A slightly unique Piha Kaetta

[derek]

There were several pihas included in a recent Australian estate sale. Several had unusual blades, but this one caught my eye. If ever there was a piha made for fighting, I think this one would be it.





The recurved grip is more rare than the simple curved version, but I've never seen one so plain. There is none of the typical floral work, and the brass eyelets are like no other piha I've seen. The blade is almost entirely undecorated with the exception of some simple brass inlay at the base, near the grip.





In one of the old articles I've read, it is noted that the more decorated examples came later. But even at that, the guilds that made them weren't around long after the British took over Ceylon in 1815. Looking at this one, the blade looks very old and the scales have shrunk with age. Out of the 30+ pihas I've owned, I think this one may well be the oldest by far.

Did anyone else on the forum get one of the others in the sale? The blades looked like meat cleavers. I would love to see some more pics!

Compared to another plain blade, but this recurved grip shows all the floral style you normally see on a piha:



A few other simpler blades:

[spiral]

Thats quite a collection Derek!

Whats the grip of your newest one made of?

Sadley Ive only ever handled one & know nothing about them.

Spiral

[derek]

Hi Spiral,

It has a grain like wood, but it's exceptionally smooth and dark.

I've currently got 25 really good examples. Some were Jerry Maskell's at one time (he had over 110 if I remember right). Still, I bet you've got more good kukris than that.....

[rand]

Hey Derek,

Have always thought these knives from Ceylon to be intrinsically beautiful. The symetry of th blade followed by the flowing decoration on the handle often carved from ivory. They seem to be over looked by most collectors still, its nice to see someone forming a collection and gathering information on them. There is something breath taking about the knives from Ceylon, they touch on form, function and art all at the same time.

rand

[derek]

Rand,
Couldn't have said it better!

[Maskell]

Glad to see your still enjoying the pihas, actually I had 111 of them. Nice that they are appreciated. The re curved grips ones are scarce, I had a few and were referred to as a "dog leg"

Best,
Jerry

[spiral]

Thanks Derek, looks good.

mmmm I do ok for kukris I guess.

Spiral

[scratch]

Thanks for sharing these Derek
I thought these were a bit odd looking when I first saw them, I like them Now!
What sizes did these come in?
Cheers

Dan

[Jim McDougall]

These are indeed distinctive weapons, and it seems worthy to note the curious profile of the blade on the example in the initial post has a remarkable similarity to the Anglo-Saxon/Frankish seax and the larger scramasax. While these are quite early, they were used into the 15th century, more like machetes used in a chopping fashion.
Although admittedly a note based on free association, it does seem that I have heard the similarity brought up before.

[derek]

Hi Scratch,
They vary a lot, but most fall between 11-12 inches total length. There are many distinct styles and blade shapes. The wider blades like this example are very heavy for their size. I have a few that weigh over a pound and a half. I believe Artzi has one even heavier than that.

Hi Jim,
I like the comparison to the scramasax. I've often looked at the old scramasax blades and wondered what the entire piece looked like in its best day. You know, celtic/germanic/norse art used the kinds of intricate, organic patterns that were similar to sinhalese art. Imagine a scramasax decorated like a piha! Check this article for fun: http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_seax.html) It sort of goes against your assumptions, but seems entirely possible. In fact, if you a piha degraded down to just an old oxidized blade and tang, you would be hard-pressed to imagine it in it's presentation condition.
-d

[Jim McDougall]

Hi Derek,
Thanks so much for the response and for the link Thats a great article in these weapons, and there do seem to be a wide variety of blade profiles.
Actually though my note of comparison was not meant as an assumption but as a free association note on the interesting blade profile of the piyaha and its similarity to certain forms of the seax/scramasax group.
It is often tempting to try to find associations or influences between vastly distant regions and separations in period in art and other elements of culture, but without support, these obviously remain simply a superficial comparison.

It seems I am always amazed though as new discoveries are made, and that the globalization seen today with modern technology, may have been much more prevalent than we have always believed. It seems the Vikings got around much more than we have considered. Other explorations in North America were more widespread in many cases than thought before by many of the powers we know were here. Trade routes from ancient times, and even into prehistory are constantly being retraced by supporting archaeological evidence in many places globally.

