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An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c24.s3: 19.3 Later Periods

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c24.s3

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19.3 Later Periods

v1.c24.s3.1

*19.3.1 Arrowheads.* Literature refers to several types of arrowheads, such as *ardhacandra* (crescentic), *kṣurapra* (razor-edged) and *sūcī-mukha* (needle-headed). Three main types of iron arrowheads have been found at UJJAIN in levels of the second half of the 1st millennium B.C.: (i) tanged and leaf-shaped, (ii) tanged and bud-shaped with circular section, and (iii) multibladed. Such arrowheads have been reported from the NBPW [11.16] levels of several other sites such as BAHAL, TER, KAUŚĀMBĪ, HASTINĀPURA, SISUPALGARH, MAHESWAR, ERAN, etc. (Gupta, 1961, pp. 134-6). They also appear in levels of the 2nd-1st century B.C. and early centuries of the Christian era at HASTINĀPURA, NASIK, BESNAGAR, SAMBHAR, NEVASA, PRABHAS, PATAN TRIPURĪ, etc. They range in length from 2·45 to 13·9 cm. The two basic types, viz. 'leaf-shaped' and 'triangular-barbed', both socketed and tanged, are persistently met with. At UJJAIN they have been found in levels of 750 to 500 B C., 500 to 200 B.C and 200 B.C. to A.D. 500. At HASTINĀPURA they appear in Pds III, 600 to 300 B.C., and IV, 200 B.C. to A.D. 300. At MAHESHWAR-NAVDATOLI they occur in Pds IV, 400 to 100 B.C., and V, 100 B.C. to A.D. 100. At NASIK, VAIŚĀLĪ, etc., they come from levels ranging in date from 600 B.C. to A.D. 500.

v1.c24.s3.2

The arrowheads from KAUŚĀMBĪ, are of 11 types. The following types however need special mention: (i) leaf-shaped with two curved hooks at the junction of the blade and the tang; (ii) with projected points flanked by three-blade hooks; and (iii) with turned blades (if the turning is not accidental).

v1.c24.s3.3

The iron arrowheads from the s. India, Megalithic site [4.17.9] of ADICHANALLUR have been grouped under the following heads: taking the characteristics of the blade only, (i) concave in the middle, and (ii) convex in the middle; taking the characteristics of the barb only, (i) with incipient barb, (ii) with straight barb, (iii) curved barb, and (iv) ‘flying fish’ type with artistically curved blade; taking only the angle of the base of the blade in relation to the stem (the stem being always the base of the angle): (i) with out-turned base, i.e., obtuse-angled, (ii) with straight base, i.e., right-angled, and (iii) with in-turned base, i.e., acute-angled, and narrow leaf-shaped. The popularity of socketed stems is shared by spearheads, etc.

v1.c24.s3.4

Without exception, all the iron arrowheads found at Taxila (Marshall, 1951, 2) were intended for shafts made of reeds, not of solid wood, and were provided accordingly with long tangs instead of hollow sockets. (Indian arrow-shafts were of reed, cf. *śara*, though those of bamboo, *veṇu*, and wooden sticks *śalākā*, are also mentioned in literature.) A peculiarity of nearly all the earlier specimens is that there is a considerable length of solid shank intervening between the head and the tang. Perhaps they were a compromise between the socketed and tanged varieties. Their users were perhaps accustomed to socketed piles designed for solid wooden shafts, and when reeds were substituted for solid wood, the old form of pile was retained and a thin tang added behind the shank for insertion into the reed, the shank itself being made solid instead of hollow. Since the reed arrow was in general use in Iran and C. Asia (Stein, 1928, 1, pp. 95-6) as well as India, it may reasonably be inferred that these ‘double-tanged’ arrowheads, as Marshall calls them, were an adaptation of a w. socketed type rather than an e. innovation, and this being so it seems probable that these were introduced in Taxila by the Bactrian Greeks (Marshall, 1951, 2, p. 608, 3, pl. 71).

