An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c24.s3.6

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).