Who knows what the scholars and scientists will discover tomorrow, or many years in the future? I cant wait !!!

You truly have a great selection of these, and I really enjoy learning more on the weapons of Sinhala. Thank you so much for the posting on them!

All best regards,
Jim

[A. G. Maisey]

I will preface my remarks here by saying that I have never studied nor researched the piha.I have a few that I've acquired, but they are not really something I'm particularly interested in. Yes, the workmanship is sometimes excellent, and form is sufficiently pleasing for them to be appraised as items of art, but my interests lay elsewhere.

Some years ago I had a one of these pihas out on the kitchen table when one of my son's friends and his wife visted. The wife is Sri Lankan. She remarked that her father owned a piha that had been in the family for years and years and years, through several generations.I asked if her dad might consider sale. Her response was that I should talk to her dad. I did.

The sale was not on, he wanted to give it to his grandson when his lazy daughter eventually produced one---so far she'd been a total failure with only three daughters to her credit.

However, what he told me was that this piha , which was in a wooden scabbard along with a stylus, was in fact a scribes knife. His ancestor had been a court scribe. The knife was for preparation of the palm leaf that they wrote on, and the stylus was for writing.

So the question is this:- do we have any reliable documentary evidence of crazed Sri Lankans attacking their enemies with pihas, or were pihas in effect, old time office workers knives?

[Jim McDougall]

What Alan has noted here presents some most interesting perspective on the Sri Lanka 'piha kaetta'. While we know the seemingly close cousin of these knives, the 'pichangetti' , has been established as a utility knife, and en suite are usually picks etc......it seems presumed the piha was intended for fighting. The term for the knife is supposed to be 'pihaya' , which I believe applies to a fighting knife, but I cannot recall the rest.
Perhaps someone here might bring out thier trusty 'Deraniyagala' ("Sinhalese Weapons and Armour", P.E.P. Deraniyagala, Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society", Part III , 1942). I do not have mine at hand and hope someone could check the text on that term. Also, it seems that this article (virtually the only specific reference focused on Sri Lankan weapons I am aware of) might detail the intended use of the piha/pihaya.

It would be most interesting to learn more on these seldom discussed weapons.

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

. While we know the seemingly close cousin of these knives, the 'pichangetti' , has been established as a utility knife, and en suite are usually picks etc.

And of great cerimonial & cultral importance of coarse Jim as evidencend by Coorg wedding photos.

Heres a great website showing much history of the Piha....

linky

A site well worth exploring.

Your story of Phia Mr. Maisey reminds me of Nepal, one could speak to a villager about kukri & hear a kukri has been used to split kindling for heat & cooking for 4 generations in ones family & that is what its for.

That doesnt mean than 100.000 plus soldiers didnt use it as a weapon in ww1 alone or that many kings didnt own & wear great examples of them.

The Native narratives are great to have & vary valid in context, but they dont always show the full picture, I think?

Spiral

[derek]

Maisy,

Thanks for posting the anecdote about the scribe's using the piha! that confirms something I've been told before.

I had an ongoing discussion with the owner of the Serendib Gallery in Colombo several years ago and he echoed what you said verbatim. Here is one of his quotes I saved from our talks:
"The stylus is a 'ULKATUVA' used to train a [scribe] student to write on a palm leaf. Once he is trained he is permitted to use a different type of stylus the 'PANHINDA'." He also said this knife would never be used for fighting.

Let me stop here and say one thing: A piha is not a piha is not a piha. Confused? What I'm saying is that the sub-classifications and uses of the piha from a Sinhalese perspective were many and got quite specific.

Jim, the article you referred to is a PDF on pihaketta.com. The author alludes to many varieties of piha, each with its own specific name based on form, use, and even materials employed. Scribe's piha = Ul Piha; Crystal or green jade grip piha = Gal Mita Piha; curved blade piha = Vak Piha; etc. That article actually does list a piha kaetta as a "chopper" form of the piha.