v1.c24.s3.5

The iron arrowheads of Taxila have been divided into eight different types (Marshall, 2, pp. 548-9), copper/bronze or horn specimens being absent: (i) triangular-shaped, with lozenge cross-section and double tang, length generally 82 cm; (ii) with triangular blade and double tang, length 6·82 cm; (iii) with square cross-section, single tang broken, length 8·90 cm; (iv) with rhombic cross-section, single-tanged, length 5·70 cm; (v) double-tanged with barbed and ribbed blade, length 7·82 cm; (vi) conical with circular cross-section, length 5.40 cm; (vii) three-bladed, with plain tang which is broken, length 5·10 cm; and (viii) four-bladed, barbed, with short shank and long tang, length 12·70 cm.

v1.c24.s3.6

Marshall says that the first five types occur in Bhir Mound and all the types occur in the later settlements of Sirkap. He assigns them to the 1st century B.C. In the Śaka-Parthian period (1st century B.C. to 1st century A.D.) two new types, viz. conical and three-bladed, also make their appearance. The older types also tend to become larger. In the 5th century an eighth type, i.e., with four barbed blades, was introduced (Marshall, 1951, 2, p. 547). The three-bladed type seems to have been specially favoured by the Śakas (Petrie, 1917, p. 34), to whom its introduction at Taxila was no doubt due. Many specimens of this three-bladed as well as of the four-bladed types have been found along with other types at the Dharmarajika and other monasteries destroyed by the Hūṇas in the 5th century. It is a reasonable surmise that the former weapons (four-bladed), which were traditional at Taxila, were used by the defending monks, and later (three-bladed) types by the attacking Hūṇas, though the three-bladed type, which had long before been introduced by the Śakas, may also have been used by the defenders (Marshall, 1951, 2, p. 548).

v1.c24.s3.7

The Taxila type of arrowheads has been unearthed from the bastions and gateway of KAUŚĀMBĪ (Sharma, 1960, pp. 45-7). Like Taxila, Kauśāmbī was attacked by the Hūṇas who were armed with these types of arrowheads. The ‘double-tang’ feature was copied in the spearheads in the e. up to SISUPALGARH and in the s. at various sites at different times. BRAHMAPURI has revealed the existence in the Bahmanī levels of a small collection of flat and thin arrowheads of the leaf-shaped and triangular types with minor variations in outline. The definite individuality of the group is a Muslim contribution to the older tradition (Gupta, 1961, p. 138).

v1.c24.s3.8

Arrowheads from C. Asia collected by Stein (Andrews, 1935, p. 331) furnish proof that Indian influence was carried across Chinese Turkistan with the spread of Buddhism. Arrowheads with or without tang, having obtuse point, hollow-sided and flat-headed, or concave-sided triangles are found there. The edge line of the blade varies in different specimens from straight to a beautiful cutting curve. In this type the shaft of the arrow must have been fitted to the tapering hollow stem of the arrowhead.

v1.c24.s3.9

The history of arrowheads in the post-Gupta period does not mark any significant change. All kinds of arrowheads, so-called ‘Indian’ and ‘foreign’ or ‘socketed’ and ‘tanged’, etc., have been used throughout India. Of that period very few arrowheads have been reported from excavations. This rarity seems, partly at least, due to the changeover in the mode of warfare from the chariot to the horseback which promoted the use of spears, javelins and swords against bows and arrows. Still the use of the bow and arrow, as is evident from literary sources, persisted throughout.

