck violently against a piece of steel, the hammer, sending a shower of sparks into the priming powder in the pan, and the igniting the charge. Flintlocks were invented towards the close of the 16th century in Spain and Holland at about the same time.[12]
Forte: The upper part of the blade that is attached to the hilt and is covered by the languet before the sharp blade edge begins.
Fuller: Small depressions on the blade.
Gedia: Iron or steel stick / Chadi used as a mace, otherwise known as gedia. An iron or steel 'stick' used as a mace. This is described in the Sanskrit texts as salyaka.
Gupti: An Indian sword cane.[13] It is a secret (gupt) weapon, a rapier usually short and narrow attached to a screw that forms part of another weapon like Bhuj etc.
Jambiyya: The Arab knife which, in some modification is found in every country in which the Arabs have lived. The blade is always curved and double edged and, generally has a rib down the middle.[14]
Jauhar, Jauhardar: The grain or watering of Persian steel. The steel is made of welding together pieces of varying composition and hardness to form bars, which are twisted and welded in various ways that have more to do with patterns than the original material. After the desired object is forged it is polished and etched. Varying the number of the rods used and the way they are twisted and welded can control the pattern. The most usual patterns are named from the country in which they are made, as Iran (Persia) or from the figure, as pigeon’s eye, lovers knot, chain, etc.[15]
Kard: A straight bladed Persian knife with a straight hilt and no guard. The point is often thickened to permit it to be forced through mail. They vary much in size and shape.[16]
Karod: Rajasthāni. Saw-edged, of a sword. The talwar blades made in Sirohī with sickle edged blades appear to be 19th century.
Karud: Persia, a straight bladed peshqabz.[17]
Katar: The oldest and the most characteristic of Indian knives. The peculiarity lies in the handle that is made up of two parallel bars connected by two or more crosspieces one of which is at the end of the sidebars and fastened to the blade. The blades are always double-edged and generally straight, but occasionally curved.[18]
Katār Seh-Likhana: Literally ‘Three Scratcher.’ Katar with triple blade operated by a springs from squeezing the grip.
Khanda : The oldest and most typical of Indian swords. It has a broad straight blade, usually widening towards the point, which is generally quite blunt. Sometimes it is double edged but it generally has a straightening plate with ornamental borders on the back for a considerable part of its length.[19]
Khanjar: The name is Arab and means knife or a dagger. Fine curved blade usually with single fuller and single edge on the concave side, slightly upturned at the point.
Khanjarli: Egerton gives this name to a Hindu dagger with a strongly double-curved blade and a large lunette pommel. He also calls a precisely similar knife a Khanjar.[20]
Khil’āt: (Arabic). Robe of honour. Islamic rulers gave those as a symbol of approval and authority.
Khukuri: The national knife and the principal weapon of the Gurkhas of Nepal. It has a heavy, curved, single edged blade sharp on the concave side. The hilt is usually straight without a guard; occasionally it has a disk guard and pommel like the sword from the same region. It is carried in a leather sheath with two small knives and a leather pouch.[21]
Khyber Knife / Afghan Knife / Charas / Charay / Churra / Salawar / Yatagan: The national sword of the Afridis and other tribes living in and near by Khyber Pass between India and Afghanistan. It has a straight, heavy, single-edged blade tapering gradually from the hilt to the point; and has a wide rib at the back. The hilt is without a guard and has a slight projection on one side by way of pommel. The hilt is usually formed of two flat pieces of horn, bone or ivory riveted to the flat tang.[22]
Kilidj / Kilij / Kilig / Qillij: The Turkish sabre. The blade is broader, shorter and less curved than the Persian shamshir, but the main difference from the latter is in the point. In the Persian the back is fair curve nearly parallel to the edge, while in the Turkish the curve of the back stops eight or ten inches from the point. The hilt is usually pistol shaped and made of two pieces of horn, bone, ivory or stone fastened to the flat tang. The guard is straight, slim crossbar with balls or acorns on the ends.[23]
Kindjal: The knife universally carried in Caucasus. It is practically the same as the Georgian qama. A broad double-edged blades with nearly parallel sides for the greater part of its length, and a very long sharp point. Occasionally the blades are curved, with straight hilts made often of two pieces of wood or horn.[24]
Kirich: Single edged forward curve blade with false edge.
