تلوار کے دھنی تھے
They were owners of the sword, they were wielders of power, they were powerful and authoritative, they had the power of the sword. This sentence is a historical and idiomatic expression used to describe people who possessed authority, power, and the ability to enforce their will, often through force. تلوار (talwar) means sword. کے (ke) is the possessive particle. دھنی (dhani) means owner, master, or possessor (from دھن, dhan, wealth, but in this context, it means one who possesses). تھے (thay) is the past tense plural of "to be." Together, they mean "they were owners of the sword." The phrase is used in historical contexts (describing rulers, warriors, or conquerors), in metaphorical contexts (describing powerful people or institutions), and in proverbs. It has a positive polarity when used to describe strength and authority, but can be negative when referring to oppression. The opposite would be "کمزور تھے" (kamzor thay, they were weak) or "بے اختیار تھے" (be ikhtiyaar thay, they were powerless). The phrase is formal.