v1.c24.s3.10

The practice of the use of bone arrowheads in the Harappa and Chalcolithic cultures, as found at Mohenjo-daro, Chanhu-daro, LOTHAL and NAVDATOLI, was strengthened in the historical period. The variety in shape, the largeness in production and the vastness of the area of distribution—all combined to make this native practice the most important and popular one. The raw material, bone, in an almost finished form, was easily accessible to the craftsmen at all places, possibly free of cost. Again, it is easy to cut and polish bones and produce sharp points (Gupta, 1961, p. 135). Bone arrowheads have been found at: UJJAIN in periods ranging from 750 B.C. to 250 B.C.; PRABHAS PATAN, MAHESHWAR, ERAN, TER, NASIK, ROPAR (where it is called 'stylus') [20.5], etc., from the NBPW [11.16] levels; SONPUR in levels III to V; PĀṬALIPUTRA from Pd II; KARAD, TRIPURĪ and KOLHAPUR, from the Sātavāhana levels; KAUŚĀMBĪ, BANGARH, BESNAGAR, HASTINĀPURA, etc., from different levels; and ROPAR from Pd V. At UJJAIN and NASIK two large hoards of several thousand pieces each, belonging to the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C., have been found.

v1.c24.s3.11

The bone and ivory arrowheads of Taxila have been classified into the following four types (Marshall, 1951, 2, p. 664): (i) roughly shaped and sharpened at both ends, the point sharp and the tang tapering, length 7·77 cm; (ii) with smooth circular point and well-defined tang, divided from the tang by projecting flange, length 7·76 cm; (iii) with long circular point with hollow socket at back for insertion of shaft tenon, length 9·27 cm; and (iv) with trilateral point, circular shaft provided with socket-hole behind, length 5·39 cm. These bone and ivory arrowheads had been taken by Cunningham to be spillikins or 'tip-cats', but they are much too small for that game. Type (i) is found in both Bhir Mound and Sirkap and was in use from the 5th century B.C. to the 1st century A.D., but the earlier Bhir Mound specimens are distinguished from the Sirkap ones in having the point of the arrowhead somewhat better finished than the tang. The other three types are found exclusively in Bhir Mound and date from the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. These Taxila specimens could hardly have been intended for serious warfare, unless they were poisoned. Possibly they were employed for the practice of archery or for shooting birds, or it may be that they were useful to the town police as being less deadly than iron ones.

v1.c24.s3.12

Bone arrowheads (Dwivedi, 1976) have basically been divided into two types: (i) bipointed (narrow lozenge-shaped), and (ii) tanged-pointed. On the basis of the cross-section of the body and the blade portion, these two have been further subdivided into: (i) circular, (ii) square, (iii) lenticular, (iv) planoconvex, (v) biconvex, and (vi) irregular (Gupta, 1961, pp. 136-7). The first type seems to be a multipurpose implement, used as tools for piercing holes in leather and other tough things. These might as well have been used as styli [20.5] for scratching letters or designs on pottery or terracotta figurines. Sankalia calls them bone points and believes that many of them might have been used as weaving needles, combs or even ornaments. Their use as arrowheads is however not in doubt. A specimen from UJJAIN had stains of blood of a bird on it. Probably the large number in which they were manufactured shows their use more as arrowheads than as styli.

v1.c24.s3.13

19.3.2 *Daggers and knives*. The dagger is a weapon with a short blade designed for thrusting and used for close hand-to-hand fighting. Generally a dagger and a knife are not distinguished from each other. However by definition a dagger is essentially a weapon with a tapering double-edged blade, whilst a knife has only one sharpened edge, but in fact it is not often easy to be precise in the identification of some specimens. The origin of the dagger and knife can be traced back to the handaxes of the Lower Palaeolithic [4.2] Age, some of which might have been used for thrusting apart as for skinning and digging. The handaxe has as a rule a sharp point and a jagged edge with which the primitive man could easily cut down the branches of trees and also the organs of the body of the enemy.

v1.c24.s3.14

Of the two metal objects found at LANGHNAJ, one is a copper knife and the other an arrowhead. The knife, 30 cm long, is single-edged with a long and slightly thick tang. The thin, broad and straight blade, gradually tapering, has a square end with rounded corners. It bulges out a little and is imperceptibly thicker at the junction with the tang, which again is broad with a convex end. At the centre it measures 1.74, at the butt 1.27 and at the point 1.90 cm. It is a unique specimen and seems to be a hunting knife, also used for cutting up a carcass. It might have been hafted to a bone or wooden handle. It was not cast but finished when cold. An analogous knife, straight-edged and backed, comes from Dynastic Egypt; a specimen from Troy is also comparable (Petrie, 1917, p. 24, pl. XXVI, 141).

