Rare Maratha-era ‘dhop talwar’ found in Mahabaleshwar

KOLHAPUR: In a remarkable discovery at Mahabaleshwar, the renowned hill station in Satara district, a ‘dhop talwar', a dagger and a spearhead-like weapon were unearthed from a dried-up well. The dhop talwar, a sword from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's time, is considered a rare find. The discovery was made by Mayuresh More, a 24-year-old history student, while he was in the town with his mother, locally renowned painter Savita. They were in town for a tourism festival exhibition. During their exploration of historical structures, they came across a well. When Mayuresh, who has spent four years studying ancient weapons, shone his torch inside the well, he spotted a hilt. He contacted local enthusiast Rahul Kadam, who then informed the authorities. Subsequently, Mahabaleshwar's tehsildar Tejaswini Patil coordinated with the Mahabaleshwar Trekkers' Group and archaeology department to retrieve the weapons from the well."We were exploring to look at ignored architecture when we saw the well. Mahabaleshwar has a long history. It was under Chandrarao More of Jaoli before Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj captured it in 1656. During Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's time, special swords were made, the metal blades of which were bought from the French or Portuguese. The hilt with a semi-circle basket connected to a knuckle guard is distinctive of the Maratha period.There were other types of hilts, Rajputi, Mulheri and Karnataki. But this, made in the Maratha times, had the purpose to swing the sword as quickly as possible while saving the knuckles," said Mayuresh More.The sword's characteristics suggest it belonged to a high-ranking official. It features a single edge with a spike for thrusting, particularly suitable for mounted combat. The origin of these weapons in the well remains undocumented.Pravin Shinde, the curator of Satara's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum, said, "We have swords from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's time in the museum. The sword we found in the Mahabaleshwar well resembles those. It is from the 17th century. The British passed a law banning possession of arms, and many people then threw the arms in such wells. This sword might be one of those thrown to hide it from the British. We are going to carry out proper conservation. We will clean the sword and study it to see if it has special design marks or use of metal so that we can say that it indeed belonged to someone higher up in the ranks and was passed on to their descendants or was in possession of common cavalry."The British administration implemented the Arms Act in 1878 to prevent uprisings similar to 1857. They confiscated weapons from royal families and nobility, transferring the finest specimens to London museums. The remaining ordinary weapons were preserved in local museums.