Kirk-narduban: 40-step pattern. The ladder pattern is one of the most common in Persia. In it there are well marked bands of transverse lines crossing the blade at fairly regular intervals. They are supposed to represent the rungs of the ladder on which the faithful ascend to Paradise.[25]
Knuckle-guard / Knuckle-bow: The finger guard of a sword.
Koftgari: The false damascening of India. Scratching and picking roughen the surface of the metal to be decorated, and a thin coat of gold or silver is pressed into the lines of the pattern and is held by the burrs of the roughened surface.[26] Koft – interwoven, koftgār – a gilder, a gold beater.
Kopis / Khrobi / Khopsh: An ancient Egyptian sword with a sickle shaped, double edged blade.[27]
Kubri (Hindi): Literally hunch-back because of its exaggerated loops, a fakir’s crutch made of bent tubular steel, used as a rest for the armpit or chin as an aid to meditation and usually concealing a stiletto in the hollow haft section which unscrews.
Languet: The vertical bars at the end of the hilt.
Matchlock: The earliest mechanism of discharging a gun. In India, there were three pieces the serpentine or S-shaped lever, a long trigger and a link connecting the two pivoted to the stock near its centre and forked at its upper end to hold the match. By pressing the lower end of the lever the match was forced down into the flash pan and ignited the priming.[28]
Motipada or Motipata: Moti or pearl that are inserted to a hollow channel. These are referred to in Persian literature as the tears of the afflicted, a reference to the dagger’s victims.
Pean: The hammering rectangular block attached to the blade of an axe.
Percussion Cap: A copper cap filled with a fulminating mixture and used for igniting the charge in the gun. Fulminate of mercury is usually the principal ingredients, but it is often mixed with sulphite of antimony, chlorate of potash or other salts to regulate the rapidity of ignition. It is popularly known as Topidār.[29]
Pommel: The knob at the end of a sword, or knife, hilt or on the butt of a pistol.[30]
Pusht-khār: Back scratcher.
Qama: The national weapon of Georgia. It is the original of the Cossack kindjal. Qamas vary less in size than kindjals and are more uniformly of good workmanship.[31] (MMT / 76 / 51 & 72).
Quillon: A sword guard composed of one or more bars between the hilt and the blade. In most cases it is a single straight bar, sometimes it is curved towards the blade (recurved), at others it curves towards the pommel.[32]
Ricasso: The Squared part of a rapier / blade next to the hilt.[33]
Sabre: A sword with a single-edged slightly curved blade, usually with a short back edge. It is intended mainly for cutting, but is also effective for thrusting.[34]
Saddle Axe: Tabarzin.
Sakhela: Shiny Indian steel with low carbon content, which renders it flexible[35]. The Eastern steel that shows peculiar markings is known by a great variety of names: Damascus, Wootz, Jauhar Ondanique, Andanicum, Alkinde, Hundwani and many others. In India and Turkey the watering is almost entirely due to the difference in hardness of the steels used. All of these steels show watering of different shades of gray.[36] The grain or watering of Persian steel. The steel is made of welding together pieces of varying composition and hardness to form bars, which are twisted and welded in various ways that have more to do with patterns than the original material. After the desired object is forged it is polished and etched. Varying the number of the rods used and the way they are twisted and welded can control the pattern.[37] In India, the pattern is different. Instead of pigeon’s eye, sakhela have running water or a chain pattern with lower carbon content.
Shamshir: The curved Persian sabre purely a cutting weapon with point being completely useless owing to the extreme curvature. The blades are narrow but rather thick, and are not usually decorated except with the name of the maker or owner, and perhaps the date. The hilts are simple and light with a single cross guard and a pommel projecting at one side.
Shashqa: Curved shashqa watered steel blade made in the Caucasus (for export). These Dagistan blades were exported without hilts to Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Persia, India, Afghanistan and Russia in very large quantities. They were a cheap version of the best Persian watered steel.
Sinan: A Persian spear with a long, straight blade tapering evenly from the socket to the point. (MMT / 76 / 616).
Sipar or zipar: (Arabic and Persian). Shield.
Śiprā. (Sanskrit). Helmet.
