The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.408

v1.c10.408

A belt was usually tied round the waist to suspend the sword, and a sword-knot was not infrequently put on. Both these were known by the common name of *mekhalā*, which, in the case of women, was very appropriately employed to indicate the zone or girdle. The sword-knot was sometimes formed of a metallic chain fastened to the hilt, and in fighting bound round the wrist to secure the weapon—a procedure which must have proved very troublesome whenever the blade snapped in the midst of a fray.