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#1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 373
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A recent purchase. I believe the grip strap and bolsters are steel and the hilt is either bone or horn. The inlay at the forte and on the spine is gold, I think. The blade is a mystery. I am guessing Afghanistan, 19thc.
All comments welcome. TIA! Harry |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Russia
Posts: 1,042
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It really is Afghanistan. Handle - bone. Only with this I agree.
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#3 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 373
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#4 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,893
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While I cannot claim specific expertise in these, I would say that it is a bone handle, and that this example is from early 20th c. These are typically from areas in and around the Khyber Pass, as well as the larger scope of the region known as Waziristan, and often regarded as from the Mahsud tribes of Waziristan.
While these with their distinct shaped hilts which are more of a 'hook' type pommel are termed choora, this seems to have been a vernacular term describing 'knives' which became associated with these apparently much later. In the time these were shown by Egerton (1884) they were, much as in most cases with the variants of these Indian/Afghan daggers, referred to collectively as pesh kabz. Holstein (1931) shows an entire panel of what appear to be pesh kabz, bicak, karud etc but terms them all classified as pesh kabz. However, in Egerton's time, Burton (1885) describes a knives in a cummerbund as 'charays' and Egerton himself uses the term ch'hurra as a term for 'knife', but it is not used as a classification. It is very hard to place these weapons in a certain defined region as clearly they diffused widely via tribal interaction and colonial presence, and to place dates without provenance as the forms remained traditionally continued over long periods. As seen with many forms, even the proper terms are challenging with the situations described here. I think you can safely presume this is a very nicely done example of 'choora' from Afghan regions in early 20th c . Photo of Mahsud tribesmen, North West Frontier and map |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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Another great assessment Jim.
Harry, I too would place this in the first 20-30years of the 20th century, they were made well after this too I am sure. There are two schools of thought with these, one is they were never before 1900, the other is that they were...evidence does show these, as Jim referenced, that they appear well before 1900...but back to yours. The overall designs and material to me, point to the early 20th century. To compare horses to horses, I too have one remaining in my collections, that if you saw it at face value, you'd say 19th century for sure as it is a superb quality for the type and has a wootz blade... but, it is named and dated as Lofty helpfully translated, dated to 1901 in our calendar. One could certainly argue both sides of the fence for it saying the inscription came later and wootz much be earlier, but equally, wootz blades were still being forged in to the early 20th century within Central Asia. Gav |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Hilt is bone, certainly.
What checks me is the decoration. I haven't noted much of the sort of deco on the surface of the blade in the examples I've seen; it seems somehow out of place. Additionally, the brass inserts on the top are also unfamiliar to me. There's a lot of decoration on the top edge of the knife which seems like a lot of effort, but again looks a bit "off" to me. Couple that with the scabbard, which is not as fancy as I'd expect for all the effort put into decorating the knife, and the whole package would put me off, somewhat. I am far from an expert, so please take my observations with as much salt as you require. While I have no problem attributing the knife to Afghanistan, the bits don't quite add up to being something typically found there, as carried by the locals. I would not at all mind being proved wrong, and pictures of other similar examples would be welcomed. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Gavin,
Somehow I missed your wootz Choora dated 1901. Can you direct me to the topic with pics? Thanks |
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