Sosan-pattah / Sosun pattah / Sosam Pattah: Single edged blade in the shape of Lily-leaf gradually tapering from the hilt to the point and a false (turns double) edge at the end.
Spine: The Broad edge on the blade often with inscriptions.
Swordstick or Gupti Asa:
Tabazin / Tabar-I-Zin: A large two-handed battle-axe; literally a “saddle-axe”. The Afghans commonly use it. Indo-Persian saddle axe.
Talwar: The Indian sabre, class name. It includes practically all of the curved swords used in India; but those of very marked curvature are frequently called by their Persian name, shamshir. The talwar is the commonest sword in India and the blades vary enormously in size, curvature and quality. The hilts generally have short, heavy quillons and disk pommels.[38]
Tang: The part of an edged tool or weapon that is inserted in a handle.[39]
Tegha: An Indian sabre with a broad, curved blade and a hilt like that of a talwar. Both the Marathas and the Rajputs used it.[40]
Toggle Iron: A whaling harpoon with a one sided head swivelled on the end of an orpn shaft. A small hole is drilled through both head and shaft and a wooden peg os placed in it when the harpoon is to be thrown. This keeps the head in line with the shaft and, when a strain is put on the line it shears the peg, allowing the head to swing round at right angles to the shaft, thus forming a toggle which holds it securely in the body of the whale.[41]
Tongia: Axe of the Gonds of Central India. Distinctive steel tribal axe with semicircular blade.
Watered steel: The Eastern steel that shows peculiar markings is known by a great variety of names: Damascus, Wootz, Jauhar Ondanique, Andanicum, Alkinde, Hundwani and many others. In India and Turkey the watering is almost entirely due to the difference in hardness of the steels used. All of these steels show watering of different shades of grey. In Persia the watering is due, in part at least, to differences in composition.[42]
Wootz: Indian steel made direct from the ore in Catalan forges.
Zafar Takeih: Literally “the cushion of victory.” A short sword with a crutch-shaped pommel, which is also the hilt. It was carried by Indian princes when seated on the masnad (cushion) giving guidance.[43]
Zagnāl: An axe with one or two heavy curved knife-like blades.[44]
Zupin: Twin bladed spearhead made famous by mercenaries from the Caspian region of Persia.
[1] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 14
[2] ibid; P 77
[3] ibid; P 86
[4] Cited by Gommans, p.55.
[5] ibid; P 112
[6] Elgood, Robert; “Hindu Arms and Rituals”; ‘Glossary’; P 238
[7] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 112
[8] ibid; P 121
[9] Elgood, Robert; “Hindu Arms and Rituals”; ‘Glossary’; P 242
[10] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 199
[11] ibid; P 207
[12] ibid; P 233
[13] ibid; P 270
[14] ibid; P 310
[15] bid; P 320 – 321
[16] bid; P 336
[17] bid; P 338
[18] ibid; P 344
[19] ibid; P 351
[20] bid; P 352
[21] ibid; P 397
[22] ibid; P 354 - 355
[23] ibid; P 356
[24] bid; P 358
[25] bid; P 321
[26] ibid; P 368
[27] bid; P 354
[28] ibid; P 441
[29] ibid; P 162
[30] ibid; P 512
[31] ibid; P 519
[32] ibid; P 520
[33] ibid; P 527
[34] ibid; P 530
[35] Elgood, Robert; “Hindu Arms and Rituals”; ‘Glossary’; P 260
[36] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 661
[37] ibid; P 320 - 321
[38] ibid; P 601
[39] ibid; P 604
[40] ibid; P 608
[41] ibid; P 617
[42] ibid; P 661
[43] ibid; P 683
[44] ibid; P 684
Disclaimer: This glossary was created during my working in museum way back in 2005 and has not since then been revised. Please cross check with books by scholars of the field. New research has come up since then.
Ankush: Elephant Goad. Haft with hook to control the movement of the animal.
Archer’s Ring: Throughout the greater part of the East the method of drawing and loosing the bow differs radically from those used in Europe. In it the thumb id put around the string and a ring is worn on it to protect it from the pressure and friction of the string when it is drawn and released. It also allows of bringing the pressure on the string at a single point close to the nock which makes the bow much more effective than the European method where three or four fingers are used to pull the bow.[1]
Asā: (Arabic). Staff.
