Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 March 1905 — SECRET ARMS IN THE EAST. [ARTICLE]

SECRET ARMS IN THE EAST.

Weapons That Are Concealed For Ready U«e by Both Sexes. ' In Hindustani there is a choice of secret arms. The gupti, or sword stick, may be bought in every bazaar and is said to have been used in the days of Akbar (1543-1G05), but it is doubtful i whether the phrase in the “Ain-i-Ak- ! bari” of Abdul Fazl does not rather rei fer to the Arab dagger, with its deep sheath, containing both blade and haft. ■ If the traveler prefer it, he may buy a sword thin and flexible as the Toledo I coiled blades to wind arounfi his waist 1 in his cummerbund. If he be’a fakir, the ornamental crutch which upholds 1 his arm while he edifies the faithful by silent reflections upon the syllable Om will contain a sharp pointed quadrangular blade for the confusion of the unbeliever. Even lovely woman in the harem carries a miniature katar, with II shaped grip, or a diminutive peshkabz, double curved, single edged, atrocious. J~ In Mysore and Tlahlarabad the bich'hwa (scorpion), the double curved misericordia of the east, is carried by-the lower classes hidden up the sleeve and Is made right or left handed to suit all tastes. It is a favorite and effectual weapon of assassination, being driven downward from behind inside the collar bone, and is sometimes double bladed and poisoned, the poison being carried in a suitable hollow in the hilt. The double curve of the blade, derived from that of a cow’s horn and resembling that of a scorpion’s sting, recurs !in the khanjar and chllanum and throughout Afghanistan. With a varl1 ety of this weapon Lieutenant Willis was killed in the battle at Kandahar. I The strangest of secret arms is perhaps the bagh nakh, or tiger claw, of the Mahrattas, with its two rings for the first and fourth fingers and the three to five curved steel claws des- ! tined to protrude from the closed hand between the fingers and to rip open or mangle the victim. The hand half open shows only two bright rings round the fingers. I The clinched fist becomes the armed paw of the human tiger. Mr. Egerton , tells us how the Mahratta leader Siva- ; jl murdered his enemy, Afzal Khan, , after inviting him to a conference in i which each should come with one at- ■ tendant only. Sivajl wore a mail cap ' and coat under ids turban and cotton gown, had a bich’hwa in his right sleeve and a bagh nakh on his left hand. The khan had only his sword and sent away his follower to reassure Sivajl, who was of small stature and ' counterfeited timidity. “In the midst of the customary embrace Sivaji struck the bagh nakh into the bowels of Afzal Khan, who quickly disengaged himself, clapped his hand on his sword, exclaiming "Treachery and murder!’ but , Sivaji instantly followed up the blow 1 with his dagger. The khan had drawn , bis sword and made a cut at Sivaji, but the concealed armor was proof against the blow. The whole was the | work of a moment, and Sivaji was wresting the weapon from the band of bis victim liefore the attendants could run toward him.” —Saturday Review.