A steel three-bladed push dagger (katar), India, 17th century

the three tapering blades chiselled with a central palmette ridge, the grip with four fretted crossbars with protruding terminals, modern metal stand with fitted armature

in good overall condition, minor areas of pitting and patination, as viewed
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This rare katar belongs to a group of early-17th-century push daggers. A 17th-century steel katar with four similar fretted crossbars from a Danish private collects ion was exhibited at the David collects ion in 1982 and is illustrated in Copenhagen 1982, no.135. A similar triple-bladed katar is in the collects ion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Elgood 2004, p.160, no.15.34).

A katar with a closely related hilt and double-bladed dagger is in the collects ion of Lord Clive at Powis Castle (Powis 1987, pp.42-3, no.21).  A number of katars of this type were presented by the 'Jagirdar of Alipura, Bundelkand' to the Prince of Wales in 1875 or 1876 and said to date from the eighteenth century.

Although katars were popular in the Mughal and Deccani courts, Welch attributes the origin of the katar to Southern India (see Welch 1985, p.271).