Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Mahout's knives

Anandalal N. · 1st November 2016, 11:24 AM

These are two mahout's knives from Ceylon. Note the iconography on the grip. Each knife also has a snake (Cobra) on the downward facing surface of the grip. Shall try to post the images of the snakes later. As you can see, some attempt has been made during its utilitarian life at outlining the imagery with a white chalky substance. The blade as you can see has a clip point with false edge. Point is sharp perhaps more from a utilitarian perspective in order to sink into vegetable material more easily for the purpose of preparing the food for the elephant as well as small medical procedures etc. The knife lives in a sheath tucked into the waist belt of the mahout that secures his Sarong (waist cloth). Rgds.

Sajen · 1st November 2016, 02:32 PM

Hello Anandalal,

thank you for bringing these interesting knives up, they seems to be rather rare, I've seen only one before but never have known what it is.

Regards,
Detlef

BANDOOK · 2nd November 2016, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anandalal N.

These are two mahout's knives from Ceylon. Note the iconography on the grip. Each knife also has a snake (Cobra) on the downward facing surface of the grip. Shall try to post the images of the snakes later. As you can see, some attempt has been made during its utilitarian life at outlining the imagery with a white chalky substance. The blade as you can see has a clip point with false edge. Point is sharp perhaps more from a utilitarian perspective in order to sink into vegetable material more easily for the purpose of preparing the food for the elephant as well as small medical procedures etc. The knife lives in a sheath tucked into the waist belt of the mahout that secures his Sarong (waist cloth). Rgds.

Greetings Anandalal
These look like daggers from Indonesia
please could you post some pictures/examples showing they we used by mahouts
Regards Rajesh

Sajen · 2nd November 2016, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BANDOOK

These look like daggers from Indonesia

Hello Rajesh,

nothing by this knives let think me that they could be from Indonesia.

Regards,
Detlef

VANDOO · 2nd November 2016, 04:34 PM

THANKS FOR POSTING THESE

ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE SOMETHING I WAS NOT AWARE OF. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ELEPHANT IN THE ANCIENT SOCIETY OF CEYLON CAN NOT BE OVER RATED. THE JOB OF MAHOUT WAS A HONORABLE ONE AND NO DOUBT ONE WITH LOTS OF RULES AND CEREMONY. THERE WAS SPECIAL CARE AND REGALIA FOR THE ELEPHANT SO HAVING A SPECIAL KNIFE ALONG WITH OTHER TOOLS SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE. THE MAHOUT WAS THE SERVANT OF THE ELEPHANT AND FRIEND NOT ITS KEEPER AND IT WAS AN IMPORTANT JOB. DO THEY STILL CARRY THIS SORT OF KNIFE AND ARE THEY AS FANCY AS THESE OLD EXAMPLES?

Anandalal N. · 2nd November 2016, 06:51 PM

Detlef - Glad it is useful.

Rajesh - I must thank you for calling me on to the mat on this one. These I was informed were sourced from Mahouts. So they are of course authentic and my research confirms same. Of course if there is an Indonesian connection that is very interesting and should be pursued. Please let me have some references if possible. The following image shows a larger but less elaborate knife of the same type from the following web page - http://www.going-gypsy.com/207285007

The caption to the image is self explanatory and reads as follows:

"Ananda is Ranmenika's mahout and our boss when we're around her. One of the coordinators told us that Ananda's mahout knife was falling apart. There is a special village that makes mahout's knives so with the other mahouts' help we arranged to get Ananda a new one."

[Ananda the Mahout and Ranmenika the elephant]

The image shows a larger knife with the clip point and the 'guard' formed of a projection of the blade itself. This would be useful even in a working knife so that the finger does not accidentally slip onto the blade. However, it may have had other uses. Parker (1909) states that when we read of murder being committed by plunging a weapon into the victims we may be certain that the Knife was resorted to in many a fight. The grip is not clear but shows the ornamentation.

So that answers some of Vandoos questions. Yes they are still made. Yes the Mahouts still carry them. No the modern ones are not as elaborate.

Anan.

Anandalal N. · 2nd November 2016, 07:12 PM

See image "b" and detail of hilt "c" categorised as Kandyan knives i.e. a reference to the Kandyan Provinces of Sri Lanka which were the last areas to fall under the British in 1815. While this knife has the bird and the beast head from whose open mouth the rest of the hilt emerges, the blade does not have the 'guard'. The image is from Ancent Swords, Daggers and Knives in Sri Lankan Museums by P H D H de Silva and S Wickramasinghe.

David · 2nd November 2016, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Rajesh,

nothing by this knives let think me that they could be from Indonesia.

