Part axe, part mace, the Tabar-Shishpar is a cutting and bludgeoning weapon. Season 4, Episode 20 “Tabar-Shishpar” is one of the many Forged in Fire episodes featuring an axe.

Season 4, Episode 20: “Tabar-Shishpar” (S04 EP20)

In round one the smiths must forge blades out of pipe wrenches. One of the competitors produced a beautiful seax. It also seems as though judges dislike it when a smith stops working before time has elapsed. Another lesson learned (which has come up multiple times) is that the handles made of resin and pinecone don’t hold up. Pinecones are rather brittle and weak and surrounding them with resin doesn’t change that.

Finale Weapon: Tabar-Shishpar

I believe the Tabar-Shishpar is a rare weapon. It is described as “extremely rare” in the show. I was not able to find more than one image of this weapon on the internet. It is described as being using in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan by mounted warriors in the 1600-1700s. The tabar refers to the axe side of the weapon and the shishpar refers to the mace. Personally I wouldn’t want to be using it as a mace with the axe side of the weapon facing me.

The example Tabar-Shishpar is beautiful. It looks very much like the example shown in this article.

The first competitor, Mark, had a good looking tabar-shishpar, although the mace portion was rusted. I prefer the asthetics and design of his  weapon. I particularly like the profile of the axe head. The judges also noted that Mark’s tabar-shishpar was lighter than that of his competitor. The ridges on the handle were also a nice touch. 

Horseman's Tabar

A Tabar-Shishpar

The second smith, Christopher, had a clean look, but I don’t like how the cutting edge of the axe is not parrallel to the handle. The mace or shishpar portion of his was also corroded. I would imagine that the hexagonal handle would be nicer for indexing but none of the judges mention this.

Although the lighter weapon does not always win, all else equal the judges do favor lighter weapons, provided they are strong.

Axes in the episode: finale weapon Tabar-Shishpar (axe on one side, mace on the other)