v1.c24.s3.15

A number of short daggers of bone of the Neolithic [4.6.1] period have been excavated at BURZAHOM. The great frequency of these miniature daggers makes it clear that they were manufactured locally.

v1.c24.s3.16

A most remarkable find in copper from CHANDOLI is a dagger with an antennae hilt. As is well-known, FATEHGARH and BITHŪR in Uttar Pradesh, KALLUR in the Deccan, MAHESANA in Gujarat, etc., have yielded swords with antennae hilts but all these are from the Copper Hoards [4.11; 19.2.2]. The Chandoli dagger is the first to have come from a well-defined horizon, ¹⁴C-dated to *c.* 1300 B.C. It has a leaf-shaped blade having a mid-rib on both sides and a rounded tip. The hilt is a plain strip of copper with rectangular section and with ends split up by means of a chisel as the cut marks at the splitting show. The whole piece is of one make. Its total length is 17·1 cm, the length of the blade 10·6 cm and the breadth of the blade 5 cm. Heine-Geldern, 1936, points out the similarity of the antennae hilts from BITHUR with those from the Koban culture. He links up the Indian specimens to the Aryan migrants round about 1200-1000 B.C. The Chandoli dagger may have thus some w. Asian affinity.

v1.c24.s3.17

A fragmentary knife made out of a rib-bone, 15·70 cm in length and 3·7 cm in breadth, has been reported from AHAR². It has a sharp edge showing a series of small flakes on the upper surface. One of its ends has a depression made by the grinding of the sharp-edged sides to serve as a handle. The underside of the weapon at the handle has some incised marks. It has been dated to *c.* 1250 B.C.

v1.c24.s3.18

Of the two fragmentary knives of copper with high tin conents from Pd II of RANGPUR, one is roughly rectangular in section and the other, its blade broken, has a sharp cutting edge.

v1.c24.s3.19

The Megalithic [4.17.6] habitational deposits of TAKALGHAT and the filling in the stone circles at KHAPA have yielded four dagger-blades and two knives. All daggers of Khapa are almost of the same type having a short pointed tang circular in section, medium long blade with pointed tip and biconvex section and a ringed base for the blade. The dagger of Takalghat is similar to those of Khapa but is without a ring at the base of the handle, having a solid cylindrical base instead. Knives are evidenced by two specimens, one from Khapa and the other from Takalghat, both alike but fragmentary. They have thin slightly curved blades and a short tang circular in section.

v1.c24.s3.20

An ivory dagger handle from Pd II of ROPAR has a chevron pattern at the lower and upper ends and that middle portion a criss-cross design. The uppermost portion is unfinished.

v1.c24.s3.21

Two knife-blades have been unearthed at PRAKASH. One, from Pd II, has a tang. The other comes from Pd III and has a socketed lower part.

v1.c24.s3.22

RAIRH has produced small light daggers and knives together with other weapons. The daggers are cast and some of these are provided with a raised band between the blade and the tang. Their thick blades slope towards the edges. Knives with curved or straight blades have also been found but on account of their highly corroded condition no idea of the sharpness of the cutting edge can be formed. The objects belong to the Mauryan period.

v1.c24.s3.23

Of the knives and knife from KAUNDINYAPURA, a blade, about 18 cm in length, has a straight side and curvilinear cutting edge, the latter being slightly broken. It was found along with two javelin-heads. Another, 7·6 cm in length, has a small leaf-shaped blade, comparatively flat in profile, and a tapering base. Both are post-Mauryan in date.

