An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c24.s2.7

v1.c24.s2.7

The antennae swords are long and tapering double-rapiers with a strong medial rib, the hilt bifurcating like the antennae of an insect. The two projections of the hilt stand at an angle of 45° to the base, i.e. the straight hilt. In some cases the other projection of the hilt is so much bent that it almost touches the hilt. The hilt and blade are of one make, with no hole in the hilt. However there is one specimen from SHAHABAD², now in the National Museum, with two holes of the blade, one on each side of the medial rib in the portion. The two edges of the blade were badly battered and irregularly twisted, probably due to their use against some hard object. A similar sword has been reported from n. Caucasus but there are some technical differences between the Caucasian and Indian swords. In the Caucasian specimen the hilt and the blade are two separate parts subsequently joined together. The hilt has a hole and the blade is flat-sectioned. All these characteristics make them entirely independent of each other. Heine-Geldern is of the view that the swords were inspired from the w. of the Koban where they occur between *c.* 1200 and 1000 B.C., or even a little later, but Lal, 1951, disagrees.