Month: June 2026

The Rajput Spear – What are the rings for?

Vikram M R, , , , , 1 Comment

17th June is Maharana Pratap Jayanti, a holiday in Rajasthan. This day commemorates the birth of one of Indian history’s greatest warrior heroes. This is a good opportunity to discuss and celebrate what was supposedly his favourite weapon, the spear. The spear used by the Rajputs is unique in certain ways. Let’s explore these facets.

Observe the statue seen in the image below. This is a statue of Maharana Pratap.

Image 1 – Statue of Maharana Pratap at the Govt. Museum, City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan

There are 2 swords worn by the warrior in the statue seen above. Maharana Pratap is almost always depicted wearing 2 swords. But this article is about the spear he is shown wielding. Observe the spear where the arrows in the image are pointing.

One will see that there are rings or bands at different points along the length of the spear. These rings or bands segregate the shaft of the spear into segments with nodes, almost like bamboo. This observation brings up the following questions for me. This article is me pondering the answers to these questions.

  • Why do these rings or bands exist?
  • How do they help in the use of the spear?
  • Do they show us how the weapon might have been wielded historically?

But first we need to show that these rings are not shown due to artistic license or imagination. We will do this with the image seen below.

Image 2 – Display of the arms and armour used by Maharana Pratap, at the City Palace Museum, Udaipur, Rajasthan

The above image shows the armour worn by Maharana Pratap and some weapons he wielded. Seen prominently in the image is the actual spear supposedly used by Maharana Pratap himself. The arrows in the image point to the rings or bands on this spear. There is one more ring on the lower part of the spear which is not visible in the image. Considering that this is a real historical spear attributed to the Maharana, the presence of the rings is confirmed as historical fact. The paintings and statues of Maharana Pratap show an actual spear he wielded during his lifetime.

Image 3 – Portrait of Maharana Pratap displayed at the Pratap Smarak, Moti Magri, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Now observe the image seen above. It is a portrait of Maharana Pratap, in which his spear is clearly visible unlike the original in the museum display. The rings or bands along the length of the spear are being pointed to by white arrows in the image. This shows that the size of the rings also varies along the length of the spear.

Images (L to R) 4, 5 & 6 – A Rajput Spear on display at the Pratap Smarak, Moti Magri, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Now observe the 3 images seen above. They show another historic spear on display at a museum in Rajasthan. This is a Rajput spear, though not necessarily one that was wielded by Maharana Pratap. This weapon also has the bands or rings along its length. These are distributed at more even distances to result in fairly even segments of the spear.

Image 4, on the far left shows the entire spear with arrows pointing at the rings. The 2 images to its right, show close-ups of the shaft of the spear, which show the rings better. Now observe image 6 on the far right. There is a part of the spear that is bracketed in red and pointed to by an arrow. In my personal opinion, this seems like the place where the wielder would hold the weapon if the spear would be used as a javelin, if this spear was going to be thrown at an opponent.

Image 7 – Modern day javelin used in the Olympic sport of “Javelin Throw”. Image credit – Wikipedia.

The above image shows 2 modern day javelins used in the Olympic sport of Javelin Throw. In the image, a part of both javelins is highlighted in yellow. This is where the throwers hold the javelin during the runup and the actual act of throwing.

Images (L to R) 8, 9 & 10 – These are close-ups of the spears seen in images 2, 3 & 6, showing just the “grip” of the javelin, if the spear was used as one.

Now observe the 3 images above. They are zoomed in sections of the spears seen in the images 2, 3 and 6 above. In all 3 images, the part of the spear seen, to my eyes at least, seem to serve the same purpose as the “handle” of the modern javelin, seen in image 7.

So, a part of the reason for having AT LEAST 2 rings on the spear shaft seems to be to indicate to the wielder, the best place to hold on the spear shaft if one was to hurl the spear like a javelin. This observation of mine is further strengthened by the following image.

