Weapons & Warriors: Talwar of the Sikhs

The Talwar Art by TL Jeffcoat

There are several variations of this curved sword, but none are completely the same. The Talwar was used by both Moghuls and Sikhs in the region of India. It is slightly curved like a sabre but with a wider blade at the end. The British sabre was most likely modeled after the Talwar. They are similar in design but the handle of the British Sabre is different.

The entire weapon is made with iron, and the handle is short and capped with a disc shaped piece of metal. The metal disc had a spike protruding from underneath. The short handle gives the warrior a firmer grip, but can also restrict most stabbing and hacking strikes. The blade is sharpened all the way to the hilt, unlike several other similar sword designs. The sword is not just one piece of molded metal. The blade is inserted into the cross guard with an adhesive. Making the blade a separate piece from the handle gives a sword more flexibility when striking. A sword that doesn't give is soon a broken sword.

Weapons & Warriors: The Warrior Saints

I’ve written about warriors who battled to defend their religious rights, but never about a warrior culture that rose up within a pacifist religion. They took up arms to defend themselves and their way of life from forces that threatened to murder them and destroy their way of life. Then they went on to help save the world from a marauding evil. Sounds like a great story of fiction doesn’t it? Well it’s not. Let me tell you about the Warrior Saints of India, the Sikhs.

Guru of the Sikhs (Picture via Wikipedia)

In the late 1400’s and early 1500’s a man named Nanak Dev Ji was born and grew up in the Punjab area. He was a respected and loved man. He was very intelligent and inquisitive. At some point he became the founder of a new religious group that was unlike the other religions. Guru Nanak preached that there was no Hindu or Muslim because in the eyes of God we are all equal. Guru Nanak traveled all over the Middle East and into parts of Africa before returning to India to settle down. The followers of Guru Nanak became known as the Sikhs, which means “to learn.”

The pacifist group grew over the decades and centuries. At times the religion was respected by all, Hindu and Muslims included. Guru Nanak was known to meet and speak to the leaders of both Hindu and Muslims. He preached about equality and working hard to achieve goals in life. He even taught that women and men were equal because without women to raise good men, there would be no good men.