A Saudi khanjar for comment
 

Hello all,

I have been offered the khanjar seen in these pictures provided by the seller. It was purportedly collected and brought to the US in the mid 1930s from Arabia.There is a story too, but I will save that for a bit later. May I respectfully request your comments on the khanjar itself?

Thank you.

Dave A.

Dear Dave,

IMHO it's an Omani royal saidi khanjar.
Yours is really beautiful, I will say 1880-1920 for the date.
Of course produced before the thirties... It's my opinion, Ibrahim might have a different opinion. :)

Best,
Kubur

Looks a nice piece Dave. As Kubur says it is an Omani "royal" Khanjar. Silver looks solid unlike some of the later ones around and the belt is also hand embroidered....NOT machine done.
Stu

I am not knowledgeable enough to add anything valuable to what it was already said just that I really like it a lot and you can count on my envy for this! ;)

Yes, it is a good old one, well worth having.
Richard

Very nice, and with its apparent age, quite intriguing khanjhar. As Kubur has noted, looking forward to Ibrahim's insight into this. As Stu has observed, the character reflects the age and having such a piece to discuss in historical perspective is always fascinating.

Update
 

Colleagues,

I am negotiating purchase with the seller, and waiting on documentation of provenance. I'm reluctant to share the story at this time without more evidence due to the seller's strong claim for the historical significance of this khanjar.

In the event we cannot come to an agreement, I have agreed to introduce him to other qualified buyers. If you have not already done so, please PM me if you have an interest.

Best Regards,

Dave A.

Al Saidi type 1. See http://khanjar.om/Types.html

Fascinating item here. Oddly type 1 aren't that common in the north but often they appear in Salalah and I see items of this style from the Red Sea region thus I tend to think of Zanzibar/Red sea environs regarding these types...The type 1 comes in two different hilt lengths short and long. I think this one is short. What is apparent here is the odd belt~ When they were invented (in about 1830 by the wife Sheherazad ) these Khanjars went all over the region as popular and trendy at the time. Typically they would have gone by ship to Zanzibar and Red Sea regions possibly then onwards to Saudia Arabia..or up the Gulf by ship or camel train which is why this one has a non Omani Belt.(Bahraini).. The Bahraini belt style may be part of the story with this weapon...So what is the whole plot here?

This is in fact a Salalah Khanjar with a Bahraini belt. The Style almost a Type 1 with the slight variation of the cross belt below the waist of the scabbard commonly seen in Salalah !! How did that happen? Trade? Fashion? War? Who can tell?

The belt looks newer than the khanjar. The simplest explanation of the conundrum posed by Ibrahiim is that the original belt wore off and was replaced.

I am currently wearing pants by a US company but actually sewn in the Dominican Republic, and an Italian belt made in China. Bahrain and Oman are next door neighbors .

Haha... Thank you Ariel lest I get too serious about Khanjars... :shrug: :) I also noticed that the Khanjar was without the tiny Terrs (shield) or sometimes called amama....meaning hat; which are usually on the outer rings.

On Khanjars please see http://omanisilver.com/contents/en-u...i_khanjar.html which goes some way to try to unravel the conundrum of what I think are Omani and Saudia Khanjars from various locations but which are almost identical and tied into the complex mixture are Yemeni, Saudia al doojani and Omani styles. Whilst the possible mix up is understandable I think a lot more work needs to be done.

Contained in the reference are Khanjars very similar to the one shown here and readers would be advised to view the webpage in that regard and not least for its impressive list of books and early work on the general subject.