It’s worth noting that the blade was forged this way (its centre-line matches the edges), a more expensive and skilled process than being forged as a plain curve and then the serrations ground in, like these:
When I was looking for those photo examples, I kept finding them - tulwars, shamshirs, various other curved blades - being called “zulfiqar”, as if this was the proper name for a serrated scimitar.
In fact it’s not: “Zulfiqar” was the named sword of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, and its defining feature is a split or double point. This one is a tulwar…
…and these two are shamshirs (the different names seem more to do with where they come from and what hilt they use than anything else)…
They weren’t always made narrow: these are heavy tegha blades, this one on a tulwar hilt…
…and this one on a khanda hilt…
Zulfiqar swords sometimes weren’t serrated…
…sometimes they weren’t curved…
…and sometimes they were just odd.
Though a knuckle-guard would make things much clearer, the serrations on this blade indicate its edge is towards the bottom of the photo; that said, I’m not sure Zulfiqar-form swords were meant for fighting.
This blade’s edge is where you’d expect it, even if the blade itself isn’t an expected shape and what its scabbard looked like is anybody’s guess.
But then, as I’ve mentioned often, if you want to see exotically shaped weapons that might inspire fantasy weapon designs - sometimes made IMO by smiths passing their final apprenticeship exam or just showing off their skill, rather than because the weird weapons were more effective - India is a good place to start.
It’s also a great place for weapons fitted to other weapons, like this khanda with a percussion cap pistol mounted on one side and a small katar punch dagger clipped to the other.
That katar could itself have been fitted with a couple of flintlock guns…
…or a hand-guard and a couple of extra blades…
…or a hand-guard and a LOT of extra blades…
As for staff-weapons, they may have looked like ordinary zaghnal fighting-picks or bhuj hatchet-knives or tabar axes, but often they had hidden surprises, usually screw-out daggers…
…but occasionally yet another gun; this one’s a flintlock.
Oh, and there’s a dagger as well, because why not? In fact these stings-in-the-tail seem so common that the real surprise may have been finding one that had no extras at all.
Where Indian weapon-makers were concerned, forging a beautiful snake-sinuous blade like that OP tulwar was just getting off to a good start.
areudirty
titsay
