Indians For Guns

I am a native of Rajasthan (probably Udaipur)
I have a handle made of Camel Bone ??
I have this peculiar shape
I am about 12.5" long

What am I called and what is my history ?

She's a beauty with a very wicked past
B

its called a karoli knife or zirah bouk knife as its having a armour piercing daimond tip end.

Whoever she is, she is surely a beauty.. and if it has the diamond tip, she should be mighty expensive... probably one of the few 'Male-ornaments'

Your Emminence,
Thanks... yaa she sure looks like a beauty... i've been rubbing her incessantly for 2 days now...I couldn't see no diamond on the tip, though... {I wish there was one... }

Thanks Bantu Bana, can you throw some light on its history and probable time era when it was used and by whom... Maybe Bruno has truly guessed her wicked past... ??

I am going to keep her very safely for sure...

I think he means diamond-tipped as in the shape the tip makes,(4 edges at the tip, instead of 2). So a normal blade would have a flat "|" profile from the front whereas on this one it'd be a "<|>" . So that it better separates the links in a coat of mail.

-- Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:15 pm --

The S curved blade is also similar to the bich'hwa. The kind used by Shivaji to kill Afzal Khan. But the hilt and handle are more Persian styled - simple line and curve handle, as well as the gold engraving, instead of the Katar kind. Perhaps hinting at merge of Persian and Indian design. I'd say its mid to late 1800's mughal inspired. .

http://www.oriental-arms.com/item.php?id=658

http://www.antiques-arms.com/catalog/so ... p-973.html

http://www.oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=2089

-- Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:16 pm --

Oh, also. That is a beautiful blade mate. Jealous.

Thank you BJL,
you seem to have a good knowledge of historical armaments.. !!

No prob. It's such a wonderful dagger to look at. I love arms and armour, especially historical stuff. Trying to restore a badly kept dagger I picked up in Morocco at the moment.

-- Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:39 pm --

Was reading up some more- it can also be closer to a Persian pesh kabz. Also armour-piercing, but they have a longer flat part, and yours has a shorter flat blade and a longer 4 edged mail splitting end, and coupled with the incredible S curve its most probably a merge of two popular 18th- 19th century designs. Makes me think its actually older, since its armour splitting capabilities are so pronounced. Maybe late 1700's- early 1800's. Either way, it's in great condition, the gold filigree is very well maintained.

-- Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:47 pm --

Sorry for the repeated additions instead of a decent structured post. Makes me seem scatterbrained.

It's definitely a merge between a Persian Pesh Kabz (a fine example and another), much like yours in style, except for the fact that yours exhibits the awesome S curve of the bich'hwa and the elongated diamond tip.

-- Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:58 pm --

Damn. Another edit. I would also make an educated guess that it is not in fact a native of Rajasthan, but further north from a belt that runs from Iran, Afghanistan through central Asia

Interesting post BJL, I have a similar blade which came to me by the way of Kabul (though no where as finely decorated), will try and post photos on this thread...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

I am amazed... I didn't know what I had, myself...

Thanks a ton, BJL.

Abhijeet,
How come I haven't yet seen your blade ?? Thought you had just 2... those on the wall...

Yep, have just the those and this is the shorter one of the two...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

-- 15 Apr 2009 06:20 pm --

Ok, so here it is... shot indoors with phone cam so the picture quality is not really good...
Cheers!
Abhijeet

Yup, that's a more traditional pesh kabz. Beautiful piece as well. You can really see how different Olly's blade is from the norm by comparing the elongation of his diamond shaped tip to yours.

Did you actually get it in Afghanistan? Or through someone else who got it from there? I recently saw one here in New York at auction that was in almost mint condition, found in Tabriz, Iran, with a ruby about an inch long in its hilt and gold work running down the top half of the blade, much like Olly's. Needless to say, that got sold way out of my price range.

BJL,

A very dear school time friend was in charge of the restoration of Babar's tomb in Kabul, as a result he was shuttling between Afghanistan & Delhi for 3 odd years... he got this back with him (as a gift for me) on one of his many trips... his only regret, due to legal restrictions he could not get me any firearms!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Mouth watering PK's love the blade geometry on your sample Olly. take it easy on the rubbing the blade...Yup, abhijeet's wall hanger is the more traditional PK.Great stuff, hang onto them guys!
en passant-mama, I want!

Abhijeet,

That's a great story. I'd like to go to afghanistan someday.

Olly,
How'd you come across yours?