A FINE PERSIAN-AFGHAN TALWAR WITH ORIGINAL SCABBARD, AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN, 19TH CENTURY

SHER AFZAL'S SWORD

measurements note
98cm. max.

with curved back-edged watered steel blade, the hilt with down-turned dragon-headed quillons and langets with chiselled flowerheads, polygonal section grip with foliate detail, the pommel cap with openwork arcade, domed top and hinged finial with attached silk tassel stitched with silver thread, the leather scabbard with silver mounts and fine steel chape decorated ensuite with the hilt with flutes, scrolls and flowerheads

Quantity: 2

PROVENANCE

The label attached reads:
SHER AFZAL'S SWORD. / PRESENTED TO / THE EARL OF ELGIN, / Viceroy and Governor General, / by MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ROBERT LOW, K.C.B., / In command of the Chitral Relief Force. / May 1895

NOTE

For a full account of the siege of Chitrál and the capture of Sher Afzal by the British Relief Force, see Robertson, Sir George S., Chitrál: the story of a minor siege, London, 1899