v1.c24.s3.24

A bone handle piece with a decoration of grooves on bands in relief has been found in the excavations at MAHESHWAR and NAVDATOLI and is datable to *c.* 400 to 100 B.C. It is 9·9 cm long and has a diameter of 2·8 cm and 1·8 cm. It might have served as a handle for a miniature dagger which had a round and tapering tang. A single specimen of what appears to be a dagger pendant has been found in Pd VI of NAVDATOLI. The find shows only the hilt portion of a dagger, blade not extant, and is decorated with incised irregular squares. It is 2·7 cm long and ·6 cm thick. A number of dagger-pendants of ivory and bone, all Mauryan in date, have been found at other sites (Dwivedi, 1973).

v1.c24.s3.25

Except in the matter of length the daggers of Taxila closely resemble the swords. All the six daggers or their parts are straight, double-edged and pointed weapons from about 20 to 30 cm in length and with a cross-guard attached to the blade at the blade of the hilt, except one from Bhir Mound. Only one complete dagger and one dagger-blade, both of the 3rd to 2nd century B.C., come from Bhir Mound, the others being from Sirkap. The Bhir Mound dagger differs from the Sirkap ones in that the blade is straight-edged almost up to the point where it tapers abruptly and there is no cross-guard at the hilt (Marshall, 1951, 2, pp. 544-5, 560).

v1.c24.s3.26

Apart from these some knife- or dagger-handles made of ivory have also been excavated at Taxila (Marshall, 1951, p. 660). All these belong to the Śaka-Parthian levels and are datable to the 1st century A.D. The 1944-5 excavation at Sirkap has yielded an ivory knife, wedgeshaped in section, from a post-structural pit (Ghosh, 1947-8, p. 21).

v1.c24.s3.27

Seven knife-blades have been recorded at MASKI in Pd II levels, except one found in a pit of Pd III.

v1.c24.s3.28

BHOKARDAN had produced seven knives and two complete specimens of small knives. Of the seven three each are broken blades and portions with tangs, while one is a full blade though with a broken tang. Two belong to Pd Ib and the others to Pd II. The complete small knives are types by themselves: one has a plano-convex blade with the convex portion abruptly ending near the tang which is broken; the other has its crescentic blade appearing like a small sickle, the convex edge portion ending abruptly to converge into the tang.

v1.c24.s3.29

BRAHMAPURI (Kolhapur) has produced two examples of hunting knives. One has a slightly curved blade and a tang. The second is only the front part of a broad-bladed dagger or knife. Both belong to the Sātavāhana period.

v1.c24.s3.30

PAUNAR has produced 12 badly encrusted blade fragments. Of these three each belong to Pd II A, five to Pd III and one to Pd IV. One is a complete blade of a knife with biconvex section, one endtruncated and the other having a tapering tang. It belongs to Pd III.

v1.c24.s3.31

Iron knives with straight blade and tanged haft have been reported from PIKLIHAL. The form is widely met at s. Indian sites.

v1.c24.s3.32

NAGARA has yielded knives of two types, one concave-backed and another with a straight back and tapering edge. Specimens of the first type occur at several places including KAUŚĀMBĪ, BESNAGAR, MAHESHWAR, NEVASA, NASIK and SISUPALGARH. There is also a specimen of this type in the Government Museum, Madras. The earliest specimen is perhaps from NASIK, dated to the 3rd or 4th century B.C. At KAUŚĀMBĪ the type occurs in the 6th century A.D. Specimens of the second type are noted at VAIŚĀLĪ, SAMBHAR, BANGARH and Kondivte. The specimen from VAIŚĀLĪ is dated to the 4th or 5th century B.C. Some specimens from NAGARA, however, differ from those noted at other sites in having handles made also of iron. The only dagger discovered at Nagara is fish-shaped and has parallels at ADICHANALLUR. All these knives and daggers of Nagara belong to Pd III.

