Islamic Arms and Armor Books

This is a topic that certainly needs to be explored and expanded upon for any academic/collector of Islamic Art.

In the 19th century there was Egertons ground breaking work "An Illustrated Book of Indian Arms" and the Tzar Tzelo collection, both of which are great references for any study of Islamic arms.

In the 20th century came Mosers 1912 book, then then in 1934 Stones Glossary (a sort of bible for collectors).

In the 1950's-60's we had Mosers catalog on the collection in Berne, Mayers," Islamic Armorer and their Marks". Robonsons "Oriental Armor" and Rawsons" The Indian Sword" both published in the Arms and armor series. Zaki's , '"Islamic Swords".

1979 brought Elgoods "Islmaic Arms and Armor" to be followed by in the 1980's by Jacobs 'Les Arms Blanches du Monde islamique". Then the first book with really good photo's, 'Splendeur des Arms Orientales".

Then the Polish collections started to be published with Stara Bron by Zygulski.

At this point we are starting to get a feel for what is what.

After this there are about twenty or so books on Islamic arms, some a general history and simply repeating what was said before, and some very good studies on Islamic Arms.

There are specific books on steel, jewelry, decoration I have overlooked focusing on arms books.

Indian arms is an immense field , will probably be quite some time until there will be a good group of books that will cover that topic well. India has diverse regions, religions, langauges and people. its more like a dozen countries than just one.

In the mean time the best first book is Stones Glossary, get the 1961 printing as the pictures are much better than later reprints. The original 1934 copy you would not want to damage with use.

Stones Glossary*
The Indian Sword by Rawson*
Indian Armours by Pant/Sharma*
Persian Arms and Armor by Perski*
On Damascus Steel by Figiel*
Splendeur dus arms Orientales*
Hindu Arms and Ritual by Elgood*
Les Arms blanches du monde islamique by Jacob*
Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms by Eggerton*Indian Shield by Pant*
Indian Arms and Armor Volumes I,II,III by PantArms and Armor of Muslim India by Haider*
Orientail Arms and Armor by Robinson*
Islamic Weapons by Tirri*
Arms and Armor From Iran" Manouchehr Khorasani

This would be a core group of arms and armor books to build on for reference on Indian Arms and Armor.

Its really only been in tha last forty or so years that books on Islamic arms and armor have started being published.

There certainly are more books and articles you can supplement your collection with.The biggest gap in information is from about 1500-1650. Could very well end up that in depth study of Indian arms helps fill that gap.

Pants work is disallusioning and conspicuous, not sure why I am keep his books, must be the photo's. Certainly would be the last ones to pick up except for his work with Sharma,"Indian Armours".

Here is a list of decotative art books relating to India.....

Aziz, Abdul, Thrones, tents and their furniture used by the Indian Mughals, Lahore, n.d.

Aziz, Abdul, The Imperial Treasury of the Indian Mughuls, reprint edition Jayyed Press, Delhi, 1972

Aziz, Abdul, Arms and jewellery of the Indian Mughuls, Lahore, 1947

Archer, M., C. Rowell and R. Skelton, Treasures from India: the Clive collection at Powis Castle, London, Herbert Press/National Trust, 1987

Birdwood, Sir George, The Industrial Arts of India, London, 1880

Birdwood, Sir George, The Arts of India as Illustrated in the Collections of HRH The Prince of Wales, London, 1881

Born, W. 'Ivory powder flasks from the Mughal period', Ars Islamica, vol. IX, 1942, pp 93-111

Brand, M. and G. Lowry, Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory, New York, 1985

Chandra, M. 'A brass jewel casket of Akbar-Jehangir period', Roopa Lekha, vol.II, no.3, 1940, pp.9-13

Chandra, P. 'Two early Mughal metal cups', Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum, no. 5, Bombay, 1955-7, pp. 57-60

Crill, Rosemary, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow, Arts of India: 1550-1900, London 1990 (repr. 1999)

Delhi Museum Of Archaeology Loan Exhibition of Antiquities Coronation Durbar, 1911: An Illustrated Selection of the Principal Exhibits, Calcutta (1912)

Digby, S. 'A corpus of "Mughal" glass', Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies,vol.VI, part 3, 1973

