page_title: Pata (sword)
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Pata (sword) / Description
caption_attribution_description: Exhibit in the Higgins Armory Museum, 100 Barber Avenue, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. The museum permitted photography without any restriction, both in writing and when I asked verbally.
context_page_description: The pata or patta is a sword, originating from the Indian subcontinent, with a gauntlet integrated as a handguard. Often referred to in its native Marathi as a dandpatta, it is commonly called a gauntlet-sword in English.
context_section_description: The pata has a long straight blade ranging in length from 10 to 44 inches. The blades were sometimes locally made and other times recycled from older European swords imported through colonial trade. In the case of European blades, broadswords were most common, though rapier blades were occasionally employed. 
  The characteristic feature of the pata is its hilt which takes the form of a half-gauntlet, the inside of which is usually padded. The hilt is attached to the blade by decorative arms that extend forward on both sides of the blade. 
  The Mughals developed a variation with matchlock pistols adjoining the handle. The hilt also has a long cuff which is usually decorated and in older examples inlaid and embellished with gold and silver. The swordsman holds the weapon by gripping a crossbar inside the gauntlet. The cuff is held close to the forearm by another bar or chain.
caption: A well embossed gauntlet
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