Tabar (axe)

The term tabar is used for axes originating from the Ottoman Empire, Persia, India and surrounding countries and cultures.

[2] The tabarzin was sometimes carried as a symbolic weapon by wandering dervishes (Muslim ascetic worshippers).

[1] During the 17th and 18th centuries, the tabar battle axe was a standard weapon of the mounted warriors of Punjab, Sikh Khalsa army and what is now modern day India and Pakistan.

Made entirely of metal or with a wood haft, it had a strongly curved blade and a hammer-headed poll and was often decorated with scroll work.

According to Adam Metz's "Islamic Civilization in the Fourth Century of the Hegira," the tabar was frequently not only a weapon used by police chiefs (Sahib al-Shurta), but also a mark of office for them.

Indian ( Sindh ) tabar battle axe, late 18th century or earlier, crescent shape 5-inch-long head with a square hammer opposite of the blade, 22-inch-long steel haft, the end of the haft unscrews to reveal a 5-inch slim blade. Heavil patinated head and handle with traces of engraving.