19.3.3 Spearheads

v1.c24.s3.t1.1

The spear is a long-shafted weapon intended solely for thrusting. It is a class name and includes many named varieties like the javelin, lance, etc., and unnamed varieties. Wooden spears were used in the earliest times and are still used by many aboriginal tribes. Stone, bone, horn, ivory and shell have been used for spearheads, but in later times iron is the commonest material.

v1.c24.s3.t1.2

GANGAPUR, a Megalithic [4.17.6] site, has produced an almost intact iron spearhead. As compared to the dagger-blades found here, this spearhead has a longer and thinner blade and a longer tang. Its edges are rusted and are hence irregular, the blade thin and biconvex and the tang long and circular in section. It has been assigned to 8th-7th century B.C.

v1.c24.s3.t1.3

A notable iron spearhead has been unearthed at PRAKASH, Pd II. A part of the tang and tip of the blade are broken but what remains is a clear evidence of this object having been used as a spearhead.

v1.c24.s3.t1.4

Fifty-eight examples have been recovered at KAUŚĀMBĪ, almost all in a very good condition. They comprise five main types: (i) leaf-shaped with a small blade and lozenge cross-section; (ii) with a large flattened leaf-shaped blade and lozenge cross-section; (iii) with a solid point, plain tang and square cross-section; (iv) with a socketed head and circular cross-section; and (v) with a socket and rectangular cross-section. Among these type (i) appears to be the earliest. All the types are referable to Pd III, 605 to 45 B.C., according to the excavator.

v1.c24.s3.t1.5

KESARAPALLE has yielded a spearhead from the area of a Megalithic [4.17.7] burial. A fragment has also been recovered in Pd II, *c.* 5th century B.C. to the middle of 1st century A.D.

v1.c24.s3.t1.6

KAUṆḌINYAPURA has provided a few interesting specimens, mostly belonging to the post-Mauryan period, but one of them is medieval. The following specimens have been recorded: (i) long end of javelin, 40 cm long, having a sharp-pointed broad leaf-shaped blade about 20-30 cm in length, having a solid tenon with a splayed bottom and a solid ribbing in the middle; (ii) leaf-shaped javelin-head, 29 cm in length, and having a socketed tenon, found in association with (i); (iii) javelin-tip with a fish-shaped profile having a splayed base and a round tenon with a flattish circular appendage at the end, apparently meant for fitting it tightly into a long wooden pole, the circular end meant to prevent the iron portion from slipping; and (iv) long leaf-shaped blade of a javelin, lenticular in section, length 16 cm, breadth 4 cm, medieval.

v1.c24.s3.t1.7

Taxila has yielded several types of spear- and javelin-heads and a socketed butt. The former have been broadly classified into the following types (Marshall, 1951, 2, p. 546): (i) spike-shaped spearhead of iron, four-sided with tang for fixing into wooden shaft, of great penetrating power against plate or mail armour, length 19 cm, 3rd to 2nd century B.C.; (ii) four specimens, with the shaft and head in one piece, (a) one shaft broken, 98·50 cm long, the head three-flanged, 3rd to 2nd century B.C., (b) another, similar but with four-flanged head, shaft broken, length 63·50 cm, 1st century A.D., (c) similar to (b) and from same spot, and (d) a javelin-head of narrow leaf shape, broken, length 16·50 cm, probably of the same class of heavy javelins as (a) to (c), though only 7·50 cm of the shaft is preserved, 5th century A.D., (b) and (c), with four-flanged head, being from Sirkap; (iii) leaf-shaped with central rib and tang, tang broken, length 21 cm, 1st century A.D.; and (iv) socketed, two specimens, one dagger-shaped with hollow socket (broken), length 18 cm, 1st century A.D., and the other of knife-blade pattern, length 30 cm, 5th century A D The socketed butt is represented by a solitary conical spear-butt, with horizontal rim.

v1.c24.s3.t1.8

Two spearheads, both socketed and with leaf-shaped blades, are recorded from NEVASA, one 15·10 cm long, 3·40 cm broad, diameter of socket 2 cm, from Pd II (200 B.C. to A.D. 40), no details of the other being available, except that it has a length of 15·10 cm and a socket-diameter of 1·90 cm.

v1.c24.s3.t1.9

From MASKI have been recorded two fragmentary lance-handles and a spearhead: (i) handle of a lance, possibly with a round section; (ii) lance; and (iii) leaf-shaped spearhead. The first two are from megaliths [4.17.8] and the third is from an unstratified deposit in a rock-shelter.

