Gauntlet Sword (Pata) hilt, dated 1126 / 1714–15; blade, probably 16th century hilt, Indian; blade, European Sometimes the nature of the inscriptions on a piece of armor or a weapon indicates an allegiance to a particular religious sect. A noteworthy example of such sectarian decoration occurs on this gold damascened gauntlet sword (pata), which is dated 1126 ( 1712) and was probably made in one of the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan region of south-central India. The choice of inscriptions makes it clear that the owner of the pata was a Shiite, rather than a Sunni, Muslim.
Gauntlet Sword (Pata) hilt, dated 1126 / 1714–15; blade, probably 16th century hilt, Indian; blade, European Sometimes the nature of the inscriptions on a piece of armor or a weapon indicates an allegiance to a particular religious sect. A noteworthy example of such sectarian decoration occurs on this gold damascened gauntlet sword (pata), which is dated 1126 ( 1712) and was probably made in one of the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan region of south-central India. The choice of inscriptions makes it clear that the owner of the pata was a Shiite, rather than a Sunni, Muslim. The majority of Muslims adhere to the Sunni (literally, "one of the path") tradition. Shia (literally, "followers") constitutes the largest divergent group within Isl?m. It became the predominant form of Isl?m in Iran, southern Iraq, and parts of India during the sixteenth pata, like the katar, is an edged weapon unique to India. Its use apparently originated with the Mahrattas of the western Deccan and eventually spread through much of India (compare to acc. no. ). The hilt of the pata consists of a bulbous steel shell that encompasses the hand and flares out into a cuff over the forearm, extending nearly to the elbow. The pata, again like the katar, is held by a transverse bar gripped with the fist. The rigid gauntlet of the hilt makes the long, flexible double-edged blade essentailly an extension of the forearm. It also holds the hand and wrist in a fixed position, unlike any other sword form, requiring all motions with the blade to be made from the elbow and gauntletlike hilt of this pata is decorated in two ogival cartouches on its spherical portion and along its perimeter with three inscriptions that are characteristically Shiite, particularly when used in combination with one another. The phrase at the bottom edge of the gautlet cuff is from the Qur'an (s?ra 61:13): "Help from God and a victory near at hand." The title of this s?ra,
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