A kastane or kasthane () is a short traditional ceremonial or decorative single-edged Sri Lankan

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

. The sword is featured in the

Flag of Sri Lanka The flag of Sri Lanka (; ), also called the ''Sinha'' Flag or Lion Flag, consists of a golden lion holding a ''kastane'' sword in its right fore-paw in a maroon background with four gold bo leaves, one in each corner. This is bordered by gol ...

Design

Kastanes often have elaborate hilts, especially shaped and described as having a rich mythical style inherited from

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

in blending a variety of icons including, Lions, Kirtimukha Serapendiya, Nagas, crocodile/human monsters and other

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

and

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

like effigies. Some appear seemingly emitted onto the hand guard and cross guard with

Vajra The Vajra (, , ), is a legendary and ritualistic tool, symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). It is also described as a "ritual weapon". The use of the bell and vajra together as s ...

style pseudo- quillons whose finials are also decorated by minor monsters and a rain-guard decorated by the

Makara Makara () is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, and of the god of the ocean, Varun ...

or Serapendiya peacock tail or fish scales which occasionally flows over and onto the blade at the throat. The

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring ...

is occasionally seen with a miniature beasts head at the

chape Chape has had various meanings in English, but the predominant one is a protective fitting at the bottom of a scabbard or sheath for a sword or dagger (10 in the diagram). Historic blade weapons often had leather scabbards with metal fittings a ...

also emitting an icon or cloud pattern. Sometimes a small human face decorates the hand-guard which is a half human/half crocodile monster. The main aspect of Kastane Hilts shows the central monster accompanied by supporting minor iconic forms and the peculiar guard arrangement incorporating Buddhist style Vajra quillons. The

National Museum of Colombo The Colombo National Museum, also known as the Sri Lanka National Museum, is a museum in Colombo and the largest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1877 and maintained by the Department of National Museums, it holds collections of significant importance ...

displays the oldest surviving makara-guard adorning a pre-kastane sword from the early Kotte kingdombr>
ref name="RajasimhaPallava">''The sword of Mahanaga Rajasinghe Kuruvira Adithya Arsanilaishta (1416 AD) - the oldest representation of the Makara knuckle-guard'': Ancient Swords, Daggers and Knives in Sri Lankan Museums, P.H.D.H. De Silva and S. Wickramasinghe, pp.82,90,101-5 (National Museums of Sri Lanka) The cross and hand guards are further embellished with lavish decoration often spilling over onto the blades throat. In approaching a description authors should observe each Kastane separately since no two are identical and the main Hilt theme thus could be either of the variant Icons; Lion, Makara, Serapendiya or hybrid etc. and since artist and artisan may well have applied a broad ranging interpretation of the form.

History

The Sendai City Museum displays the oldest surviving kastane 'Lion' hilt which belonged to ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

Hasekura Tsunenaga was a kirishitan Japanese samurai and retainer of Date Masamune, the daimyō of Sendai. He was of Japanese imperial descent with ancestral ties to Emperor Kanmu. Other names include Philip Francis Faxicura, Felipe Francisco Faxicura, and Ph ...

dating from circa 1600 AD which had been purchased through

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, albeit on a hybrid blade. A depiction of the same blade with a different hilt in the hand of a Sinhala chief thought to be Kuruvita Rala or Rathnayake Mudiyanse, is displayed on a Portuguese stone slab near the Maha Saman devalaya, Ratnapura. The oldest depiction of a kastane with a 'Makara' hilt dating from the same period is displayed at the

Royal Armouries Museum The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a national museum that holds the National Collection of Arms and Armour. It is part of the Royal Armouries family of museums, with other sites at the Royal Armouries' traditiona ...

on a painting of Colonel

Alexander Popham Alexander Popham (1605 – 1669) of Littlecote, Wiltshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1669. He was patron of the philosopher John Locke. Early life Popham was born at Littlec ...

, Commander of a

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

regiment in the English Civil War. In 1807 it is recorded that the sword was an indicator of official rank so that the more senior persons in what could be described as a native headmen would wear a more lavishly adorned weapon and that this was also the intent though perhaps to a lesser degree in the Portuguese and Dutch periods. It is likely that this is a homegrown weapon though perhaps inspired by European swords brought by the Portuguese period in Ceylon or in fact imported by Muslim sea traders. The basic form being lavishly adorned so much so that it is almost impossible to designate a base pattern, though, North Italian or Venetian seems plausible. A 16th-century South Indian dagger hilt depicts what may be the basic hilt form. The blade comes in a variety of sizes and it can be either straight or slightly curved. They are usually single-edged though sharpened on both sides from the point back about and from the Dutch period are most frequently made in Europe(Solingen).The break in local blade production being the result of colonial presence and cheaper, imported foreign steel. None of the blades bear either Portuguese marks or English East India Company trademarks (EIC), however, there are many examples of Dutch influence with blades marked VOC usually with the Amsterdam initial 'A'. The single part of the sword that shares the similar characteristics is the hilt. It has two or four quillons. In the 4-quillon version the smaller two quillons are swept downwards toward the tip of the blade. In fact it is arguable if these are Quillons since they are mirror images of the Vajra projections on the Buddhist religious axe and perhaps serve no defensive purpose. The pommel and the quillons are very beautiful as each of them ends with a carved Iconic finial. The hilts are often encrusted with gemstones as in the eyes of Ruby stones and inlaid with silver or made entirely of silver or gold. The scabbards of the Kastane swords are made of wood or Rhino horn and are decorated with brass, silver and/or gold. It is a testament to the skill of the traditional craftsmen operating in Sri Lankas ancient Royal Sword Workshops. File:Twee sabels (kastanes) en een mes (piha-kaetta) Kastane met schede uit Kandy, NG-NM-560.jpg File:Houwer of kastane, NG-1982-18.jpg File:Kastane met schede Twee sabels (kastanes) en een mes (piha-kaetta), NG-NM-7112.jpg

Sri Lanka Army

The

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

replaced the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Pattern 1831 sabre for General Officers with the ceremonial pattern kastana sword for its

general officers A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Ma ...

of the rank of Major General and above as well as the Aide-de-Camp to the President.

Design

History

Sri Lanka Army

References

External links