Elephant Sword
Elephants were used in warfare in India for approximately a thousand years. In addition to armor, war elephants sometimes were equipped with swords, also called tusk swords, which are pairs of blades specially designed to be attached to their tusks. Although hundreds, possibly thousands of elephant swords may have existed in the past, only four pairs and this single example are known to survive today.
Artwork Details
- Title: Elephant Sword
- Date: 15th–17th century
- Culture: Indian
- Medium: Iron or steel
- Dimensions: L. 24 in. (61.2 cm); Wt. 5 lb. 3 oz. (2362 g)
- Classification: Swords
- Credit Line: Gift of Jeri Garbaccio, in honor of Donald J. La Rocca, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.103
- Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor
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blade, possibly Iranian; guard and decoration on blade, Turkish; grip, Indian
blade, 18th–19th century; guard and decoration on blade, 19th century; grip, 18th century
Indian, Mughal
1605–27
grip, Indian; guard, scabbard, and decoration on blade, Turkish; blade, Iranian
grip, 18th or 19th century; guard and scabbard, 19th century; blade, dated A.H. 1099/1688 CE; decoration on blade, 19th century
Indian, Sindh (now Pakistan)
late 18th–first half of the 19th century
hilt, possibly India; blade, possibly European
possibly 1790
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