Ashţ Dhātu: (Hindi). Eight metals.
Asi: (Sanskrit). A sword used in war and sacrifice.
Assadullah: The most celebrated of the Persian sword smiths. He lived in Ispahan in the time of Shah Abbas, 1587 – 1628. He is the best-known Persian sword maker and his blades are of the most beautiful sweep and balance, besides being of very finely watered steel.[2]
Astra: (Sanskrit). Boomerang. Any kind of missile.
Assay mark: Examination Marks.
Bāgh nakh: ‘Tiger Claw’. An Indian weapon. The name means tiger’s claw. It consists of four or five curved blades fixed to a crossbar or glove and carried concealed in the palm of the hand. On the opposite side of the bar there are two rings for the fingers.[3]
Baktar: (Persian). Coat of mail, a cuirass. Literally fish scales.
Barchhā: A spear. The word occurs in the Ain-i-Akbari and the Jahangirnama. Irvine concludes that the weapon was made entirely of iron and steel and was too heavy for use on horseback. This description does not allow for region variations in design. {Barchha A spear. The word occurs in the Ain-i-Akbari and the Jahangirnama. Irvine concludes that the weapon was made entirely of iron and steel and was too heavy for use on horseback. This description does not allow for region variations in design.}
Barchī (Hindi, Rajasthani, Marathi and Bihar). In Kannada this weapon is called a bharji in the Mysore Armoury. The Maratha weapon is described by Sinclair. ‘Short pike for use on foot. Generally has a spiked butt and long narrow square head, with no edge.’ Steingass gives ‘barchakh, a small spear of the Hindus.’ The spear is described in an account of the battle of Samel in 1544 between Rao Malde Gangavat of Jodhpur and Sher Shah Sur where the Rajputs ‘attacked the army of the Afghans with their short spears, which they call Barchha, and with their swords…’[4]
Bārud: (Arabic). Bārut (Persian and Turkish). Gunpowder.
Bicchwa or bichhwa: An Indian dagger with a doubly curved blade and a loop hilt. The shape is derived from that of the old horn daggers which had the curve of the buffalo horns from which they were made.[5]
Biduh: A square block with Persian numeric (equivalent to Sri Yantra to capture the blessings of the Almighty). Buduh[6] (Arabic). Protective magic square (also Arabic tā’wiz) found on Muslim arms, particularly swords. It is popular in Islamic society because it is believed to contain the first nine letters of the Arabic alphabet in the old Semitic sequence, which was revealed to Adam. These letters carry a numeral value and are centred round the number five. Each arrangement was considered to relate to the four elements. The letters in the corner of the square are invariably 2, 4, 6, 8 that carry a numerical value read a buduh.
Bluing: Heating of metal (iron / steel) till it turns blue in colour.
Bhuj – A short, heavy, singe-edged knife blade mounted in line with a straight handle. It was quite common in India, particularly in Sindh and the north. It frequently has a small knife concealed in the handle.[7]
Blunder Buss: A short gun or a pistol of large bore with a bell mouth. They were not regularly used as military weapons, but were kept and carried for protection against thieves. These were introduced in England, probably from Holland, in the latter part of the 16th century and into Persia and northern India in the eighteenth century.[8]
Cartouche: Design of Alams etc. that usually has inscriptions in it.
Chadi: Walking stick. It often had a hidden weapon attached to the knob at the foot of the stick that unscrews to reveal a rapier.
Chahar-Kham: Four curved Indian steel bow.
Chamfer: The angle or slope.
Chevron: Chequered pattern. Chharwālī (Rajasthāni).
Chilanum: Steel dagger associated with the Deccan, forged in one piece with a recurved blade and a thin baluster grip; with flaring quillons and a variety of pommels surmounted by an ornamental knop.[9]
Churri: Knife.
Cutlas: Comes from the family of backswords like Cutlax, Curtle Axe, Coutelace, Coutel Axe, Coutelas, Coutel Hache, Cutlash and Cutlace. The names have been in use since the 15th century, in the 18th – 19th centuries it has been practically confined to the sabres used on naval vessels.[10]
Dhūp: A straight-bladed Indian sword. It is much used in the Deccan. [11]
Farsa: Hooked steel axe head attached to a haft.
