Nepal Trip 2009 report

[sirupate]

General Narayan Malla a highly respected Nepal army and weapons historian taking us around the National museum;

I'm holding some old photo's (late 19th century) in my hand of Gurung, Limbu and Magar warriors, sent to me by Lt. Col. Dr. Prem Singh Basnyat. These are quite interesting pictures as they potentially show them with their favoured weapons of the past, although the pics are a bit faded, one can make out some of the weapons carried. Although it is of course hard to tell how much of the posing was done for artistic license, or not.
In the Magar picture out f the eight warriors five are carrying bows (usualy made of bamboo), which where probably the most important weapon of Napalese back then, five are definately carrying khukuri of different sizes and shapes, two appear to be carry khunda. One Magar seems to be armed with khunda only, and appears to have a Dhal shield hanging on his back.
In the Limbu picture all five are carrying a bow, three are carrying khukuri of different sizes and shapes and not the classic sirupate style associated with that tribe, two of those three also appear to being wearing Talwar swords as well.
In the Gurung picture of ten, it is very hard to tell quite what is what, but certainley two are carrying khunda, but quite a few more could be, however its hard to tell whether they are khunda or Tulwar, at least three are carrying shields, maybe more, at least eight are carrying khukuri, of different sizes and shapes, no bows.
From a historical point of view the bit that interested me about the pictures was the Generals opinion about the khunda.
Below is Kaji Balnara Singh Kunwars Khunda, whether it is a fighting or sacrificial one is hard to tell, without being able to check the spine width;

I asked him if the spelling kora or khora used in the West was correct, according to the General, no it isn't, khuda or khunda are the correct spellings. The only thing I can think of regarding the Kora/Khora spellings is that it is almost the phonetic sound of khuda.
Was the khunda a National weapon of Nepal, according to the General no it wasn't, it was used, but was one of many long blade types. In his opinion sword and sheild were preferred to khunda, and for many Nepalese the bow was the main weapon, along with the spear, and the kukri by itself. or a kukri with shield were used for back up at close quarters. The General was quite adamant the only National weapon of Nepal is the kukri.
I also asked him if he thought that the khunda was a Nepalese weapon, he said he thought it might be, but that it may also have come from India.
Typical Nepalese spear below;

More to follow;

[sirupate]

Another thing that intersted me, was did the Nepalese have specific names for the hilts on the khukuri below;

According to the General thay called them sword hilted khukuri, no specific name for handle types.
I was also interested if they had a particular name for this khukuri type below;
Bhakti Thapa's khukuri;

Kaji Amar Singh Thapa's khukuri;

He said there was no name for this style of khukuri, they were used with single or two hands, and the ring around the handle of that style of khukuri was a dividing ring for the hands. I then asked him about the terminology that has started to be used in the West 'Lambendh', he had never heard if it, it certainley wasn't a term he had heard of, let alone a term that applied to that type of khukuri.
Swords used by Bhakti Thapa;

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Other blades of interest;
Sur Pratap Shah's khukuri

Captain Sambhir Sing Rayamajhi's weapons

A painting of Captain Sambhir Sing Rayamajhi in action;

Jung Bahadur Rana's large fighting khukuri

Chautariya Bom Shah's sword

General Jit Jung Ranas very long fighting khukuri

General Jagat Rana's khukuri

[sirupate]

Another very interesting point that the General showed me was the British influence on dress;
PM Deva Rana Shamsher JB Rana (1862-1914) PM 1901-1902, in Traditional Nepalese dress for a Rana.

PM Chandra Shamsher JB Rana (1863-1929) PM 1902-1929, note the huge influence the British had on their dress code.

Then the General Took us to the Nepal Army Museum, were we were handed over to
Lt Jaya Prabha, who took us around the Nepal army museum and who has a superb knowledge of Nepalese history;

First of, Jaya pointed out how in some circles of Nepalese historians the battle of LigLig Fort is considered the original starting point of the unification of Nepal.
Straight away I asked her about the the spelling Kora/Khora, according to her that is incorrect, the correct spellings are khuda and khunda. Was the khunda ever a Nepalese national weapon? no, Jaya pointed out that had it been it would be the Officers sword today, but the Khadga is. Once again the importance of the bow, spear, sword and khukuri were emphasised.
Below one of the few references in the Nepal Army museum picture wise to the khunda being used in battle;

Jaya also emphasised how important the Battle against Gurgin Khan was, for the future of Nepal;

