The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c10.s2: II. The Mace
The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration c10.s2
- Language
- English
II. The Mace
c10.s2.1
This formidable-looking weapon, the mace (*gurz*), usually formed part of the panoply of a Moghul warrior, at any rate if he were of any considerable rank. It appears as N°. 25 in the *Āīn* list, i, 111, and varieties of it are entered under N°. 26 (*shashbur*) and N°. 29 (*piyāzī*). Blochmann gives no figure of the latter, N°. 29, and from his remarks on p. x he seems a little doubtful as to what it was. The *gurz* is shown in figure 23, plate xii, of the *Āīn* as a short-handled club with three large round balls at the end. Another kind, the *shashbur*, or lung-tearer ¹, figure 21, has a single head, of a round shape; and from Egerton, 23, plate i, N°. 35, I should suppose that it was made up of semi-circular, cutting blades arranged round a centre. Of the *gurz*, or mace proper, there are three examples in the Indian Museum. N°. 466 (p. 115 and plate x) is 2 feet 7 inches long, with a many bladed double-head, that is one head above the other; N°. 574 (p. 123 and plate x) has a globular head of 3 inches in diameter and a shaft of steel gilt, length 2 feet 2 inches; N°. 616 (p. 130) is 2 feet 2 inches long and has a steel shaft with a six-bladed head. Other weapons of a similar kind named by Egerton are the *Dhara*, the *Garguz* and the *Khandlī-Phānsī*. The *Dhara*, N°. 468 (p. 115), has a six bladed head and octagonal steel shaft; it is 2 feet long, and came from Kolhāpūr. Of the *garguz* there are four specimens. Nos 373 and 374 (p. 108 and plate x) have eight-bladed heads and basket hilts, one is 2 feet 7 inches and the other 2 feet 8 inches long; Nº. 467 (p. 115) is 7-bladed with basket hilt, length 2 feet 4 inches; Nº. 469 (p. 115) is eight-bladed with a similar hilt, length 2 feet 10 inches. The *Khundlī Phānsī*, Nº. 470 (p. 115 and plate x), is 19 inches long, has a head of open scroll work, and is probably one of the *Bairāgī* crutches already referred to. *Phānsī* means a noose in Hindi, but I do not see the appropriateness of the name here, nor do I know what *Khundlī* can mean.
c10.s2.2
¹ Egerton, 21, says this weapon is mentioned by Bābar, but I have been unable to find the passage in P. de Courteille's translation of the “Memoirs.”
c10.s2.3
The Flail (H. *sānt*) is another weapon that may be classed with the Mace. These are two specimens in the Indian Museum, Egerton Nos 62, 63 (p. 78), and one is shown as Nº. 24 on plate i opposite p. 23. I should also class among maces the *Pusht-khār* or back-scratcher, *Āīn*, i, 111, Nº. 41, made of steel in the shape of a hand. It is shown as Nº. 35 on plate xiii of Blochmann’s volume. The same is the case with the *Khār-i-māhī*, or fishbackbone, of steel spikes projecting from each side of a straight handle, *Āīn*, i, 111, Nº. 41, and Nº. 37, plate xiii. The *Gajbāg* put among weapons in the *Āīn*, i, 111, Nº. 46, and Nº. 39, plate xiii, is only the common elephant goad or *ankus*.