Farsi: Village Farsi mounted on a lathi.
Flintlock: In the flintlock a piece of flint held in the jaws of the cock is struck violently against a piece of steel, the hammer, sending a shower of sparks into the priming powder in the pan, and the igniting the charge. Flintlocks were invented towards the close of the 16th century in Spain and Holland at about the same time.[12]
Forte: The upper part of the blade that is attached to the hilt and is covered by the languet before the sharp blade edge begins.
Fuller: Small depressions on the blade.
Gedia: Iron or steel stick / Chadi used as a mace, otherwise known as gedia. An iron or steel 'stick' used as a mace. This is described in the Sanskrit texts as salyaka.
Gupti: An Indian sword cane.[13] It is a secret (gupt) weapon, a rapier usually short and narrow attached to a screw that forms part of another weapon like Bhuj etc.
Jambiyya: The Arab knife which, in some modification is found in every country in which the Arabs have lived. The blade is always curved and double edged and, generally has a rib down the middle.[14]
Jauhar, Jauhardar: The grain or watering of Persian steel. The steel is made of welding together pieces of varying composition and hardness to form bars, which are twisted and welded in various ways that have more to do with patterns than the original material. After the desired object is forged it is polished and etched. Varying the number of the rods used and the way they are twisted and welded can control the pattern. The most usual patterns are named from the country in which they are made, as Iran (Persia) or from the figure, as pigeon’s eye, lovers knot, chain, etc.[15]
Kard: A straight bladed Persian knife with a straight hilt and no guard. The point is often thickened to permit it to be forced through mail. They vary much in size and shape.[16]
Karod: Rajasthāni. Saw-edged, of a sword. The talwar blades made in Sirohī with sickle edged blades appear to be 19th century.
Karud: Persia, a straight bladed peshqabz.[17]
Katar: The oldest and the most characteristic of Indian knives. The peculiarity lies in the handle that is made up of two parallel bars connected by two or more crosspieces one of which is at the end of the sidebars and fastened to the blade. The blades are always double-edged and generally straight, but occasionally curved.[18]
Katār Seh-Likhana: Literally ‘Three Scratcher.’ Katar with triple blade operated by a springs from squeezing the grip.
Khanda : The oldest and most typical of Indian swords. It has a broad straight blade, usually widening towards the point, which is generally quite blunt. Sometimes it is double edged but it generally has a straightening plate with ornamental borders on the back for a considerable part of its length.[19]
Khanjar: The name is Arab and means knife or a dagger. Fine curved blade usually with single fuller and single edge on the concave side, slightly upturned at the point.
Khanjarli: Egerton gives this name to a Hindu dagger with a strongly double-curved blade and a large lunette pommel. He also calls a precisely similar knife a Khanjar.[20]
Khil’āt: (Arabic). Robe of honour. Islamic rulers gave those as a symbol of approval and authority.
Khukuri: The national knife and the principal weapon of the Gurkhas of Nepal. It has a heavy, curved, single edged blade sharp on the concave side. The hilt is usually straight without a guard; occasionally it has a disk guard and pommel like the sword from the same region. It is carried in a leather sheath with two small knives and a leather pouch.[21]
Khyber Knife / Afghan Knife / Charas / Charay / Churra / Salawar / Yatagan: The national sword of the Afridis and other tribes living in and near by Khyber Pass between India and Afghanistan. It has a straight, heavy, single-edged blade tapering gradually from the hilt to the point; and has a wide rib at the back. The hilt is without a guard and has a slight projection on one side by way of pommel. The hilt is usually formed of two flat pieces of horn, bone or ivory riveted to the flat tang.[22]
Kilidj / Kilij / Kilig / Qillij: The Turkish sabre. The blade is broader, shorter and less curved than the Persian shamshir, but the main difference from the latter is in the point. In the Persian the back is fair curve nearly parallel to the edge, while in the Turkish the curve of the back stops eight or ten inches from the point. The hilt is usually pistol shaped and made of two pieces of horn, bone, ivory or stone fastened to the flat tang. The guard is straight, slim crossbar with balls or acorns on the ends.[23]
Kindjal: The knife universally carried in Caucasus. It is practically the same as the Georgian qama. A broad double-edged blades with nearly parallel sides for the greater part of its length, and a very long sharp point. Occasionally the blades are curved, with straight hilts made often of two pieces of wood or horn.[24]
Kirich: Single edged forward curve blade with false edge.
