|
Firangi (sword)
The firangi (; derived from the Arabic term (al- faranji) for a Western European Frank"]) (Marathi language, Marathi:फिरंगाना) was an Indian sword type which used blades manufactured in Western Europe, particularly Solingen, and imported by the Portuguese, or made locally in imitation of European blades.Stone and LaRocca, p. 229 Physical characteristics The firangi sword characteristically had a long, , straight blade of either broadsword (two edged) or, more commonly, backsword (single edged) form. The blade often incorporated one, two, or three fullers (grooves) and had a spear-tip shaped point. The sword could be used to both cut and thrust. Examples with narrow rapier blades have survived, though in small numbers. The hilt was of the type sometimes called the "Indian basket-hilt" and was identical to that of another Indian straight-bladed sword the khanda. The hilt afforded a substantial amount of protection for the hand and had a prominent spike projecting fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peshwa
The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, under the Bhat family, they became the ''de facto'' leaders of the Maratha Confederacy, with the Chhatrapati becoming a nominal ruler. During the last years of the Maratha Empire, the Peshwas themselves were reduced to titular leaders, and remained under the authority of the Maratha nobles and the British East India Company. All Peshwas during the rule of Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram belonged to Deshastha Brahmin community. The first Peshwa was Moropant Pingle, who was appointed as the head of the Ashta Pradhan (council of eight ministers) by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire. The initial Peshwas were all ministers who served as the chief executives to the king. The later Peshwas held the highest adminis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marathi Language
Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state of Goa. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India, with 83 million speakers as of 2011. Marathi ranks 11th in the List of languages by number of native speakers, list of languages with most native speakers in the world. Marathi has the List of languages by number of native speakers in India, third largest number of native speakers in India, after Hindi Language, Hindi and Bengali language, Bengali. The language has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indian languages. The major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi and the Varhadi dialect. Marathi distinguishes Clusivity, inclusive and exclusive forms of 'we' and possesses a three-way Grammatical gender, gender system, that features the neuter in addition to the masculine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Mutiny
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in the garrison town of Meerut, northeast of Delhi. It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east. The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British power in that region, and was contained only with the rebels' defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858., , and On 1 November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the hostilities to have formally ended until 8 July 1859. Its name is contested, and it is variously described as the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hodson's Horse
4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) is a part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army, which had its beginnings as an irregular cavalry regiment during the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Formation The regiment was raised during the turbulent times of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. During the siege of Delhi, on 19 May 1857, an order was issued by the Commander-in-Chief, Major General George Anson to appoint Lieutenant (later Brevet Major) William Stephen Raikes Hodson as the Commandant of a corps of Irregular Horse, which he was directed to raise, while at Kurnaul. Hodson sought assistance from Robert Montgomery, Judicial Commissioner of the Punjab. Montgomery asked two Sirdars to raise a rissalah (troop) each, and he raised one himself. The three rissalahs left for Delhi on 23 June 1857 under the command of Man Singh, who was Risaldar-Major of the 1st Regiment from 1866 to 1877. Mr Montgomery sent two more rissalahs on 9 July 1857. The troops were mainly from the Lahore and A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the dynasty and the empire itself became indisputably Indian. The interests and futures of all concerned were in India, not in ancestral homelands in the Middle East or Central Asia. Furthermore, the Mughal empire emerged from the Indian historical experience. It was the end product of a millennium of Muslim conquest, colonization, and state-building in the Indian subcontinent." For some two hundred years, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus river basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India. Quote: "The realm so defined and governed was a vast territory of some , rang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maratha
The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a Marathi-speaking state of India in 1960, as part of a nationwide linguistic reorganization of the Indian states. The term "Maratha" is generally used by historians to refer to all Marathi-speaking peoples, irrespective of their caste; however, now it may refer to a Maharashtrian caste known as the Maratha. The Marathi community came into political prominence in the 17th century, when the Maratha Empire was established under Chhatrapati Shivaji; the Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending Mughal rule over India. History Ancient to medieval period During the ancient period, around 230 BC, Maharashtra came under the rule of the Satavahana dynasty, which ruled the region for 400 years.India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talwar
