Moving on to the Katar:
The Katar is probably one of the oldest Indian Knives in recorded history. The Katar 'push dagger' is again unique to India, and is designed as a weapon for combat. Knives have multiple purposes, but the Katar has only one purpose, COMBAT.
The Katar in shastravidya is an extension of the hand, and when one holds the katar, the hand becomes Vajra Muthi, (not to be confused with Vajra Mushti) literally meaning Thundering Fist (Now I know how the Chinese got the unique names for all Kung Fu forms
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The Katar It is notable for its horizontal hand grip, which results in the blade of the katar sitting above the user's knuckles. Making the hand perfectly positioned to 'Punch' The basic katar has a short, wide, triangular blade. Its uniqueness lies in the handle which is made up of two parallel bars connected by two or more cross-pieces, one of which is at the Mid and the other is closer to the blade. The handle is at right angle to the blade. Some handles have longer arms extending across the length of the user's forearm. The entire Hilt is constructed from a single piece of Faulad, and the blades of the Katar are generally high quality Faulad with a Bulbous tip, which facilitates in breaking the Chain Mail open, and is a close quarters, armour piercing weapon.
As this thread on Sikhs Arms and Armour it is notable, that the Nihang warrior weilded the Katar deftly either as close quarter weapon or in a Katar Pesh Kabz combo in the left hand and the talwar in the right hand.
However the Katar as such IMHO is not a True North Indian weapon, but has its origin in the south of India, and was brought to the battlefield first by the Dravidian Warrior rather than the Aryan warrior.
If we look at the early Katars, we will notice 2 things, one is that most of the blades are NOT faulad, but normal steel, and that most of the Katars are Hooded, that is having a gauntlet which protected the back of the hand against attack. North Indian Katars characteristically do not have such gauntlets, but are as described in the beginning.
Katar's are personal weapons, and as the Mughals came to India, they too adopted this weapon, Paintings from 1300 onwards, show several Rulers & warriors, be it Sikh, Rajput, Mughal all having Katars as part of their personal weapons. The Katar in the Darbar evolved to more of a Jewel, and though its central purpose remained as an armour piercing, close quarters weapon, its basic design, lent itself to Ornamentation.
Over a period of time, with the introduction of Flint Lock guns, Katar's were designed and made to include the Flint Locks, I believe just a short while ago we have had a discussion on such Katars in the forum.
The following is a Photo essay on the Katar, Enjoy
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