Tusk sword
| Tusk sword | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Stabbing weapon |
| Designations: | elephant tusk sword |
| Use: | weapon |
| Creation time: | before 331 BC Chr. |
| Working time: | approx. 19th century |
| Region of origin / author: |
India , Persia |
| Distribution: | India, Persia, North Africa |
| Overall length: | approx. 150 cm |
| Handle: | Bronze, iron, steel |
| Particularities: | The tusk swords have not been used since the development of firearms. |
| Lists on the subject | |
The tusk sword ( Engl . Elephant tusk sword) is a slashing and stabbing weapon , which in India as a weapon of war elephants was developed.
description
Tusk swords were mostly used in pairs on elephants' ivory tusks. The blades are pointed and wide. Various blade shapes with lengths of up to 1.5 meters were produced. At the rear end the swords are round and reinforced; the end is hollow and is used to attach to the tusks of the war elephants. For this purpose, screws are attached in this area with which the swords can be securely attached to the tusks.
history
The earliest reports of tusked-sword war elephants come from Sung Yun , a Chinese explorer. According to the sources, the use of tusk swords is only known in a few specially trained elephants. In Persia and India, saddles (also called Howdah ) and armor were developed to protect the elephants. The shell covered the trunk, head, back, flanks and legs of the elephant. With the development of firearms, the use of war elephants, and thus also tusk swords, gradually became meaningless. However, they were used in Indian battles well into the 18th century (e.g. the Third Battle of Panipat , 1761).
literature
- Robin Lane Fox: Alexander the Great. Penguin, New York 2004, ISBN 0-14-102076-8 .
- Konstantin S. Nossov: War Elephants. Osprey, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-1-84603-268-4 ( New Vanguard 150).
- HH Scullard : The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World. Thames and Hudson, London 1974. ISBN 0-500-40025-3 .
- Peter Wilcox: Rome's Enemies. Volume 3: Parthians and Sassanid Persians. Osprey, London 2000, ISBN 0-85045-688-6 ( Men-at-arms Series 175).
Web links
- Excerpt from the English-language documentary film Warrior Empire: The Mughals - Mughal war elephants with descriptions of tusk swords and their use ( YouTube video)
Individual evidence
- ↑ collections.royalarmouries.org: Elephant tusk sword (one of a pair), India, about 1600 ( Memento from May 11, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Nick Evangelista, William M. Gaugler, The encyclopedia of the sword , 203, accessed Jun. 14, 2009
- ↑ John M. Kistler, War Elephants , in the chapter The great Mahout, page 213 ff. (Accessed June 14, 2009)
- ↑ collections.royalarmouries.org: Throat defense (elephant armor) ( Memento from May 11, 2018 in the Internet Archive )