art on the battlefield

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PHOTOS: COURTESY NIYOGI BOOKS
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1. & 2. SABRE • TULWAR
Hilt: Mughal, 19th century; blade:
Persian, late 17th or early 18th century;
The steel tulwar’s hilt is inlaid with twocolour gold and silver flowers. The
Persian flamboyant watered steel blade
has inlaid inscription at the forte
3. CHILANUM
Deccan, third quarter of the 17th century;
The bright steel hilt is of ‘X’ form with a
knuckleguard, large triangular languet
and two sets of quillons
4. KHANJAR
South Indian, possibly Mysore, second
half of the 17th century; The pistol-grip
steel hilt is made in sections with an
appliquecypress tree design covering
the joint
5. CHILANUM
Deccan, possibly Ahmadnagar; second
half of the 17th century;
One-piece steel dagger has a doubleedged recurved blade with reinforced
point. The central sunken panel has
three raised ribs and a lotus motif at
the forte
6. COMBINATION KATAR AND PISTOL
Jaipur, late 18th century; A pair of
flintlock pistols with turn-off barrels
and folding triggers is mounted on
the katar
7. AXE • TABARZIN
North Indian, second quarter of 18th
century; The watered steel axe head
has contrasting gold decoration on a
cross-hatched ground along with a
leather shield
8. Soldiers in traditional attire. A 19thcentury photograph from the
Palace archive
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ART ON THE
BATTLEFIELD
In his new book, Arms and Armour at the Jaipur Court: The
Royal Collection, Robert Elgood, an expert on arms and
armour, describes the most fascinating weaponry in the
collection of the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum
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9. PRIMING FLASK • HAMANCHA
North India, 18th century; The
chinkara horn priming flask
has ivory ends, the filler in the
form of a painted green makara
swallowing a whole boar
holds the stopper in
its mouth.
CHINKARA HORN PRIMING
FLASK • BARUT-DAN
Rajput, second half of the 17th
or early 18th century; The
carved ivory gunpowder
priming flask is in the form of a
chinkara with black painted
upper body.
10. PISTOL • TABANCA
English with later Indian
decoration, c. 1685
11. INDIAN FLINTLOCK GUN
Alwar, 1839; The Indian lock has
a rain-proof pan and the frizzen
spring has a roller
12. MACE • KAUNODAKI
The all-steel mace has a lotus
bud head
13. EXERCISE BOW • LEZAM
Rajput, 19th century; The large,
reflex, chahar khambow is made
of horn, sinew and wood
14. CROWBILL • ZAGHNOL •
JAGNOL • DAO
Rajput, c. 1830; The steel head
has a triangular razor-edged
blade with reinforced point and
sunken central sections with
raised ribs
15. HELMET • KHUD
Deccan, 16th century; A watered
steel helmet
16. CUIRASS • CHAR-AINA
Persia, mid-19th century; This
cuirass comprises four plates,
the inner section is made of
watered steel
17. ARMGUARDS • BAZUBAND
Mughal, Delhi, 17th or early 18th
century with later additions
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