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The talwar (), also spelled talwaar and tulwar, is a type of curved sword or sabre from the Indian subcontinent. (2025). 9781853758829, Prion. ISBN 9781853758829
Like many swords from around the world with an etymology derived from a term meaning simply 'sword', the talwar has in scholarship, and in museum and collector usage, acquired a more specific meaning. However, South Asian swords, while showing a rich diversity of forms, suffer from relatively poor dating (so developmental history is obscure) and a lack of precise nomenclature and classification. The typical talwar is a type of sabre, characterised by a curved blade (without the radical curve of some Persian swords), possessing an all-metal hilt with integral quillons and a disc-shaped pommel. This type of hilt is sometimes called the 'Indo-Muslim hilt', or 'standard Indian hilt'. Talwars possessing only slightly curved blades can be called sirohi. However, many other variations exist. Swords with straight blades and the disc-pommel hilt are usually referred to as 'straight-bladed talwars' (though the word dhup is also used), while those with the same hilt but yatagan-type forward-curved blades are termed 'sosun patta'. Swords with sabre-blades and all metal Indo-Muslim hilts, but having the pommel in the shape of the head of an animal or bird, instead of the disc, are termed talwar, without being differentiated by name.
The talwar has a distinctive, all-metal, Indo-Muslim hilt, developed in Medieval western India. The increasing influence in India of Turco-Afghan, and later Turco-Mongol, dynasties (employing Persian and Central Asian arms) in the Late Medieval and subsequent eras led to ever greater use of sabre-like, curved swords. By Mughal times, the talwar had become the most popular form of sword in the Subcontinent. The talwar was the product of the marriage of the curved blade derived from Turco-Mongol and Persian swords and the native all-metal Indo-Muslim hilt.
Many examples of the talwar exhibit an increased curvature in the distal half of the blade, compared to the curvature nearer the hilt. Also relatively common is a widening of the blade near the tip (often without the distinct step latchet to the back of the blade, characteristic of the yelman of the kilij). The blade profile of the British Pattern 1796 light cavalry sabre is similar to some examples of the talwar, and it has been suggested that the talwar may have contributed to the design of the British sabre.
A typical talwar has a wider blade than the shamshir. Late examples often had European-made blades, set into distinctive Indian-made hilts. The hilt of the typical talwar, is of the Indo-Muslim type, and is often termed a "disc hilt" from the prominent disc-shaped flange surrounding the pommel. The pommel often has a short spike projecting from its centre, sometimes pierced for a cord to secure the sword to the wrist. The hilt incorporates a simple cross-guard which frequently has a slender knucklebow attached. The hilt is usually entirely of iron, though brass and silver hilts are found, and is connected to the tang of the blade by a very powerful adhesive resin. This resin, or lac, is derived from the Ficus religiosa, it is softened by heating and, when cooled, it sets solidly. More ornate examples of the talwar often show silver or gold plated decoration in a form called koftgari. Talwars of princely status can have hilts of gold, profusely set with precious stones, one such, preserved at the Baroda Palace Armoury, is decorated with 275 diamonds and an emerald.
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