Slatecrown Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Talwar | 36 Inch Overall with 30 Inch Blade | Collector Display Gift | RK-1389

The Slatecrown is a talwar, the curved sword of northern India and the Mughal empire, and the thing that makes it a talwar is not the blade. Indian smiths mounted all sorts of blades on this hilt, including captured European ones, and a talwar blade can run from almost straight to deeply curved without ceasing to be a talwar. What defines the type is the hilt, and specifically the flat disc that closes off the end of the grip. Find that disc and you are holding a talwar whatever the blade above it is doing.

This one is forged and finished in the Czech Republic. The blade is 1095 high carbon steel with a long even curve that widens slightly toward an upswept point, hardened, tempered and taken to a mirror polish. The hilt is dark hardwood pinned with brass between a slim brass cross guard and a solid brass disc pommel. It ships in a leather covered scabbard with a heavy brass throat and chape, with a care card, and shipping inside the United States is free.

Specifications

What the disc pommel is for

The disc looks like an ornament and it is nothing of the kind. It is the reason the talwar is held the way it is, and it changes how the sword works in the hand more than any other feature on it.

The grip of a talwar is short, often uncomfortably short to a Western hand, and it swells in the middle. The disc caps it off perpendicular to the grip, so the heel of your hand runs into a flat plate rather than sliding off the end. Two things follow. The first is that the sword simply cannot escape forward on a cut, no matter how loosely you hold it, which is what allows the light grip that Indian swordsmanship depends on. The second is more interesting: because the disc stops the hand at a fixed point, the wrist is set at a consistent angle every single time you pick the sword up. The blade always presents its edge the same way. On a curved sword, where the cut works only if the edge is aligned with the arc of the swing, that repeatability is worth a great deal.

Indian sources describe the talwar as a wrist sword rather than an arm sword, and the hilt is what makes that possible. You cut by rotating the hand and letting the disc take the load, not by driving through with the shoulder.

Why 1095 high carbon steel and not stainless

1095 is a plain carbon steel with just under one percent carbon and no significant alloying. It is what a sword blade should be made of. It hardens all the way through a blade of this section, the fine grain takes a genuine edge, and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC it stays tough enough to bend and come back rather than snap.

Stainless buys corrosion resistance with chromium, and chromium locks carbon into hard carbides. That is a good bargain in a short kitchen blade and a poor one in thirty inches of sword, where those carbides give a crack somewhere to start. What you accept with 1095 is rust if you neglect it, which is a cloth and a bottle of oil rather than a defect. There is a longer version of this argument on Damascus versus stainless.

The hardwood grip

The grip is dark hardwood in two scales, pinned through a full width tang with brass, swelling gently at the centre and closed at each end by the brass ferrule and the disc. Full tang construction is not negotiable on a sword. Anything narrower is a liability on a blade that is going to be swung.

Historically talwar grips were made in wood, horn and steel, and the wooden ones survive best in use because wood absorbs shock instead of transmitting it. The swell in the middle of the grip is functional: it fills the palm so the hand can stay relaxed and still keep the sword aligned, which is the same idea as the disc from the other direction. Give the wood a wipe of oil once or twice a year, especially if the sword hangs somewhere with dry winter heating, and it will stay stable for decades. There is a short routine on wooden handle care.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On a talwar the disc pommel is a second option worth considering, since it presents a flat circular face that suits a short mark or a date. See the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Mirror polished carbon steel shows everything, so wipe the blade with a dry cloth whenever it has been handled and keep a thin film of light oil on the surface. Fingerprints are acidic enough to etch a permanent grey mark into a polish like this within a couple of weeks. Once a month with an oiled rag is enough for a sword on a wall indoors. Do not store it sheathed for long periods, because leather holds moisture and tanning salts against steel. The full routine is on steel care.

When the edge needs attention, work with the curve rather than against it. Take three or four inches at a time, keep the bevel angle constant and sweep the blade along its arc so the whole edge sees the same number of passes. Finish on a fine stone and a strop. There is a full guide at sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Memphis, Tennessee. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

This talwar is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph on this page. The figure and tone of the hardwood, the colour of the brass, the exact sweep of the curve and the grain of the scabbard leather all vary between pieces, because each is worked by hand from natural materials by a smith making decisions as they go. The dimensions, the steel and the build are identical every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Does it arrive sharp?

Yes, with a working edge rather than a razor edge. That is the correct state for a sword of this size. Say the word in your order notes and we will take it further before it ships.

What is the difference between a talwar and a shamshir?

The hilt. A shamshir is Persian and has a cross guard with a hooked pommel that curls down over the hand. A talwar is Indian and has a disc pommel that caps the grip flat. Shamshir blades are also narrower and more evenly curved as a rule.

Is the grip meant to be that short?

Yes. Talwar grips are short by design, because the hand is meant to sit tight against the disc rather than to spread out along the handle. It feels wrong for about a minute and then it makes sense.

Can I use it for cutting practice?

It will cut mats and bottles. It is not a sparring sword, must never be used against another blade, and should be kept away from hard targets like wood.

Will mine look like the photograph?

Very close, but not identical. Wood grain, brass tone and leather all vary from piece to piece. The steel, the size and the build do not.

How long does shipping take?

Free inside the United States. Two to three business days for a sword in stock, two to three weeks for one made to order or engraved.

What is in the box

• Slatecrown hand forged 1095 high carbon steel talwar
• Leather covered scabbard with brass throat and chape
• Care card with oiling and storage instructions
• Certificate of hand forging
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See the rest of the scimitars, the whole swords collection, the sabres and the scabbards and sheaths, or read the guides.