An elephant sword, also called a tusk sword, is an

edged weapon An edged weapon, or bladed weapon, is a hand-to-hand combat weapon with a cutting edge. Bladed weapons include swords, daggers, knives, and bayonets. Edged weapons are used to cut, hack, or slash; some edged weapons (such as many kinds of swords) ...

designed to be attached to the tip of an elephant's

tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine tooth, canine teeth, as with Narwhal, narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, ...

, normally used in pairs.

War elephants A war elephant is an elephant that is trained and guided by humans for combat purposes. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific mil ...

were used for centuries, primarily from

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

to the Middle East, and were often armored. Made of iron or steel, elephant swords were probably used from a relatively early date. Over a thousand years ago, elephants equipped with steel-tipped tusks were reportedly effectively used in battle. An elephant could toss an enemy in the air and cut him in two. Sometimes the blades were coated with

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. The Russian merchant Afanasii Nikitin recorded the use of these weapons in India in the 15th century.Konstantin Nossov. ''War Elephants'', Osprey Publishing (2008), p. 16, A Persian illustration titled
The Battle of Pashan Begins
from the '' Shahnama'' (''Book of Kings'') of

Shah Tahmasp Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the d ...

, from

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

circa 1530s, shows an elephant in battle equipped with elephant swords (the battle depicted occurred centuries earlier). It is possible that thousands of elephant swords were manufactured over a large span of time, but only four pairs, plus a single specimen are known to exist today.Metropolitan Museum of Art
/ref>

References

{{Elephants Asian swords War elephants Military history of India Livestock Indo-Persian weaponry