Regards,
Detlef

I would agree with Detlef that these do not look like Indonesian knives to me.
I don't know much about the knives that mahouts carry in Sri Lanka, but it seems to me that such a knife for them is more a tool than a weapon. What i find as most common in use amongst mahout is a sickle shaped blade that is used to cut the toe nails of the elephant when they get over grown. In Nepal they refer to this as a "krupa".
The knives shown above might also be used, but i cannot find any mention of them in my brief searches.

sirupate · 2nd November 2016, 07:50 PM

Mahout from Nepal, in the GM museum in Pokhara they call the sickle an Aansi, the Mahout on the Elephant had scars on his legs from when a Tiger jumped up on his Elephant

ariel · 3rd November 2016, 12:45 AM

The"c" knife ( with parrot head) is remarkably similar to the creations of the Haddad family in Jezzine, S. Lebanon

http://glamroz.com/firebird-cutlery-made-in-jezzine/

1st November 2016, 11:24 AM	#1
Anandalal N. Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 84	Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Mahout's knives These are two mahout's knives from Ceylon. Note the iconography on the grip. Each knife also has a snake (Cobra) on the downward facing surface of the grip. Shall try to post the images of the snakes later. As you can see, some attempt has been made during its utilitarian life at outlining the imagery with a white chalky substance. The blade as you can see has a clip point with false edge. Point is sharp perhaps more from a utilitarian perspective in order to sink into vegetable material more easily for the purpose of preparing the food for the elephant as well as small medical procedures etc. The knife lives in a sheath tucked into the waist belt of the mahout that secures his Sarong (waist cloth). Rgds. Attached Images Last edited by Anandalal N.; 1st November 2016 at 11:37 AM.

2nd November 2016, 04:34 PM	#5
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	THANKS FOR POSTING THESE ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO SEE SOMETHING I WAS NOT AWARE OF. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ELEPHANT IN THE ANCIENT SOCIETY OF CEYLON CAN NOT BE OVER RATED. THE JOB OF MAHOUT WAS A HONORABLE ONE AND NO DOUBT ONE WITH LOTS OF RULES AND CEREMONY. THERE WAS SPECIAL CARE AND REGALIA FOR THE ELEPHANT SO HAVING A SPECIAL KNIFE ALONG WITH OTHER TOOLS SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE. THE MAHOUT WAS THE SERVANT OF THE ELEPHANT AND FRIEND NOT ITS KEEPER AND IT WAS AN IMPORTANT JOB. DO THEY STILL CARRY THIS SORT OF KNIFE AND ARE THEY AS FANCY AS THESE OLD EXAMPLES? Last edited by VANDOO; 3rd November 2016 at 06:49 AM.

2nd November 2016, 06:51 PM	#6
Anandalal N. Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 84	Detlef - Glad it is useful. Rajesh - I must thank you for calling me on to the mat on this one. These I was informed were sourced from Mahouts. So they are of course authentic and my research confirms same. Of course if there is an Indonesian connection that is very interesting and should be pursued. Please let me have some references if possible. The following image shows a larger but less elaborate knife of the same type from the following web page - http://www.going-gypsy.com/207285007 The caption to the image is self explanatory and reads as follows: "Ananda is Ranmenika's mahout and our boss when we're around her. One of the coordinators told us that Ananda's mahout knife was falling apart. There is a special village that makes mahout's knives so with the other mahouts' help we arranged to get Ananda a new one." [Ananda the Mahout and Ranmenika the elephant] The image shows a larger knife with the clip point and the 'guard' formed of a projection of the blade itself. This would be useful even in a working knife so that the finger does not accidentally slip onto the blade. However, it may have had other uses. Parker (1909) states that when we read of murder being committed by plunging a weapon into the victims we may be certain that the Knife was resorted to in many a fight. The grip is not clear but shows the ornamentation. So that answers some of Vandoos questions. Yes they are still made. Yes the Mahouts still carry them. No the modern ones are not as elaborate. Anan. Attached Images

2nd November 2016, 07:12 PM	#7
Anandalal N. Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 84	See image "b" and detail of hilt "c" categorised as Kandyan knives i.e. a reference to the Kandyan Provinces of Sri Lanka which were the last areas to fall under the British in 1815. While this knife has the bird and the beast head from whose open mouth the rest of the hilt emerges, the blade does not have the 'guard'. The image is from Ancent Swords, Daggers and Knives in Sri Lankan Museums by P H D H de Silva and S Wickramasinghe. Attached Images

2nd November 2016, 07:50 PM	#9
sirupate Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: England Posts: 373	Mahout from Nepal, in the GM museum in Pokhara they call the sickle an Aansi, the Mahout on the Elephant had scars on his legs from when a Tiger jumped up on his Elephant Attached Images

1st November 2016, 02:32 PM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 8,779	Hello Anandalal, thank you for bringing these interesting knives up, they seems to be rather rare, I've seen only one before but never have known what it is. Regards, Detlef

3rd November 2016, 12:45 AM	#10
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	The"c" knife ( with parrot head) is remarkably similar to the creations of the Haddad family in Jezzine, S. Lebanon http://glamroz.com/firebird-cutlery-made-in-jezzine/