Kirk-narduban: 40-step pattern. The ladder pattern is one of the most common in Persia. In it there are well marked bands of transverse lines crossing the blade at fairly regular intervals. They are supposed to represent the rungs of the ladder on which the faithful ascend to Paradise.[25]
Knuckle-guard / Knuckle-bow: The finger guard of a sword.
Koftgari: The false damascening of India. Scratching and picking roughen the surface of the metal to be decorated, and a thin coat of gold or silver is pressed into the lines of the pattern and is held by the burrs of the roughened surface.[26] Koft – interwoven, koftgār – a gilder, a gold beater.
Kopis / Khrobi / Khopsh: An ancient Egyptian sword with a sickle shaped, double edged blade.[27]
Kubri (Hindi): Literally hunch-back because of its exaggerated loops, a fakir’s crutch made of bent tubular steel, used as a rest for the armpit or chin as an aid to meditation and usually concealing a stiletto in the hollow haft section which unscrews.
Languet: The vertical bars at the end of the hilt.
Matchlock: The earliest mechanism of discharging a gun. In India, there were three pieces the serpentine or S-shaped lever, a long trigger and a link connecting the two pivoted to the stock near its centre and forked at its upper end to hold the match. By pressing the lower end of the lever the match was forced down into the flash pan and ignited the priming.[28]
Motipada or Motipata: Moti or pearl that are inserted to a hollow channel. These are referred to in Persian literature as the tears of the afflicted, a reference to the dagger’s victims.
Pean: The hammering rectangular block attached to the blade of an axe.
Percussion Cap: A copper cap filled with a fulminating mixture and used for igniting the charge in the gun. Fulminate of mercury is usually the principal ingredients, but it is often mixed with sulphite of antimony, chlorate of potash or other salts to regulate the rapidity of ignition. It is popularly known as Topidār.[29]
Pommel: The knob at the end of a sword, or knife, hilt or on the butt of a pistol.[30]
Pusht-khār: Back scratcher.
Qama: The national weapon of Georgia. It is the original of the Cossack kindjal. Qamas vary less in size than kindjals and are more uniformly of good workmanship.[31] (MMT / 76 / 51 & 72).
Quillon: A sword guard composed of one or more bars between the hilt and the blade. In most cases it is a single straight bar, sometimes it is curved towards the blade (recurved), at others it curves towards the pommel.[32]
Ricasso: The Squared part of a rapier / blade next to the hilt.[33]
Sabre: A sword with a single-edged slightly curved blade, usually with a short back edge. It is intended mainly for cutting, but is also effective for thrusting.[34]
Saddle Axe: Tabarzin.
Sakhela: Shiny Indian steel with low carbon content, which renders it flexible[35]. The Eastern steel that shows peculiar markings is known by a great variety of names: Damascus, Wootz, Jauhar Ondanique, Andanicum, Alkinde, Hundwani and many others. In India and Turkey the watering is almost entirely due to the difference in hardness of the steels used. All of these steels show watering of different shades of gray.[36] The grain or watering of Persian steel. The steel is made of welding together pieces of varying composition and hardness to form bars, which are twisted and welded in various ways that have more to do with patterns than the original material. After the desired object is forged it is polished and etched. Varying the number of the rods used and the way they are twisted and welded can control the pattern.[37] In India, the pattern is different. Instead of pigeon’s eye, sakhela have running water or a chain pattern with lower carbon content.
Shamshir: The curved Persian sabre purely a cutting weapon with point being completely useless owing to the extreme curvature. The blades are narrow but rather thick, and are not usually decorated except with the name of the maker or owner, and perhaps the date. The hilts are simple and light with a single cross guard and a pommel projecting at one side.
Shashqa: Curved shashqa watered steel blade made in the Caucasus (for export). These Dagistan blades were exported without hilts to Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Persia, India, Afghanistan and Russia in very large quantities. They were a cheap version of the best Persian watered steel.
