Investigation of elemental composition of dynastic Mughal Blade from The Royal Collection through non-invasive methods

The sword under investigation is of extraordinary importance to the history of Moghul arms and armour. It is inscribed on both sides of the blade with Persian verses and the title of the emperor for whom it was made, Jahangir (r. 1605-1627). Further inscriptions demonstrate that the sword was inherited by his son and successor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) and by his successor ‘Alamgir (r. 1658-1707). Mughal swords with known provenance are extremely rare and this would be one of the earliest royal Mughal blades to be analysed. It has also been suggested this blade may be one documented in contemporary accounts as being made for the emperor from meteoric iron. A number of Mughal blades, including another owned by Shah Jahan himself were analysed with neutron methods. In addition, about 72 Indian blades from the Wallace Collection have been analysed at ISIS using the INES instrument since 2015, as well as a number from the princely Arsenal of Hyderabad.
The analysis aims to identify the composition of the blade, particularly in terms of the carbon content and its distribution along the blade, and nickel content, if present, to determine whether meteoric iron was used in the manufacturing. Testing will also ascertain what metalworking processes the blade has been through (forging and heat treatments). This would be the earliest Mughal sword to be investigated, and would provide an invaluable benchmark for the field.