Sosun Pattah Sword

Rajasthan, probably Bundi, India, Second half of the 18th century
Steel, gold inlay
78cm long (overall), 57.5cm long (the blade)
Stock no.: A5828

Provenance: From a US Private Collection, passed down through several generations.

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Sosun Pattah Sword

A fine Mughal sword known as a Sosun Pattah, meaning 'lily leaf' in Urdu. This name is used for two different swords: one, known as the Rajput form, has a wide blade with a concave segment taken from the tip, and is mounted with a basket hilt (see, for example, a Gujurati Sosun Pattah in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (accession no. XXVIS.118)); the other, including this example, is known as the Islamic form. It has a tulwar hilt, sometimes known as the Indo-Muslim hilt, and a recurved blade which broadens at the tip.¹ The blade has a thick T-section false edge of 0.8cm wide. It is plain but for a punched 'bite' mark on the short ricasso, a feature which is believed to have been copied from Genoan swords imported to Asia.

The proportions of this hilt are not typical of the regular ‘disc and dome’ pommels of Mughal Indian swords. This hilt has a relatively small disc with a wide upturned edge, capped by a small dome (katori) with a bud-shaped lanyard ring (nath) to which a wrist strap could be attached. The koftgari ornamentation of the hilt is unusual. Straight vines run vertically across the hilt, with large lotus flowers at regular intervals, creating a diaper pattern. A kirich (SSP/82) and a tulwar in the Jodhpur Armoury, are also decorated with lotus flowers on a blackened steel ground.² Both swords are dated to Bundi in the 18th century.

[1] Rawson, P.S. The Indian Sword. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1968. p. 46.
[2] Elgood, Robert. Rajput Arms and Armour: The Rathores and Their Armoury at Jodhpur Fort. Vol. 1. 2 vols. New Delhi: Mehrangarh Museum Trust in association with Niyogi Books, 2017. pp. 330, 358.

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