v1.c24.s3.t1.10

PAUNAR, Pd II B, has produced an almost complete spearhead with squarish tang and pointed blade.

v1.c24.s3.t1.11

Eight pieces of spearheads come from NEVASA, two of which are socketed, three tanged and the rest blade fragments. Most of them are concentrated in the levels of Pd V, 50 B.C. to A.D. 200, whereas one each comes from Pd IV, 150 to 50 B.C., and Pd VI, A.D. 1400 to 1700. The distribution reveals that the socketed and the tanged varieties are contemporaneous. The maximum extant breadth of the socketed variety is 5·10 cm, while that of the tanged specimens is 3·50 cm, the maximum length of the latter being 17·7 cm.

v1.c24.s3.t1.12

RANG MAHAL has yielded a complete spearhead and sockets of two spears. The spearhead is leaf-shaped with a comparatively long shank, while one of the sockets has a wing-like downward projection over the sheath. All these specimens belong to the Kushan period.

v1.c24.s3.t1.13

NAGARA has provided spearheads of two types: (i) with thin lenticular section and convex-sided blade, tanged, from a late level of Pd III, first centuries of the Christian era; and (ii) with triangular section and convex sides from the middle level of Pd II, 3rd century B.C. to the beginning of the Christian era. Spearheads of type (i) are very common, being found at MAHESHWAR, SISUPALGARH and KAUŚĀMBĪ, from the 2nd century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. The form also occurs in several s. Megalithic sites including ADICHANALLUR. Parallels of type (ii) are difficult to find.

v1.c24.s3.t1.14

The lance and spearheads of RAIRH are cast and then shaped by hammering. To the first of the two types belong a number of pointed dagger-like heads with and without mid-ribs; the second type is represented by weapons which has almost flat blades. One is a tough lance-head, over 38 cm long, provided with a strong mid-rib and a tubular tang in which the lance was fitted. Another example, 23·50 cm, is also without mid-rib but has the same type of tang. Still another specimen is provided with a solid tang which was fitted into the lance. All these weapons belong to 2nd-3rd centuries.

v1.c24.s3.t1.15

SISUPALGARH has produced the following specimens: (i) fragment of a spearhead with fissured socket, from an upper level of Pd III, *c.* A.D. 200 to 350; (ii) spearhead, from the late accumulations of Pd III at the gateway; (iii) spearhead, from a deposit contemporary with Pd II B at the gateway, *c.* A.D. 100 to 200; and (iv) spearhead constricted in the middle, from the accumulations of Pd III outside the n. gateway-flank.

v1.c24.s3.t1.16

BRAHMAPURI has a few javelin-heads. They are leaf-like or triangular in shape and have simple tangs, but none with sockets. All belong to *c.* A.D. 300.

v1.c24.s3.t1.17

HASTINĀPURA has yielded a leaf-shaped spearhead with flattened section and with a tang from the latest level of Pd V, medieval. This shows that tanged spearheads were popular throughout.

19.3.4 Swords

v1.c24.s3.t2.1

The sword is a hand weapon with a longish blade of metal and a small grip to hold it. This definition does not differentiate it from all other weapons, the series of knife, sword, espadon and glaive being an unbroken one; there is no agreed point at which a division would be universally applicable. Neither the length of the blade nor the kind of the hilt nor the method of use would define a sword: all overlap. Definite occurrence of swords is limited. [For Fort Munro sword see 19.2.7.]

v1.c24.s3.t2.2

A single fragmentary specimen of copper of what possibly could be used as a sword has been recovered from a megalith [4.17.6] at KHAPA. Its length as also the sections of its long tang and blade make it distinctive. The tang was possibly accommodated in a wooden cover. The blade, heavily encrusted, has one edge sharp.

v1.c24.s3.t2.3

A pre-Mauryan sword, only a portion of its blade surviving, comes from KAUṆḌINYAPURA. It is lenticular in section, the length being 11·80 cm and breadth 4·40 cm.