Image 11 – A painting depicting an event from the life of Maharana Pratap, on display at the Pratap Vijay Memorial, Dewair, Rajasthan. In 1582, Maharana Pratap decisively defeated the Mughal army commanded by Sultan Khan and recaptured most of Mewar. During this battle, Amar Singh, the son of Pratap, fatally injured Sultan Khan with a thrown javelin. After the javelin impaled Sultan Khan, he was suffering in pain and was shown mercy by Maharana Pratap. He allowed him a quick death by removing the spear impaling him. This image depicts the javelin being removed.

Observe the spears seen in image 11 above. Focus on the parts of the spear highlighted in yellow. These seem to be the “handles” of the spears used as javelins as mentioned previously. What is interesting is that there are no rings on these spears apart from the ones delineating the handle of the spear!

Of course, this is a modern painting and perhaps the other rings on the spear were just left out by the artist as the story being conveyed in the painting is more important that the historical accuracy of the weapons. But could it be that such spears were indeed used by the Rajputs? Specifically, if these were intended to be used only as javelins and not as spears? I do not have an answer, but it seems likely to me.

Image 12 – A painting depicting an event from the life of Maharana Pratap, on display at the Pratap Vijay Memorial, Dewair, Rajasthan.

Now observe the image seen above. On the spears shown in this painting, there are no rings anywhere on the shaft! These are like most of the shafts seen on spears all over the world. Also, the scene depicted clearly shows the spear being deployed as a javelin.

So, is this a case of artist interpretation or were there spears and javelins used by Rajput warriors that did not have any rings or bands on them? I guess both are equally possible. There are historical spears displayed in the City Palace Museum in Udaipur that have no rings on them. But it is not mentioned if the shafts are the original ones on which the spearheads were originally mounted. For more details on such example, refer to my series of 3 articles on spears, spearheads and spearpoints from history.

Image 13 – A historical all-metal spear displayed at the Kumarakon Heritage Museum in Vembanad, Kerala

The image above shows a spear which has rings along the shaft. These bands/rings are shown with arrows. But this is not a Rajput Spear or even one displayed in Rajasthan. I saw this weapon in a museum in Vembanad, Kerala. So, the design of spear shafts incorporating rings or bands along the shaft was not exclusive to the Rajputs. Perhaps we are not aware of this design from other parts of India as historical warriors from these regions are shown more often with swords than with spears.

All the historical spears that I have shared images of, in images 2, 4 and 13 have shafts made of metal. Is this a specific design detail? I am not sure if a shaft has to be made of metal, to have the bands or rings along its length.

Were shafts made of wood incapable of taking the rings? And were shafts made of bamboo already having the natural nodes along its length to not need these artificial additions? These are also questions I have no answers to. Is this why the spear/javelin shown in image 12 has a smooth shaft? Because it is made of wood? I have no answers to these either.

These questions lead to more questions like the ones seen below.

  • How were these spears with rings or bands along the length of their shafts made? I have not seen any show or documentary go into this detail.
  • How was the weight distribution maintained along the length of the shaft? If this mattered, was there any personalization regarding the placements of the rings or bands to suit specific warriors?
  • Did the size and fighting styles of specific warriors matter in the design? And were there other considerations?

I have no answers to any of these questions. If any of you has any idea, I request you to share your knowledge with me.

Coming back to the spear seen in image 13, observe that there is no central portion of this weapon that is designed to allow it to be held like a javelin. This brings us back to the 3 questions I started this article, all of which boil down to identifying the purpose of these rings or bands along the shaft of the spear.

Image 14 – The lower weapon in the above image is the Japanese Yari (spear). It is similar to the same weapon used in almost all parts of the world. The other weapon in the above image is the Naginata, another polearm from Japan, similar to a glaive from other parts of the world. It is essentially a staff with a short sword on top.

As a practitioner of the Bujinkan system of martial arts, I have trained the Japanese Yari. Yari is the Japanese word for spear. In almost all the forms we train with the spear in the Bujinkan, the weapon is held with two hands. There is some sliding of the hands along the shaft of the spear while stabbing and while moving around. The moving around and sliding of the hands along the shaft is needed to parry the weapons of opponents and to strike (as opposed to stabbing) with the spearhead.

