Subject: ahadi 'single' heavy cavalryman

Culture: Mughal

Setting: Great Mughal empire, Hindustan/Deccan late 16th-early 18thc

Object: کارد kard knife

Freer and Sackler Galleries > Freer *

"Meteoric iron dagger of Emperor Jahangir India, Mughal dynasty, 1621 Watered steel blade with meteoric iron, iron hilt, and gold inlay ...

At dawn a tremendous noise arose in the east. It was so terrifying that it nearly frightened the inhabitants out of their skins.

Then, in the midst of tumultuous noise, something bright fell to the earth from above .... From the Jahangirnama (1605-24)

Thus did Emperor Jahangir describe a meteor that landed within his kingdom in April 1621.

His fascination with unusual natural events -- and his power to harness their aura --

is revealed by this dagger's blade, forged from the glittering meteorite.

* Freer and Sackler Galleries > Freer

"Lion-headed dagger India, Mughal dynasty, 1650-1700

Watered steel blade, gold inlay, and agate ... With fangs bared, whiskers flaring, and eyes glinting,

this diminutive sculpture vividly reinforces the lion's status as royal symbol and worthy adversary in the hunt.

This acutely observed, subtly modeled, and delicately inlaid dagger could have been crafted only in the imperial atelier.

The Mughals favored watered steel, with its delicately rippled pattern, as they believed it enhanced the sharpness of the blade."

Metropolitan Museum of Art > Sultans of Deccan India 1500-1700 *

* PSP