elephant tusk sword
An elephant sword, also called a tusk sword, is an edged weapon designed to be attached to the tip of a war elephant's tusk, normally used in pairs. • Illustration — Indian elephant sword on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2 ft long War elephants were used for centuries, primarily from Indian subcontinent to the Middle East, and were often armored. Made of iron or steel, elephant swords were probably used from a relatively early date. Over a thousand years ago, elephants equipped with steel-tipped tusks were reportedly effectively used in battle.
Also recorded as elephant sword · tusk sword
elephant tusk sword
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- Field
- piercing-cutting weapon
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wikidata · Q2352514 · wikipedia · Elephant sword
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Overview
An elephant could toss an enemy in the air and cut him in two. Sometimes the blades were coated with poison. The Russian merchant Afanasii Nikitin recorded the use of these weapons in India in the 15th century. A Persian illustration titled "The Battle of Pashan Begins" from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp, from Tabriz circa 1530s, shows an elephant in battle equipped with elephant swords (the battle depicted occurred centuries earlier). It is possible that thousands of elephant swords were manufactured over a large span of time, but only four pairs, plus a single specimen are known to exist today. Another pair is in the Ganga Golden Junilee Museum while the fourth is held by the Royal Armouries Museum. The unpaired specimen is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Elephant tusk sword is a piercing-cutting weapon or weapon type.
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- “Elephant sword”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2352514: elephant tusk sword
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Elephant sword, revision 1351113863 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.John M. Kistler. Animals in the Military: From Hannibal's Elephants to the Dolphins of the U.S. Navy, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO (2011), p. 89,
- 2.Konstantin Nossov. War Elephants, Osprey Publishing (2008), p. 16,
- 3.Metropolitan Museum of Art
- 4.Royal Armouries. Elephant tusk sword - Elephant tusk sword - about 1600. royalarmouries.org.
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