Due to this background of mine, I always think of the spear as a TWO-HANDED WEAPON. But this, I have come to realize, is not necessarily true. The javelin, which is a spear specialized for throwing is definitely a one-handed weapon. Beyond this, even as a ranged weapon that is not discharged, a spear could be a WEAPON WIELDED IN ONE HAND. This is likely when the spear is used in conjunction with a shield or when it is used by cavalry (in which case the spear would likely be called a lance).

Image 15 – A close-up of the spearhead of the weapon seen in image 14. This is a tool for practice made of wood.

It is likely that the spear could be used from horseback in conjunction with a shield. If a foot soldier used a spear with a shield, one hand would be used to wield the shield. Of course, there are ways to hold the shield and still use both hands to wield the spear, but there is a chance that the spear would have to be used in just one hand when the other holds a shield. While on horseback, one hand could be occupied with the reins, or a shield, or both.

Now consider wielding a spear one handed on a battlefield, like the Rajputs did. They would likely be wearing chainmail with armour plates on the arms and torso. Even in winter, a warrior would sweat while fighting in Rajasthan or the plains of northern and central India. The opponents of the Rajputs and their horses would also likely be using similar armour.

In such conditions, if one were to thrust with a spear, sweaty palms could weaken the grip on the spear shaft and result in a less effective thrust, due to relative motion between the palm and spear shaft. In simple terms the sweat could result in a slippery grip that could result in a less effective stab with the spear.

If a thrust came up against a hard surface like armour, it is likely that the palms would slide along the shaft, resulting in the next thrust being less effective. If the palms shifted forward along the shaft, then the next thrust would have a shorter shaft length! Similarly, while pulling the spear back for the next thrust, if the palms slip on the shaft, the spear could become unwieldy altogether.

The above video shows the practice of some Yari (spear) forms from the Bujinkan system of martial arts. As can be seen, there is sliding of the palms along the shaft of the spear. Also, pretty much all of these forms use both hands on the Yari.

All of these problems are mitigated if the spear has the rings we have been seeing! A spear wielder could choose to hold the spear between any two rings on the shaft. This allows the thrust to be more effective! When the palms slide along the shaft due to the spear point striking a hard surface or simply due to sweaty palms, the next ring will arrest the slide! This enables the wielder to push through more effectively due to the obstacle (the ring on the shaft!) that helps multiply the force of the thrust.

If the wielder needs to retract the spear for the next thrust, the ring encountered on the way back helps keep the weapon in line and in balance. The small span between 2 rings on the shaft prevents any further sliding due to slippery palms.

If the spear were used as a lance by cavalry, could the rings on the shaft allow the weapon to be more comfortably couched between the arm and the body? I do not have an answer. Cavalry in Europe, when they used heavy lances, had their armour designed specifically to couch the long unwieldy weapon. This allowed for effective thrusts against enemy formations when the cavalry unit charged.

Did the Rajputs have similar tactics and did the rings on the spear shaft serve a similar purpose? If anyone knows, please do share this knowledge with me. None of the guides I spoke to in different museums knew the reason for the presence of the rings. They all said it was forgotten knowledge. I am not aware of any specific martial art school or style practicing Rajput spear forms, specifically with rings on the spear shaft.

Interestingly, there are couple of paintings I saw in Udaipur that inadvertently support my hypothesis on the reason behind the presence of the rings on the shafts of some Rajput spears.

Image 16 – An event from the Battle of Haldighati depicted as a painting at the Pratap Smarak, Moti Magri, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

The above image is a representation of an event that occurred during the Battle of Haldighati in 1576. In this battle the forces of Mewar led by Maharana Pratap fought against Mughal forces led by Man Singh, the ruler of Amer. The image shows Maharana Pratap attacking the mahout of Man Singh’s elephant. Man Singh survived, but the mahout was killed.

Image 17 – A close-up of the image 16. Focus on the grip of Maharana Pratap on the shaft of his spear.

Seen above is a close up of the previous image. Observe the part encircled in red in the close up. Maharana Pratap is wielding the spear in ONE HAND. His hand is butted up against one of the rings of the spear! This would indeed increase his thrusting ability. So, it is likely that the rings were indeed useful while wielding a spear one handed! I am not sure if the artist who created this painting had this in mind when she or he created the artwork.

