A Most Exotic & Impressive Indian Double Bladed Short Sword. This Actual Rare Short Sword or Long Dagger Was Featured Within The Lyle Arms and Armour Review Exactly 40 Years Ago in 1983

A previous specialist collector acquired this uniquely intriguing piece exactly 40 years ago from a world famous specialist auction, and allowed its inclusion in the annual Lyle Antiques Review book for inclusion.
This amazing piece is most reminiscent of the Indian double bladed bichwa, an assassins dagger from the old Mughal era, although this example is much bigger than a similar twin blades bichwa

Its twin serpent blades have twin fullers, a cast silvered-brass hilt, decorated with ornate designs.

To use such an extravagant weapon one would have had to have been very skilled and highly trained in its use, for the potential for the holder to do harm to his self must have been quite great.

It is so unusual that many today have never seen a surviving example like it before, and thus assumed that no example, or even a record of them, any longer existed. Incredibly, however, just recently we have found how that assumption was entirely mistaken. When we had acquired the dagger, the last previous owner mentioned to us this actual piece was photographed, and described, forty years ago, when it was published in 1983, within a highly respected reference book of fine arms, The Lyle Official Arms and Armour Review for 1983, {on page 34.}. But he had lost his original copy.
We then decided to trace a copy, and we were fortunately quickly successful. Within the book It is indeed listed, and photographed, and was described, complete with its auction sale price, {310 Dollars} at that time, as follows;

"Rare Indian U shaped double thrusting dagger, slightly waved bi-fullered double edged blades with squared ricassos, chisseled silvered brass grip with flowers and foliage".

We show a photograph in the gallery of its entry, photograph and listing with price, within the book. It also clearly shows what a sound financial investment this particular piece had become over the passing four decades.

It is a very attractive collectors item, likely 19th century, and without doubt a remarkable conversation piece. One Indian weaponry specialist once remarked he has seen a similar example once before in a museum in Delhi. It was within a one piece twin blade scabbard mounted upon an armoured horse’s parade saddle, with a display of a seated warrior upon the horse, adorned in a full suite of gold inlaid Mughal parade armour. It was, in his opinion, a short sword, to be used by a warrior while held in his left hand, when in combat if dismounted on foot, with a tulwar sword held in his right hand. A weapon effective as much as for intimidation as for function.

17.5 inches long overall.

Code: 22521