We use one word for all of them, but they used many (like eskimos use many words for snow).

So it's very safe to assume that the piha you describe (Ul Piha: slender, straight blade, with stylus) would have been only for scribes.

But another form would have been intended for fighting.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Spiral, I tend to agree with you.

One of my very close friends is extremely knowledgeable in respect of khukri, he's married to a Nepalese lady and his father in law is a Brahmin who taught at an Indian university, his family connections in Nepal go to the highest level. He is not well known as a "khukri expert", because he chooses not to promote himself, and he has never published on the subject, but I have known him for more than 20 years, and have never known him to be incorrect in anything at all to do with Nepal, or with the Hindu faith.

The khukri, is actually a typical example of a common tool being used as a weapon.It most definitely is a general purpose tool, but a general purpose tool that also has distinct weapon forms, apart from the fact that a villager could use exactly the same khuk he uses to split wood with, as a weapon.It also has the status of national identity. Actually, in some ways it parrallels the bendha in Jawa; the bendha is a general purpose Javanese knife, looks a bit like a European pruning hook, and in Central Jawa it is used for splitting wood, lopping branches, hammering nails, clearing brush--- any purpose where a general purpose cutter can be used. But Raffles recorded it as weapon, and in the Surakarta Kraton, super size bendha were used in execution of criminals.

Similarly, the Madurese celurit, which is one of the most feared weapons in Indonesia today, is actually only a sickle. It has many forms, some designed for reaping, some for splitting wood, and some are definitely weapons. The same theme repeats and repeats throughout history, where people who use a particular tool in their daily work will then use the same tool as a weapon, then that tool develops specialised forms, and when it climbs out of the farmer's fileds into the king's palace, it becomes a work of art with gold inlay and an ivory handle.

The personal account I have of the piha can really only be a certified account of the piha as seen by the descendants of a court scribe who used it as I have described. Logically, where a stylus was present---and this type of piha seems to be pretty rare--- such a piha could probably be taken to be a scribe's knife.However, where a stylus was not present, it is concieveable that the knife could have had a weapon function. But I find it rather difficult to envisage such a design being produced purely for a weapon purpose. Possibly it may have parralleled the symbolism of the Javanese wedung, which was and is something never intended for use, but purely to symbolise a particular level in the court heirarchy.

Jim, on the spelling "pihaya".
The language used in Sri Lanka was not originally written in our alphabet. When we try to represent spoken sounds from any language in an alphabet that grew around totally different languages we do find problems, and accomodations need to be made.
Similarly, the addition of , or subtraction of , a prefix or suffix to a root word can often have varied meanings and/or implications dependent upon context, and also dependent upon historical period.
Personally, I'd be more than happy to call a piha simply a "Sri Lankan knife"; only reason I call it a piha is because it immediately conjures up an image for most people reading what I have written in this Forum.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your input on this Derek.

Nice to know that the Sri Lankan gentleman was correct.

Actually, he only referred to the one he had as a "piha", and if I look at the examples that you have given, it is clear to me that this is correct. The name of the object under discussion is "piha", but with an adjective describing the type of piha that it is.

I do not know the grammar of the language used in Sri Lanka, but it would surprise me if all the names for a piha that you have supplied should not be expressed with the generic first, and the descriptors second, such as :- piha gal mita, rather than gal mita piha, piha vak, rather than vak piha.

Any Sri Lankan speakers here who could clarify this? I will be able to check it eventually, but it could be some time before I'm in contact with my Sri Lankan source.

[A. G. Maisey]

Nope, looks like I was wrong.

Most generally used language in Sri Lanka is Sinhala, and it looks like adjectives precede nouns in Sinhala, so it would be gal mita piha and vak piha.

Also looks like "piha" is really "pihiya", but in speech the "--iy--" part of the word is not easily heard, it disappears into the "h" and the "a", similar to the way the "e" in "keris" is not heard and the word is heard as "kris".

[Jim McDougall]

Alan and Derek,
Thank you so much for the detailed and wonderfully explained material on these! It makes complete sense that this knife form has variations that might be rather tailored to different purposes, and the study in terminology is most interesting ( as we have discussed before Alan.

