Tulwar beads?

T

Trevor Calder

I've just bought a tulwar - certainly not new (I'd guess probably late 19th/early 20th century and Punjabi in origin) and since it was covered in crud I cleaned it up a little.
As I was doing so, I found a couple of very small mother of pearl beads in the resin used to set the blade into the hilt.

It looks as though something like a small bracelet of these beads was set in place when the sword was made. This is the first time I've seen this and none of my normal books mention it.

I can guess the usual sort of vague stuff like "for good luck" or "religious purposes" myself - but I'd be interested if anyone has any real information on why this might have been done.



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"..it is foolishness and endless trouble to cast a
stone at every dog that barks at you.."
 
Trevor, you may want to check with the gang over in the Himalayan Imports forum as they have some people there that are fairly knowledgeable about this sword style.

Harry
 
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