Another aspect comes to mind based the armour seen in image 2 above. If a warrior was wearing a helmet with face protection, visibility would reduce. Also, the ability to bend one’s neck to check where one’s swords were or where on the spear one’s grip was would also diminish. In such a situation, did the presence of the rings on the shaft allow the wielder of the spear to KNOW BY TOUCH which part of the spear he or she was holding? Was this important in the confusion of a battle? I would say this was a purpose of the rings, but I have no evidence to support this hypothesis of mine.

If a warrior had a personalized spear he or she would immediately be able to recognize the pattern of the rings with sufficient experience with the same design of spear. Is this why the size of the rings varied? To enable the wielder to identify the current grip instantly and know where his or her hands needed to move for the next desired grip? This is also likely in conjunction with the personalized positioning of the rings along the shaft.

To conclude, I am sharing a video of the Rajput spear seen in the images 4, 5 and 6 earlier in this article. It shows the weapon in detail and contains the commentary I gave while making the video explains my hypothesis for the presence of the rings.

A video showing the spear from image 4 in detail. My commentary in the background explains my hypothesis for the presence of the rings on the shaft. 😊

Spears, Spearheads and Spearpoints – Part 3 (of 3)

Vikram M R, , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This is the concluding article in this series of 3 posts where I share images and observations about various spears I have come across over the last few years. I continue in this article from where I had left off in the previous post. In this post we will continue looking at more spears, spearheads and spearpoints and consider their attributes, with a slightly greater focus in this one on spearpoints from cultures beyond India.

In the last 2 posts, we looked at images of parts of spears starting from about a thousand years ago. We also looked at the spear wielded by Maharana Pratap. While this post can be read as a standalone, I would highly recommend readers to go through the previous two articles in this series for a better appreciation of this one.

Spears, Spearheads and Spearpoints – Part 1
Spears, Spearheads and Spearpoints – Part 2 (of 3)

Images 1 (L) and 2 (R) – Image 1 shows a spear from the Kumarakom Heritage Museum, Vembanad, Kerala. Image 2 shows the spear in image 1 in comparison with the spear in image 14 in the previous post. This spear is also shown with a red arrow pointing to it in image 2.

We had left off in the previous article, the previous part to this post (Spears, Spearheads and Spearpoints – Part 2), with an image of a long spear (image 14 in the previous post) from the Kumarakom Heritage Museum in Kerala. We continue now with an image of another spear from the same museum. This is the one in image 1 above. The same spear from previous post is seen in image 2, with a red arrow pointing to it.

The spear in image 1 is very short, between 3 and 4 feet long. Image 2 shows this spear in comparison with the long spear (it is the same spear in image 14 in the previous article). The shorter one is less than half the length of the longer one. I am not sure if the shaft and the butt cap are the original ones that were mounted with this spearhead.

The most interesting thing about this spearhead is that it is remarkably similar to the spearheads the Vikings are supposed to have used. The image below will illustrate this point.

Image 3 – A replica of a Viking spearhead

I bought the spearhead seen in image 3 in Sweden, in the Old Town of Stockholm, at a store called “The Viking Store”! 😊This piece is supposed to be a replica of the regular spearheads that Viking soldiers used. It is about a foot long, with the spearpoint and the socket both being about 6 inches in length.

Now compare this spearhead with the one on the spear in image 1, displayed in the museum in Kerala. I think the 2 spearheads are very similar. This again goes to show how robust and versatile this design of spearhead was! The Viking era is considered to be from the 8th century to the 11th century. I suspect the example from the Kumarakom museum is from the 19th century. So, this design lasted for 1,200 years! Of course, in reality it lasted a lot longer than that!

Image 4 – A spearhead displayed at the Kumarakom Heritage Museum, Vembanad, Kerala.

The image above shows another spearhead displayed at the Heritage Museum in Kerala. It has a flattened diamond section and 2 small wings between the spearpoint and the socket. The weapon above the spearhead is a hooded katar. It is a regular katar that has a “hood” to protect the knuckles and wrist of the wielder.

