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1 of 253523 objects
Crutch Sword and scabbard (Zafar Takieh) 1750 - 1850
Ferrous (iron and steel), gold, leather and wood | RCIN 62158
India
Crutch Sword and scabbard (Zafar Takieh) 1750 - 1850
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A small crutch sword or Zafar Takieh with scabbard. Consisting of a talwar style hilt with a stylised pommel in the shape known as the cushion of victory, all decorated with overlaid gold flowerhead patterns. The single edged blade has a single large fuller and series of short fullers on each face six on one side seven on the other. The blade overlaid with a gold cartouche in Persian translated in the c.19th century as Nadir obtained victory by the command of God .
Provenance
Presented to Queen Victoria by the widow of Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson (1821-1858). Hodson was an East India Company army officer at the time of the Indian Uprising, 1857-58. He commanded a regiment of irregular horse, known as 'Hodson's Horse'. On 22 September 1857 he captured and killed the King of Delhi, Bahadur Shah, and the three shahzadahs, or princes.
According to a note in the North Corridor Inventory of Windsor Castle, the sword was Surrendered to the late Major W.S.R. Hodson at the time of his capture of the King and Princes of Delhi, September 21st and 22nd 1857. The note goes on to record remarks by the Lord Egerton on 24 April 1879, The peculiar shaped hilt is called "Takia I Zuifar", the cushion of Victory. Lord Wilbraham Egerton was an arms and armour scholar and author of An Illustrated handbook of Indian Arms in 1880. -
Creator(s)
(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Ferrous (iron and steel), gold, leather and wood
Category
Place of Production
India
