Pair of Malabar Coast Knives

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams all... Library note... This type of battle weapon of the Moplah tribe of Malabar... famous for having such devastating effect close in... was gathered up and thrown into the sea (by the British) such was its reputation. It is almost an axe but not quite...I think it is as close as you can get to a Kukri ...

see http://www.forensicfashion.com/1921MoplahRebel.html

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams all... Library note... This type of battle weapon of the Moplah tribe of Malabar... famous for having such devastating effect close in... was gathered up and thrown into the sea (by the British) such was its reputation. It is almost an axe but not quite...I think it is as close as you can get to a Kukri ...

see http://www.forensicfashion.com/1921MoplahRebel.html

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Salaams all... Having revued the chest detail it may be that the structure of the plant could be Pineapple, Durian or Bread Fruit though I tend to go for Pineapple.. anyway it is neither here nor there as they are all Malabar Fruits.

Such a pity that the subject items at #1 are not original form but appear to be later presentation pieces rather perhaps of the tourist variety but interesting non the less. They may be around the mid 20th C and of sentimental value at one time to the original owner.

Finally I would say these are interesting interpretations of these historic weapons and always good to see modern craftsmen adhering to the traditional styling to some degree as they work to produce their wares. Best of luck with these and hopefully the material presented here will add to or corroborate any other you may already have acquired in your own research.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.