Image 5 – A spearhead displayed at a dojo.

Many years ago, our dojo rescued a set of antique arms. They were with a local antique dealer who was going to scrap them all as no one seemed interested. So, the dojo pooled resources and rescued the antiques which would otherwise likely have been melted as scrap. A set of these could be restored for display and study by martial artists. We do not know the age of any of these, or the actual metals used in their construction. We think they are from the 18th and 19th centuries and are mostly made in India.

Images of a few spearheads from this set are seen here, starting with the one in image 31. This spearhead has a leaf shaped point. The point and socket are both about 6 or seven inches long. The edge has come damage and is pretty thin. It is completely flat and has no pronounced increase in thickness towards the centre of the spearpoint.

Image 6 – A spearhead displayed at a dojo.

This spearhead seems to have a point made of steel affixed to a socket made of brass. I am not sure if the joint is with a weld or with glue. The spear point is triangular in shape and about 9 inches long. It has a substantial midrib that contributes to the rigidity of the spearpoint.

Image 7 – A spearhead displayed at a dojo.

This spearhead is large. The spearpoint itself is more than a foot long. The socket is another 10 or so inches long. The point is attached to the socket with 2 rivets as seen in image 7. This spearhead could be considered a short sword by itself. The spearpoint has 2 sharp edges that can cut if need be. The point also has a bit of reinforcement for effective thrusting against heavy clothing or chainmail.

The surface texture of this spearpoint keeps the hammered look. It is not polished to give a smooth finish. I wonder how long the actual spear on which this was originally mounted would have been?

Image 8 – The 18 Arms of Wushu

The internet tells me that the above image depicts “The 18 Arms of Wushu”. Many years ago, I bought the set seen above as a souvenir from China. At the time I didn’t know this specific name and bought it as it depicted different polearms which are Chinese in origin. Apparently, this is a common souvenir that is also available online these days. Each of the pieces is about 6 inches in length.

Not all of the 18 are spears as we think of them in the conventional sense, but they are all polearms. Some are designed for cutting or hacking and some are even designed for digging, so they cannot be called spears as they are not thrust centric weapons.

I am not sure of the specific name for these. A search on the internet, even with AI, was not satisfactory. So, I shall only mention the names of the ones I know and just describe the rest.

Image 9 – A close-up of 5 of the heads of the “18 Arms of Wushu”.

The weapon on the far left is certainly a spear. It has a crescent shaped cutting tool on its right, which could be an axe. The second weapon from the left has a spearhead resembling a snake, or perhaps an antler. I think of an antler as there is a single prong towards the tip that deviates from the sinuous point.

The weapon in the middle is what I believe is called the “Monk’s Spade”, for it was used by martial monks both as a spade and as a weapon. To the right of the Monk’s Spade is what I think of as a Kwan Dao. This is similar to the Japanese Naginata or a Glaive from other cultures. It is essentially a curved sword blade atop a spear shaft.

To the far right of the image is another spear. I am not aware if it has a specific name. It has what seem like wings below the spearpoint. I am not sure if they are wings or 2 small crescent blades just below the point.

Image 10 – A close-up of another 5 heads of the “18 Arms of Wushu”.

The spear at the far left of image 10 resembles the spearhead in image 4, displayed at the museum in Kerala, India. It has a leaf shaped spearpoint and 2 wings below the point. The spearhead to its right reminds me of the European Partisan spear. In sheer size it also similar to the large Rajput spearpoints seen in images from part 1 of this series of articles. I am sharing that image here again. The spear in the middle seems like one with the classic leaf shaped spearpoint seen all over the world. I am not aware of the Chinese names of any of these.

The large polearm that is second from the right also looks a Kwan Dao to me, but his one seems a lot bigger than the one seen in image 9! I would say that this resembles the Japanese Bissento (horse cutter). To the far right is what seems an equivalent of the Farsa seen in an image in part 2 of this series of articles, which I am sharing again. It is a combination of an axe and a spearpoint on a pole. I am not sure what its Chinese name is.