Digby, S. 'The mother-of-pearl overlaid furniture of Gujarat: an Indian handicraft of the 16th and17th centuries', in R. Skelton et al., (eds.) Facets of Indian Art, London, 1986, pp 213-22

Dikshit, M.G. History of Indian Glass, Bombay, 1969

Dwivedi, V.P. Indian ivories, Delhi, 1976

Egerton, W. An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms, London, 1888

Elgood, Robert, Hindu Arms and Ritual: Arms and Armour from India 1400-1865, Leiden 2004

Elgood, Robert, 'Mughal Arms and the Indian Court Tradition', in Beatriz Chadour-Sampson and Nigel Israel, eds,

Jewelled Arts of Mughal India, Jewellery Studies vol. 10, 2004, pp. 76-98

Hendley, T.H. Memorials of the Jeypore exhibition, London, 1883Hendley, T.H. Ulwar and its Art Treasures, London, 1988

Hendley, T.H. Damascening on steel or iron, as practised in India, London, 1892

Hendley, T.H. Indian Jewellery (vol. XII of the Journal of Indian Art and Industry), London

Ivanov, A.A., V.G. Lukonin and L.S. Smesova, Yuvyelirniye izdyeliya vostoka (Oriental jewellery from the collection of the Special Treasury, the State Hermitage Oriental Department), Moscow, 1984

Jacob, S.S. and T. H. Hendley, Jeypore Enamels, London, 1886

Jenkins, M. and M. Keene, Islamic art in the Kuwait National Museum. The al-Sabah collection, London, 1983

Koezuka, T. (ed. and translator into Japanese) The Art of the Indian Courts. Miniature Painting and Decorative Arts, Victoria and Albert Museum/NHK Kinki Media Plan, 1993 (catalogue by S.Stronge and R. Crill; captions in English)

Krishna, A. (ed.) Chhavi: Golden Jubilee Volume, Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, 1971

Krishna, A. (ed.) Chhavi-2: Rai Krishnadasa Felicitation Volume, Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, 1981

Lal, K. National Museum Collection. Bidri Ware, New Delhi, 1990Leth, André Islamic Arms and Armour from Private Danish Collections, Copenhagen, 1982

Leth, André Islamic Arms and Armour from Private Danish Collections, Copenhagen, 1982

London ( V&A) The Indian Heritage. Court Life and Arts under Mughal Rule, London, 1982

Markel, S.(ed) The World of Jade, Marg Publications, Bombay, 1992Markel, S.(ed) W'estern Imports and the Nature of Later Indian Glassware' Asian Art, vol.VI/4 Fall1993, pp.34-59

Markel, S.(ed) 'Non-Imperial Mughal Sources for Jades and Jade Simulants in South Asia', in Beatriz Chadour-Sampson and Nigel Israel, eds, Jewelled Arts of Mughal India, Jewellery Studies vol. 10, 2004, pp. 68-75

Melikian-Chirvani, A.S. 'Studies in Hindustani metalwork: on some Sultanate stirrups', inC. Adle(ed.) Art et societé dans le monde Iranien, Paris, 1982

Melikian-Chirvani, A.S. 'Islamic metalwork as a source on cultural history. Section II. The making of Islamic culture in India: the evidence of metalwork', Arts and the Islamic World, vol. I no. 1, 1982-3,pp 36-44, 78-80

Melikian-Chirvani, A.S. 'Sa'ida-ye Gilani and the Iranian Style Jades of Hindustan', Bulletin of the Asia Institute, New Series/Volume 13, 1999, pp. 83-140Mukharji, T.N. Art Manufactures of India, Calcutta, 1888

Pant, G.N. Catalogue of Edged Arms and Armour in the Salarjung Museum, Hyderabad, 1989

Rawson, P. The Indian Sword, Copenhagen, 1967Riazuddin, A. History of Handicrafts. Pakistan-India, National Hijra Council, Pakistan, 1988

Skelton, R. 'The Shah Jahan cup', Victoria & Albert Museum Bulletin, vol. II, no. 3, July 1966, pp. 109-10

Skelton, R. 'The relations between the Chinese and Indian jade carving traditions', in Watson, W.,The westward influence of the Chinese arts from the 14th to the 18th century, Colloquies onArt and Archaeology in Asia, no. 3, London, University of London, 1972, pp. 98-110Skelton, R. (et al., eds.) Facets of Indian Art London, 1986

