A magnificent history of firearms and edged weapons in Greece and the Balkans during the centuries of Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Balkans were by far the greatest center of weapons manufacture in the Islamic world, and their wares were exported far and wide. Each town developed its own style not only in weaponry but also in silver decoration and costume, often with splendid results. Traditional arms were held in great esteem, and weapons were personalized by their successive owners, most commonly by the addition of elaborate silver work. Decorations were sometimes commissioned to commemorate a gun’s success in protecting its owner through a particularly tough campaign. The Greek war of liberation in the 1820s brought large numbers of the sultan’s soldiers to the country, and their captured arms fill Greece’s museums today. Although subject peoples under the Ottoman Empire were forbidden to ride horses or to bear arms, a great many weapons found their way into the hands of freedom fighters. Some of these weapons are magnificent; others are so poor that one wonders that a man should risk his life with such a thing. Yet it is from these arms, wielded by men of remarkable courage and determination, that a free and independent Greece emerged. 450 color illustrations

The Arms of Greece and Her Balkan Neighbors in the Ottoman Period

Elgood, Robert

Reference

Thames&Hudson

In the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Arab nomads who inhabited a great stretch of the Near East from Aleppo in northern Syria to the southern shores of the Arabian peninsula continued a way of life virtually unchanged from the time of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. Wars and raids were carried out by tribesmen armed like their ancestors with sword, mace and lance. Firearms came slowly to the Bedouin, and multishot weapons were very rare until the end of the nineteenth century.This book examines surviving weapons, identifying new centres of manufacture and questions the origin of 'Damascus' swords. Arms exported to the Near East from India, Iran, the Caucasus and Europe are discussed. So too are tribal customs relating to warfare, weapons and their usage with eye witnesses' accounts.

The Arms and Armour of Arabia in the 18Th-19th and 20th Centuries

History

Military

Scolar Pr

The first surviving reference to the use of gunpowder appears in a Chinese manuscript dating from 1044 AD. The formula for gunpowder was passed to the Arabs via India and Persia and its first use in firearms in Europe is reported at the Arab siege of Spain in 1324. While much has been written about the history of firearms in Europe and North America, their development in the Islamic world and their subsequent history there has been almost totally neglected. Elgood, uses the collection of firearms from the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait to explore the subject. The collection ranges from Morocco to India, China and Central Asia, taking in almost every country in between. Elgood describes the artistry and beauty of antique firearms, focusing on the use of decoration and great craftsmanship as well as the technological innovations that were developed, and looking at the different cultures of the Islamic world.

Firearms of the Islamic World: in the Tared Rajab Museum, Kuwait

Arts & Photography

I.B.Tauris

Most studies of Indian armor have concentrated on Mughal arms from northern India, and there has been no serious study of Hindu arms since the nineteenth century. Robert Elgood seeks to fill this scholarly gap with Hindu Arms and Ritual, a new and richly illustrated study that examines pieces from the Tanjore Palace Armory in south India. Tanjore arms reveal a wealth of information about Hindu warrior society through the intricate and symbolic iconography carved on them. As Elgood shows, inscribed gods, goddesses, and sacred animals and plants infused the weaponry with divine powers of assistance. Drawing on evidence from various sources, such as ancient manuscripts and contemporary art, Elgood also challenges the commonly held opinion that most south Indian arms date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Instead, he argues, many pieces were made during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and are attributable to the Vijayanagara and Nayaka courts. This beautifully illustrated work is an invaluable contribution to the historical study of Indian arms and material culture.

