The blade is inscribed in devanagari with the word 'Adavani', referring to the fortress better known as Adoni. The hilt is of typical shape, although the parrot and kirtimukha, a ferocious monster face, motifs on the hilt are unusual features. Blade length: 82 cm. The Bikaner Armory marking indicates that the sword was taken during the sack of the Adoni fortress in 1689 by Raja Anup Singh of Bikaner. This important siege was part of the Mughal campaign against the Deccani state of Bijapur. The Adoni armory had previously belonged to the Hindu state of Vijayanagara in southern India, but had been captured by Sultan 'Ali Adil Shah I of Bijapur in 1568-1569 (Robert Elgood, Hindu Arms and Ritual: Arms and Armour from India 1400-1865, Delft, 2004, p. 120). Similar swords are preserved in the Ganga Government Museum, Bikaner, although many are simpler examples, without the parrots and kirtimukha on the hilt (Elgood 2004, pp. 88, 97).