A Catalogue of Arms and Armour in State Museum, Hyderabad, Telangana

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The fear from outwardly forces probably impelled mankind to develop arms and armour. The earliest tools and weapons of the Early Man were made of stone. However, the progressive character of the human civilization witnessed the fateful discoveries of metals. i.e., copper, brass, iron and steel which were found to be malleable and stronger than the stone. Thus, copper and subsequently iron and steel were used to manufacture arms and weapons which not only guaranteed the safety of human beings from the external forces but also helped in subjugating the ficrce natural phenomenon.

The carly Sanskrit texts mention two distinct categories of arms viz., Astra and Sastra.

The collection of arms and armour in the State Museum, Hyderabad, is exceedingly remarkable both for its high quality and enormous quantity. Apart from the selected exhibits on display in the galleries of the museum, a huge number of arms are preserved in the stores which are distributed at three places. The main storage of arms and fire-arms lies within the museum building itself. A good number of swords and daggers are stored within the office building of the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. The third store, consisting of bows, arrows, swords, coat of arms and broken parts of guns etc., is housed in a building, locally known as Shamsheer Kotha' which, as the very name would suggest, was probably meant for the storage of swords and daggers during the Kutubshahi period.