All best regards,
Jim

[A. G. Maisey]

unnecessary.

[fernando]

Hi Derek,
I once saw this in a 1989 auction catalogue.
This could be a lot of nonsense, but please take a look to it..

Please pay particular attention to the ( translated ) text on item 892.

888 is dated XVII-XVIII century. Chizeled metal grip.

889 is dated XVII-XVIII century. Rhino horn grip. Silver and brass insets. Rare.

890 is also dated XVII-XVIII century.Rhino horn grip with characteristic braking waves sculpted, a sign of Cingalo-Portuguese art. With unvulgar chizeled silver and brass insets.

891. specimen of unvulgar configuration. The grip pommel is a "goruda", identical to those sculpted in Cingalo-Portuguese firearms. Silver insets and brass sculpture. Very good quality and very rare.

892 Cingalese Pia-Kaetas descend from an Arian Indo-European race weapon of the second milenium BC, that has also being used in Portuguese territory: the famous Lusitanian Falcata. The most distant extremes of the Arian race were precisely Lusitania and Ceylon. It is curious that these two peoples, descent from the same ancestors, would meet again thousands of years afterwards. As life in an isolated island remains unchanged for vast periods of time, the use of these "Falcata like"
knives prevailed in Ceylon until recent centuries. The presented specimen has its ivory grip decorated with the typical braking waves, which can also be found in Cingalo-Portuguese sculptures. These waves can be seen in the hair of an ivory Little Jesus sculpture of the XVI-XVII century, also present in this auction.Silver and brass insets. With original scabbard.Rare.

[fernando]

continuing:

899. Cingalo-Portuguese Little Jesus. XVI-XVII century.It has the two main characteistics of eldest Cingalo-Portuguese art. The hair terminating in waves with breaking ends, as seen in Pia-Kaetas, and the nipples in the form of four pointed stars. Great rarity.

[fernando]

last one:

894. XVII-XVIII century.Grip sculpted in Rhino horn with silver insets. No brass in this specimen; only silver, rhino and steel. very good quality.

895. XVII-XVIII century. Ivory grip, with unvulgar curvature.Sculpted with the typical Cingalo-Portuguese braking waves. Very good condition and very rare.

896. XVII-XVIII centuryUnusually big.Cingalo-Portuguese braking waves both in the grip and brass decorations, as also found in christian ivory sculptures.. Chizeled silver pommel.

[derek]

Excellent pics, Thanks for posting. 893 is an odd one! The comparison between falcatta and more eastern weapons (the kukri for sure) is made often. The earliest celtic peoples of Europe are called indo-european, correct? I guess it's entirely plausible that the forms are related.
-d

[Prasanna Weerakkody]

Hi all,

I’m new to the list, but coming from Sri Lanka and for long involved in the study of Sinhala weapons I may be able to add to the discussion. first “Piha” (kandyan dialect) or “Pihiya” (Low country dialect) referrers to a knife in general. “Ketta” includes many forms of incurved blades. The knives generally referred to as “Piha-ketta” consists of a wide range of knives from utility knives to specialized scribes knives with the “ul-katuwa” or “panhinda” included and actual side arms, The ornamentation varies between the ones used by commoners and ones used by nobility. many may have been multipurpose in use. As far as I know the true weapons are the “Kirichchi” types which are narrow straight blades.

From the evidence available it seem that the “piha-ketta” knives originate at least by mid 16th Century possibly earlier. In my opinion the finest worked knives are the older types; the latter works show a steady degradation of finesse in line with most other Sinhala art-forms under the British occupation in 18th and 19th centuries.

On Maisey’s note as you have already corrected it the use of words in Sinhala; the correct term is “gal mita piha” (stone hilted knife) and “Vak piha” (curved knife) and not the other way around.

[TVV]

Originally Posted by Prasanna Weerakkody

Hi all,

I’m new to the list, but coming from Sri Lanka and for long involved in the study of Sinhala weapons I may be able to add to the discussion.

Hi and wlecome to our little online community.
Regards,
Teodor