Marwar hilted shamshir

A fine ‘talwar‘ hilted ‘shamshir‘ from the Marwar region, Rajasthan. The ‘shamshir‘ is of Persian origin and is often referred to as ‘lion claw’ due to its heavy curve representing a claw. The grips vary by region and are traditionally fitted with a pistol grip hilt with horn or ivory slabs, full steel or mounted on an Indian ‘talwar‘ hilt such as our example here.

The hilt:
In typical ‘Karan Shahi’ style, often seen within the Rajput culture in the Marwar (Jodhpur) region in North West India. The hilt is made of two pieces of iron, welded together with a large pommel disc featuring a stylistic pattern which represents the sun, where many Rajput clans claim their origin from. The hilt is lavishly decorated with a thick silver overlay in typical Marwar style patterns. The inside of the pommel disc is decorated with a Hindi inscription.

The blade:
A fine consistent wootz blade likely imported from Persia or made in India. The pattern shows a fine consistent grain all over the entire length of the blade. The blade is curved and single edged with a near flat spine on almost the entire blade. A cartouche is chiseled near the point of balance and shows a hardly readable phrase which was fashioned in this period, just to make blades look more interesting on the arms market back then.

Comes with original velvet covered scabbard which seem to depict randomly placed embroidered stars.