Image 11 – Display of two spears from the Government Museum, City Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

The spearhead from image 10, that is second from the left, reminds me of the spearpoints on the 2 spears seen in image 11.

Image 12 – Display of two spears and a farsa (halberd) from the City Palace Museum, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

The combination weapon at the bottom of image 12 is the Farsa (halberd), which is what the weapon at the far right of image 10 reminds me of.

Image 13 – A close-up of 5 more heads of the “18 Arms of Wushu”.

I am not aware of the Chinese names of any of the polearms in image 13 either. The spearhead on the far left in image 13 is intriguing! It resembles a tapering spindle. I am not sure if it was purely a thrusting weapon or used for both thrusting and blunt force strikes with the lower parts of the spearpoint. The weapon that is second from the left is a crescent. I am not sure if is a blade or not. I can only imagine how this was wielded or deployed.

The weapon in the centre seems like a short sword at the top of a pole to me. To my eyes it resembles the spearpoint from image 7, but this one does not seem to have a point. The weapon that is second from the right seems like an anti-cavalry weapon as it has a hook at the tip. This would be useful in pulling riders off their horses, or in tripping horses. The other side of the hook seems to have a blade, though I cannot be sure.

The weapon on the far right is a double-sided weapon. It has the same head on both ends of a pole. It seems like a pole with a bludgeon on its two ends.

Image 14 – A close-up of the last 3 heads of the “18 Arms of Wushu”.

Again, I am not aware of the original Chinese names of the 3 weapons in the above image. The spear one on the far left seems like a variant of the spear on the far left of image 9. Here, there seem to be crescent blades on both sides of the spearpoint, unlike the one in image 9, where there was only one crescent blade with the spearpoint.

The weapon in the centre has a spearpoint with a hook to its right. The hook I guess could be used to parry the weapons of opponents and pull people off horses, if not just trip them. The last of the 18 arms, on the far right of image 14, seems like a trident where the central point is longer than the two prongs on the sides. To my eyes, this also seems like an Okinawan Sai mounted atop a spear shaft. The central spearpoint seems to flare and narrow along its length. I wonder what purpose that design serves?

If anyone knows details of “The 18 Arms of Wushu” and the weapons depicted in the above images, including their names, please do share the same with me, in the comments to this post. It would be great knowledge.

Image 15 – Display of bayonets from the City Palace Museum, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Bayonets when fitted to rifles make the rifles modern equivalents of spears. This makes bayonets, in my opinions the last iteration of the spear in world history. Image 15 above shows a collection of bayonets of different kinds, all likely from the end of the 19th century.

In the above image, some weapons displayed look like swords, but they really are bayonets. Some bayonets were functional short swords. The swordlike bayonets in the above image have a forward curve with a recurve towards the tip. This type of blade was called the Sosun Pata in Maratha culture. In the British Army of that time, I believe it was called the “Yataghan Bayonet”. The Yataghan was a short Turkish (Ottoman) sword similar to the Maratha Sosun Pata and was used in the same time period. Instead of a conventional cross guard, a socket is added to these swords which make them bayonets. Th socket is used to fix the blade to the end of a rifle barrel.

Observe the 2 points encircled in red in the above image. Both points are reinforced. While the use of armour had disappeared by the time these bayonets were used, soldiers used heavy clothing and bayonet points had to be strong enough to get through these layers.

Image 16 – Display of bayonets from the City Palace Museum, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Observe the bayonet encircled in red in image 40. It has a triangular section which tapers down to a fine point. It has no cutting ability but would thrust very well due to its rigidity. It has the famous offset design where the spearhead is parallel to the rifle barrel. The socket at the bottom is fixed to the end of the rifle and even if one were to shoot while the bayonet wat fixed, the point would not be in the path of the bullet.

Observe the swordlike bayonet above the one just described. In this image the hole in the cross guard is clearly visible. This hole is the socket which was used to affix this bayonet to the rifle.

This concludes this article and this series of 3 posts in which I shared images of spears and observations regarding their attributes, especially their spearpoints and spearheads.