Cleveland Museum of Art

Sword

Date

1700s–1800s

Medium

Watered steel blade with iron hilt inlaid with gold

Culture

India, perhaps Deccan

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Straight swords were typical of those used among military and aristocratic circles in the southern regions of the Deccan, in contrast to the curved swords favored by Central Asian equestrians. Increased contact between the Mughal north and the Deccan south during the 1600s led to the appearance of the Deccan-style sword in courtly portraits made during the time of Jahangir and Shah Jahan, and later.

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