Detail: Close up

This sword ranks among the most elaborate and artistically accomplished examples of decorated ironwork from China or Tibet. At the center of the scabbard there is a narrow band decorated with Sanskrit characters reading khadgaratna (literally, “sword jewel”), an alternative name for the Precious General, the last of the Seven Jewels of Royal Power, which are symbolic attributes of monarchy, both spiritual and temporal. The presence of this name could mean that the sword was made for presentation to a Tibetan ruler, such as one of the Phagmodrupa, who were the predominant power in central Tibet from 1358 to 1434.

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