Stronge, S. Bidri ware: inlaid metalwork from India, London, 1985Stronge, S. 'Colonel Guthrie's Collection. Jades of the Mughal Era', Oriental Art, volume XXXIX,No 4, Winter 1993-94 pp. 4-13

Stronge, S. 'Gold and Silver in 16th and 17th Century Mughal India', in Vasallo e Silva, Nuno (ed.), A Heranca de Rauluchantim/The Heritage of Rauluchantim, Lisbon, 1996. pp.62-81

Stronge, S. 'The Sublime Thrones of the Mughal Emperors of Hindustan', in in Beatriz Chadour-Sampson and Nigel Israel, eds, Jewelled Arts of Mughal India, Jewellery Studies vol. 10, 2004, pp. 52-67

Taipei: National Palace Museum Catalogue of a special exhibition of Hindustan jade in the National Palace Museum, by Teng Shu-p'ing, trs. by D. M. Kamen, Taipei, 1983

Vogel, J.P. Tile Mosaics of the Lahore Fort, Archaeological Survey of India, vol. 41, Calcutta

Watt, G., Indian Art at Delhi, 1903, Calcutta, 1903

Welch, S.C. The Art of Mughal India, New York, 1964

Welch, S.C. India. Art and Culture 1300-1900, New York, 1985

Wigington, R. The Firearms of Tipu Sultan 1783-1799, Hatfield, 1992

Wilkinson, T.H. Indian Colonial Silver: European Silversmiths in India (1790-1910), London, 1973

Wilkinson, T.H. The makers of Indian colonial silver: a register of European goldsmiths, silversmiths, jewellers, watchmakers and clockmakers in India and their marks 1760-1860, London, 1987

Zebrowski, M. 'Decorative arts of the Mughal period', in Gray, B (ed) The Arts of India, London, 1981, pp. 177-89

Zebrowski, M. 'Bidri: metalware from the Islamic courts of India', Art East, no 1, 1982, pp 26-9

Zebrowski, M. Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India, Alexandra Press, London, 1997

"Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans" is one of the few books that have the signatures of the sultans that you can use to help indentify a time period of a weapon either by signture on blade or a silver or gold stamp.

There are books that are only list of books published on Islamic metalwork, these are about 600 pages(amazing huh).

Now as to the books that are only relevant that is the real question. Its such a large subject that after you get your basic understanding, you need to decide what area to research and what areas to decide based on others research.

For example, I have decided not to study metallurgy, prefer to get my understanding of that topic by reading the studies of a few authors and am content with a general knowledge.
Think of it like a General selecting who to do what work (remember your the General).

For determining a dating chronology have found the study of related art, technique and design more useful. metalworking techniques for the application of decoration are getting close to being organized in a systematical manner that will assist in the dating of when a metal was appiled. There is a definate change in the manner and style of metal application on overlayed gold/silver and various inlay techniques. There are also definate time periods of high or low availablity of metals. Add to that the influence from one culture to another where the designs are datable via ceramic and textile designs of the period.

Now some people prefer the flavor of history, they will gleen from the travel works. Must say these studies get more appealing all the time to me.

For a general group of books to add the study of Persian arms would suggest the following:

Revue des Etudes Islamiques 1982

Arts of Asia
The Sword of Islam
May-June 1979


Persian SteelThe Tanavoli Collection
Allan & Gilmour

Early Mediaevil Islamic Arms and Armor
David Nicolle

Persian Arms and Armor
Orez PerskiLes

Arms Orientales
LebedynskyButterfield

CatalogThe Dr Leo S Figiel Collection of Mogul Arms

On Damascus Steel
Leo Fiegel

Islamic Arms and Armor
Eldgood

Arms and Armor form Iran
Khorasani

Note this list is Persian only*This is a general selection of books relating to Persian arms and armor.

Reguarding the judgement of metalworking techniques and type its based on a work in progress including about twenty fives years of studying Islamic metalwork under low power magnification. Is very little published reguarding this and is one area would like to cover in a book. There is a datable style of progression in basic metalworking techniques used over the centuries, availability of materials and styles of decoration used on arms.