Moplah (sword)
Moplah (sword) | |
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Information | |
Weapon type: | sword |
Use: | Weapon, tool |
Creation time: | approx. 17th century |
Working time: | til today |
Region of origin / author: |
India , Moplah tribe |
Distribution: | India |
Overall length: | approx. 60 cm |
Blade length: | approx. 35 cm |
Blade width: | approx. 10 cm |
Handle: | Metal, wood, horn |
Particularities: | The moplah is carried on the back without a scabbard in a special silver belt. |
Lists on the subject |
The Moplah is a sword that was befittingly carried by the Moplahs , the Muslim population on the Malabar coast in southwest India .
history
The Moplahs used the sword as a weapon and tool from around the 17th century. It was used in several uprisings, including the so-called Moplah uprising of 1921/22 against the British colonizers .
description
The Moplah sword has a light, wide and double-edged blade that widens near the place (tip) and is slightly concave. The blade is smoothly ground and has no hollow grind (wrongly blood groove ). In some versions, the blade has a strong central ridge that extends to the tip. The handle is usually carved from wood, horn or bone and has no guard. The end of the handle has an inwardly curved, knob-like extension. At the transition between the blade and the handle there are often decorations that usually have traditional or religious significance. The blades are about 35 cm long, at the widest point about 10 cm wide and have a total length of about 60 cm. The sword was carried without a scabbard face down in a wide belt on the back.
See also
- Ayda Katti (similar weapon, but different knob)
literature
- George Cameron Stone , Donald J. LaRocca, A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times , Courier Dover Publications, 1999, ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5 , p 454
- Lord Egerton of Tatton, Wilbraham Egerton Egerton, Indian and Oriental Armor , Courier Dover Publications, 2002, illustrated edition, ISBN 978-0-486-42229-9
- Indian Museum, Indian and Oriental Arms and Armor , Courier Dover Publications, 2002, ISBN 978-0-486-42229-9
- Robert Elgood, The arms and armor of Arabia in the 18th-19th and 20th centuries , Scolar Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-85967-972-5