Sinan: A Persian spear with a long, straight blade tapering evenly from the socket to the point. (MMT / 76 / 616).
Sipar or zipar: (Arabic and Persian). Shield.
Śiprā. (Sanskrit). Helmet.
Sosan-pattah / Sosun pattah / Sosam Pattah: Single edged blade in the shape of Lily-leaf gradually tapering from the hilt to the point and a false (turns double) edge at the end.
Spine: The Broad edge on the blade often with inscriptions.
Swordstick or Gupti Asa:
Tabazin / Tabar-I-Zin: A large two-handed battle-axe; literally a “saddle-axe”. The Afghans commonly use it. Indo-Persian saddle axe.
Talwar: The Indian sabre, class name. It includes practically all of the curved swords used in India; but those of very marked curvature are frequently called by their Persian name, shamshir. The talwar is the commonest sword in India and the blades vary enormously in size, curvature and quality. The hilts generally have short, heavy quillons and disk pommels.[38]
Tang: The part of an edged tool or weapon that is inserted in a handle.[39]
Tegha: An Indian sabre with a broad, curved blade and a hilt like that of a talwar. Both the Marathas and the Rajputs used it.[40]
Toggle Iron: A whaling harpoon with a one sided head swivelled on the end of an orpn shaft. A small hole is drilled through both head and shaft and a wooden peg os placed in it when the harpoon is to be thrown. This keeps the head in line with the shaft and, when a strain is put on the line it shears the peg, allowing the head to swing round at right angles to the shaft, thus forming a toggle which holds it securely in the body of the whale.[41]
Tongia: Axe of the Gonds of Central India. Distinctive steel tribal axe with semicircular blade.
Watered steel: The Eastern steel that shows peculiar markings is known by a great variety of names: Damascus, Wootz, Jauhar Ondanique, Andanicum, Alkinde, Hundwani and many others. In India and Turkey the watering is almost entirely due to the difference in hardness of the steels used. All of these steels show watering of different shades of grey. In Persia the watering is due, in part at least, to differences in composition.[42]
Wootz: Indian steel made direct from the ore in Catalan forges.
Zafar Takeih: Literally “the cushion of victory.” A short sword with a crutch-shaped pommel, which is also the hilt. It was carried by Indian princes when seated on the masnad (cushion) giving guidance.[43]
Zagnāl: An axe with one or two heavy curved knife-like blades.[44]
Zupin: Twin bladed spearhead made famous by mercenaries from the Caspian region of Persia.
[1] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 14
[2] ibid; P 77
[3] ibid; P 86
[4] Cited by Gommans, p.55.
[5] ibid; P 112
[6] Elgood, Robert; “Hindu Arms and Rituals”; ‘Glossary’; P 238
[7] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 112
[8] ibid; P 121
[9] Elgood, Robert; “Hindu Arms and Rituals”; ‘Glossary’; P 242
[10] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 199
[11] ibid; P 207
[12] ibid; P 233
[13] ibid; P 270
[14] ibid; P 310
[15] bid; P 320 – 321
[16] bid; P 336
[17] bid; P 338
[18] ibid; P 344
[19] ibid; P 351
[20] bid; P 352
[21] ibid; P 397
[22] ibid; P 354 - 355
[23] ibid; P 356
[24] bid; P 358
[25] bid; P 321
[26] ibid; P 368
[27] bid; P 354
[28] ibid; P 441
[29] ibid; P 162
[30] ibid; P 512
[31] ibid; P 519
[32] ibid; P 520
[33] ibid; P 527
[34] ibid; P 530
[35] Elgood, Robert; “Hindu Arms and Rituals”; ‘Glossary’; P 260
[36] Stone, George Cameron; “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in all countries and in all times”; P 661
[37] ibid; P 320 - 321
[38] ibid; P 601
[39] ibid; P 604
[40] ibid; P 608
[41] ibid; P 617
[42] ibid; P 661
[43] ibid; P 683
[44] ibid; P 684
Disclaimer: This glossary was created during my working in museum way back in 2005 and has not since then been revised. Please cross check with books by scholars of the field. New research has come up since then.
No comments:
Post a Comment