86 ' SWOED OF TIMOUR. 



The Ameers had agents in Persia, Syria, and 

 Turkey, for the purchase of guns and swords, 

 and spared no expense to obtain the finest 

 %Yeapons — half a lakh of rupees has been given 

 for a single blade. The value of a sword 

 is judged by its temper and watering ; and 

 Meer Ali Moorad has some very fine ones, 

 especially a sword that is declared to have be- 

 longed originally to Timour Liing^ or, as Euro- 

 peans style him, '' Tamerlane." The blades 

 of Sindhian manufacture are very good ; they 

 are large, cmwed sabres, very sharp, and high- 

 ly tempered, but much heavier than the or- 

 dinary sword-blades of India. The scabbard 

 has a receptacle for a small knife also. The 

 belts are generally of leather, richly embroider- 

 ed, and those of the Meer were very handsome- 

 ly mounted in gold. The best shields are 

 of rhinoceros' hide, handsomely embossed with 

 gold or silver, and inferior ones with brass. 

 The chain armour of Sindh was highly esteem- 

 ed ; the finest was manufactured at Hyderabad, 

 with helmet and shield to the suit ; but the 

 days of chain armour have passed away, unless 

 for exportation into central Asia. The Sindh- 

 ians take much pride in their embroidered 



