Indian Pata or Gauntlet Sword
India (Deccan), Late 17th or early 18th century
With earlier European blade
With earlier European blade
Blackened steel with gold inlay (the hilt); European steel blade
121 cm long (overall); the blade 85 cm long
121 cm long (overall); the blade 85 cm long
A6183
Further images
Provenance: Sotheby's New York, European Works of Art, Arms and Armour, 1995.
The pata, or gauntlet sword, is unique to India. It apparently originated with the Marathas, a warrior empire in the western Deccan plateau sometime in the late 16th century. As Mughal control of the Deccan diminished in the early 18th century, the Maratha Empire expanded and use of the pata sword spread to other areas of India.[1] Surviving examples generally were made during the 17th and 18th centuries and fitted with European blades.[2]
Like the katar, the pata has a cross bar which is gripped in the fist and the blade is used in a stabbing motion. The fist and forearm are covered in a cuff, protecting the hand. They were designed for use by mounted soldiers.
A similar example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (36.25.1538). It is dated to AH 1126 (1714–15) with an earlier blade. Another similar pata dated to the 18th century is in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (object no. XXVIS.182).
[1] Thom Richardson and Paula Turner (eds), Catalogue of Arms & Armour from Asia, Africa and the Ottoman World. London: The Wallace Collection, 2026, p. 16.
[2] Alexander, David G., Stuart W. Pyhrr, Will Kwiatkowski, and Cynthia Clark. Islamic Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015, p. 189.
The pata, or gauntlet sword, is unique to India. It apparently originated with the Marathas, a warrior empire in the western Deccan plateau sometime in the late 16th century. As Mughal control of the Deccan diminished in the early 18th century, the Maratha Empire expanded and use of the pata sword spread to other areas of India.[1] Surviving examples generally were made during the 17th and 18th centuries and fitted with European blades.[2]
Like the katar, the pata has a cross bar which is gripped in the fist and the blade is used in a stabbing motion. The fist and forearm are covered in a cuff, protecting the hand. They were designed for use by mounted soldiers.
A similar example is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (36.25.1538). It is dated to AH 1126 (1714–15) with an earlier blade. Another similar pata dated to the 18th century is in the Royal Armouries, Leeds (object no. XXVIS.182).
[1] Thom Richardson and Paula Turner (eds), Catalogue of Arms & Armour from Asia, Africa and the Ottoman World. London: The Wallace Collection, 2026, p. 16.
[2] Alexander, David G., Stuart W. Pyhrr, Will Kwiatkowski, and Cynthia Clark. Islamic Arms and Armor in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015, p. 189.