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RAIRH has produced a good number of sword-blades but their surfaces and edges are so corroded that it is impossible to determine whether they were double- or single-edged. The tang of one of them measures 9 cm and the width of the blade at its widest is 7 cm; its present length including the tang is 31·8 cm. Another fragment of sword-blade is only 15 cm in length. The pieces have been assigned to the 3rd-2nd century B.C.

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MASKI has yielded a sword with blade, but other details are lacking, except that it belongs to Pd II, *c.* 200 B.C. to the middle of the 1st century A.D.

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The earliest evidence of swords in s. India is the hoard of iron swords found at ADICHANALLUR, the well-known urn-burial site [4.17.9]. Only the blades, many with their spike tangs, are preserved, but the trappings and mounts have perished. The forms of the blades follow three types: (i) leaf-shaped and straight; (ii) parallel-edged and abruptly pointed; and (iii) straight and continuously tapering. All have strongly defined mid-ribs and are proportionately longer than those of n. India. The first two forms are known in n. India but the third type seems to have confined to the s., though all the types remain the fundamental pattern of the straight sword in the s. until modern times.

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The iron swords found at Taxila (Marshall, 1951, 2, pp. 545-6) belong exclusively to the 1st century A.D. They are straight, double-edged and pointed weapons, from 53 to 87 cm in length and with a cross-guard attached to the blade at the base of the hilt, thus resembling the straight double-edged swords found at ADICHANALLUR and also the long *spatha* used by the Roman auxiliaries.

19.3.5 Caltrops

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The caltrop, also spelt 'calthorp', 'caltrap' and 'calthrop' (Stone, 1961, p. 158) and called *gokharu* in India, is composed of spikes, either planted singly on the ground or radiating from a common centre, and strewn on the ground to prevent the advance of elephant corp or cavalry, or in a breach in fortifications to hinder attacking troops. One of the commonest forms is four spikes radiating from a common point so that in any position one of the spikes would stand vertically. They are the direct ancestor of the barbed wire entanglements of the present day. Many of the aboriginal tribes like the Adis of Nefa and the Nagas of Nagaland use sharpened stakes called *panjis* for the same purpose. They occur in Roman military sites of the early centuries A D. and are reported from ancient China and Japan as well (Stone, 1961, p. 158). The *Arthaśāstra* of Kauṭilya, 2.3.21, perhaps refers to them as *triśūla*, to be placed outside the gateway of the fort along with other obstacles.

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Four-spiked caltrops together with many other weapons like knife-blades, lances, spearheads, tangeddaggers and barbed and faceted arrowheads have been found near the defences and gateway at SISUPALGARH, Pd II, A.D. 200 to 300.

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A pair of caltrops with tapering and sharp spikes is reported from NASIK, Pd II A, 300 to 200 B.C. [See also SARADKEL.]

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Caltrops were used in medieval times as well, as seen in specimens in museums. They were also used in the last two World wars.

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Andrews, F.S., 1935, *Descriptive Catalogue of Antiquities in the C. Asian Antiquities Museum*, Delhi. Dwivedi, V.P., 1973, in *Aspects of Indian Art*, Leiden; 1976, *Indian Ivories*, Delhi. Ghosh, A., 1947-8, in *AI*, 4, p. 81. Gupta, S.P., 1961, in *Jour. Bihar & Orissa Res. Soc.*, 47. Heine-Geldern, R., 1936, in *Jour. Indian Soc. Oriental Art*, 4, pp. 87-113. Marshall, J., 1951, *Taxila*, Cambridge, 2 vols. Petrie, F., 1917, *Tools & Weapons*, London. Sharma, G.R., 1960, *Excavations at Kauśāmbī*, Allahabad. Stein, A., 1928, *Innermost Asia*, Oxford. Stone, G.C., 1961, *Glossary of the Construction, Decoration & Use of Arms*, New York. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—G.N. PANT

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