The talwar (), also spelled ''talwaar'' and ''tulwar'', is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent. Etymology and classification The word ''talwar'' originated from the Sanskrit word ''taravāri'' ( sa, तरवारि) which means "one-edged sword". It is the word for ''sword'' in several related languages, such as Hindustani (Urdu and Hindi), Nepali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, etc. and as () in Bengali. Like many swords from around the world with an etymology derived from a term meaning simply 'sword', the talwar has in scholarship, and in museum and collector usage, acquired a more specific meaning. Unfortunately, South Asian swords, while showing a rich diversity of forms, suffer from relatively poor dating (so developmental history is obscure) and a lack of precise nomenclature and classification. The typical talwar is a type of sabre, characterised by a curved blade (without the radical curve of some Persian swords), possessing an all-metal hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shahjahan On Globe, Mid 17th Century
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mughals reached the peak of their architectural achievements and cultural glory. The third son of Jahangir (), Shah Jahan participated in the military campaigns against the Rajputs of Mewar and the Lodis of Deccan. After Jahangir's death in October 1627, Shah Jahan defeated his youngest brother Shahryar Mirza and crowned himself emperor in the Agra Fort. In addition to Shahryar, Shah Jahan executed most of his rival claimants to the throne. He commissioned many monuments, including the Red Fort, Shah Jahan Mosque and the Taj Mahal, where his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal is entombed. In foreign affairs, Shah Jahan presided over the aggressive campaigns against the Deccan Sultanates, the conflicts with the Portuguese, and the wars with Safavi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khanda (sword)
The khanda ( sa, खड्ग) is a double-edge straight sword originating from the Indian subcontinent. The Maratha warrior clans venerated the khanda as a weapon of great prestige. It is often featured in religious iconography, theatre and art depicting the ancient history of India. It is a common weapon in Indian martial arts.M. L. K. Murty (2003), p91 Khanda often appears in the Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Hindu scriptures and art. Etymology The word ''khanda'' has its origins in the Sanskrit 'Rocky Pendergrass, 201Mythological Swords Page 10. (खड्ग) or ', from a root ' meaning "to break, divide, cut, destroy". The older word for a bladed weapon, ', is used in the Rigveda in reference to either an early form of the sword or to a sacrificial knife or dagger to be used in war. Appearance The blade broadens from the hilt to the point, which is usually quite blunt. While both edges are sharp, one side usually has a strengthening plate along most of its length, which both a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rapier
A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Important sources for rapier fencing include the Italian Bolognese group, with early representatives such as Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo publishing in the 1530s, and reaching the peak of its popularity with writers of the early 1600s (Salvator Fabris, Ridolfo Capo Ferro). In Spain, rapier fencing came to be known under the term of ("dexterity") in the second half of the 16th century, based on the theories of Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza in his work ("The Philosophy of Arms and of their Dexterity and of Aggression and the Christian Defence"), published in 1569. The best known treatise of this tradition was published in French, by Girard Thibault, in 1630. The French small sword or court sword of the 18th century was a direct co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fuller (weapon)
A fuller is a rounded or beveled longitudinal groove or slot along the flat side of a blade (e.g., a sword, knife, or bayonet) that serves to both lighten and stiffen the blade. It is made using a blacksmithing tool called a fuller, a form of a spring swage, or impressed during forging. When combined with proper distal tapers, heat treatment and blade tempering, a fullered blade can be 20% to 35% lighter than a non-fullered blade, yet also stiffer, thanks to having two reinforcing ridges created by the opposing sides of the fuller. This stiffening effect increases dramatically with blade length. A fuller is often used to widen a blade during smithing or forging. Fullers are sometimes inaccurately called blood grooves or blood gutters. Channelling blood is not the purpose of a fuller. Etymology The term "fuller" is from the Old English ''fuliere'', meaning 'one that fulls leatscloth'. It is derived from the Latin word ''fullo''. The first recorded use of the term in relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backsword
A backsword is a type of sword characterised by having a single-edged blade and a hilt with a single-handed grip. It is so called because the triangular cross section gives a flat back edge opposite the cutting edge. Later examples often have a "false edge" on the back near the tip, which was in many cases sharpened to make an actual edge and facilitate thrusting attacks. From around the early 14th century, the backsword became the first type of European sword to be fitted with a knuckle guard. The term "backsword" can also refer to the singlestick, which is used to train for fighting with the backsword, or to the sport or art of fighting in this fashion. Backswording was an alternative term for singlesticking tournaments in England. Being easier and cheaper to make than double-edged swords, backswords became the favored sidearm of common infantry, including irregulars such as the Highland Scots, which in Scottish Gaelic were called the ''claidheamh cuil'' (back sword), after o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Fuller (weapon)")
_-_no_BG.png "Click for more on -> Backsword")