Hindu Arms and Ritual: Arms and Armour from India 1400-1865

Asia

Eburon Academic Publishers

The book has a selection of 186 of the most interesting arms in the Jaipur royal palace and discusses them as weapons in their social and historical context. The book breaks new ground in Indian arms scholarship and is also a very readable account that takes in Rajput, Mughal and British Indian history, anthropology and art history. The objects are stunning: swords belonging to the Mughal Emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb; wonderful court daggers with hilts of carved rock crystal, jade, ivory and gilt steel; ferocious tribal arms; some remarkable historic firearms and beautiful painted shields, some of which were decorated in Japan for the Mughal court. There is even a device for extracting arrows from wounds with toe-curling ancient medical remedies. Most of these arms are from the reserve collections and published for the first time. Contents: Foreword by Princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur; Acknowledgements; Cataloguing terms; Introduction; Daggers; Katars; Swords; Children's Arms; Lances, Spears and Shields; Armour; Axes, Ankus, Chhadi and Maces; Bows and Arrows; Accoutrements; Guns and Pistols; Map; The Rulers of Amber - Jaipur; Endnotes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Arms & Armour: At the Jaipur Court, The Royal Collection

History & Criticism

Niyogi Books

•The book's foreword has been written by the 37th Custodian of Marwar-Jodhpur, His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singhji Sahib Bahadur II of Jodhpur-Marwar •Though the Rajputs are the premier warrior society in India, these books are the first of their kind to focus on their arms and armor • The volumes not only advance knowledge of the subject, but also reflect on the significance of the Rathores in history, and their 556-year-old fort Some years ago the study of arms and armor of the subcontinent reached a plateau where enough was known to allow curators and collectors a veneer of authority when writing and speaking about the topic. This book shows how very thin that veneer was. For political and more recently commercial reasons the cultural history of the subcontinent has been largely expressed through the Mughal experience of India. Whilst it is true that the Muslim Mughals dominated India the empire they ruled was predominantly Hindu. This book reclaims the Hindu contribution to the military culture of the Mughal period. The Rajputs were very closely aligned to the Mughals from the reign of Akbar in the sixteenth century but they retained their own distinctive values. The armory at Mehrangarh helps us to enter an unfamiliar world. A tradition of courage and self-sacrifice was conserved in music and poetry, an ideology so extreme that scholars have struggled to concede its existence. This radical book challenges arms and armor orthodoxy and is essential reading for scholars, collectors and dealers interested in India and its wider culture.

Rajput Arms and Armour: The Rathores and Their Armoury at Jodhpur Fort

* The first book to be written specifically on historic Indian firearms by an international arms expert* It offers scholars and collectors the opportunity to see the superb Jodhpur collection that includes the best Indian matchlocks, modern British and American sporting guns, shotguns, revolvers and automatic pistols by many of the great makers of the 20th century* Features more than 350 unique images of guns and Rajput paintings from private collections showing their use, as well as explains Rajput traditions relating to hunting and warIn 1972 H.H. Maharaja Gaj Singhji, of Jodhpur-Marwar transformed the Rathore's magnificent Mehrangarh Fort into a highly successful Rajput museum and cultural center. As part of this work, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust commissioned this book. The author discusses the worldwide medieval diffusion of firearms technology and Arab, Ottoman, European and Chinese influences on the development of Indian firearms. Jodhpur was one of the most important military states in Rajasthan, playing a major role in the history of the subcontinent, never more so than during the reign of Maharaja Ajit Singhji (1678-1724) who purchased large numbers of guns when his daughter married the Mughal emperor. Jodhpur owns the best Indian matchlocks in the subcontinent, much admired at the Delhi Durbar in 1911. Successive maharajas have added to the collection, which includes modern British and American sporting guns, shotguns, revolvers and automatic pistols by many of the great makers of the twentieth century, collected by the Maharaja's grandfather, a noted hunter, and his father, a gun designer. The Maharaja of Jodhpur's Guns is the first book to be written specifically on historic Indian firearms. With more than 350 unique images of guns and Rajput paintings from private collections showing their use, this book offers scholars and collectors the opportunity to see the superb Jodhpur collection and to learn about Rajput traditions relating to hunting and war.

The Maharaja of Jodhpur's Guns

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