After the tour we Lt Col Asha Bahadur Tamang (picture below), the current curator of the Nepal Army Museum, gave his input into the ancient weapons and historical value of them to the Nepalese as well, another very knowledgeable man, who re-emphasised what Jaya had said, both he and Jaya beleived the Khunda to be Nepalese;

[sirupate]

The next day we flew out to Pokhara to meet JP Cross a famous British Gurkha Officer and author, who is the only foreigner to be granted his own land and property in Nepal, from the Royal Family, and Buddhiman Gurung a well respected cultral figure in Nepal, and who family can be traced back to Bhakti Thapa. I can't thank enough for their outstanding hospitality.
I showed them the pictures of the Nepalese tribes that I showed General Malla (a close friend of JP)

Again I asked about the spelling Kora/Khora, and they also said that that was incorrect, that it could be spelt both Khuda and khunda. Did they feel it was a Nepalese weapon, both felt that it could well have come into Nepal when the Rajputs came into the region from the Muslim invasion in India. JP also pointed out that in 10,000 miles of walking in Nepal and having been in 65 of the 75 districts, the khunda was not very prevalant. Also Lt. Col Prem Singh Basnyat the former curator of the Nepal army museum agrees with the theory of the khunda comming from the south.
I then noticed a sword on the wall of John's house, which belonged to one of Buddhims ancestors Mansingh Dhingal, which would make it about 500yrs old, it is unusual for the Nepalese to have specifically handed down family weapons, as opposed to khukuri or whatever that happened to belong to their Father, Grandfather etc that just happen to be in the house when they pass over, pic below;

John has some 30 plus khukuri on his wall, which interestingly he has had all of them chromed, as per the one below, this appears to have been a reasonably common practice, one below;

[sirupate]

On one of the days John was not available, we sort out the local kami, who make god rough and ready blades for the local people;






We also took the opurtunity to them about the kora/khunda question, and they said the spelling was Khudha, and re-emphasised the point about the priority of weapons that had been said before.

[sirupate]

We then flew back to Kathmandu and embarked on a fact finding mission in the all the antique shops we could find (far to many).

At every opportunity I asked the shop owners and staff about the spelling of kora/Khora, and of their historical use, and they just confirmed what had been said before.
The first pic is of fighting khunda, but it was emphasized that they were also use for Sacraficing;

In this shop the owner said that the sword was the prefered weapon over the khunda and produced a couple swords for us as if to emphasize his point;

I then asked him (amongst many others) if they had specific names for the hilts below;

The shop owner just said sword hilts, which was the common theme with everyone we asked.
I did manage to pick up a very nice double handed fighting kukri whilst going around;

Ravi with the all important Nepalese traditional bow;

And a Dhal

[sirupate]

We found this very nice Khunda in Kathmandu;

Ravi with his Grandfathers Nepal Army khukuri by his house in Kirtipur, which is about 125 years old

He then took us to Kirtipur Palace, where there is a nice old temple;

Which had some old weapons hanging from near the top, possibly dating from the siege of Kirtipur, and donated to the temple.



And then we flew back the next day, I hope you enjoyed the pics

[CharlesS]

Thanks so much for these!!

[colin henshaw]

Great pictures - most interesting !

[katana]

Excellent post

Regards David

[DhaDha]

Thanks! Looks like a great trip. Any mention of what role the Katars played? Another choice for side arm, I assume?
Hope you brought some back some great souvenirs!
Cheers

[Tim Simmons]

A thing I find most interesting is how plain the mueseum weapons are, even those of highly esteemed warriors. Surely this is no accident? In my home town which has a long association with Gurkha troops there is a Nepalese goldsmith. Does this mean that the ornate arms we frequently see are largely for show?

[fearn]

Great pictures. That answers a lot of questions!

F

[migueldiaz]

Nice pics and good info ... thanks!

[Battara]

Very helpful thank you!

[Warren McQ]

Outstanding report,
Thanks very much Simon !

Warren in Arizona

[Atlantia]

Excellent thread, highly enjoyable and informative reading. Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Gene

[Martin Lubojacky]

Very interesting information, Thanks

[drdavid]

Great thread wonderful photos and valuable information, thanks
drd

[sirupate]

Thanks guys,

Hello DhaDha, I didn't realy look into the katar aspect of things, as I was mainly intersted in obviously khukuri, but also the Khunda/Kora, due to some other threads on here, and I wanted to see what the top Nepalese historians had to say on the matter, rather than third or fourth hand accounts from old English collectors, of whom all but one had never even been to Nepal.

Hello Ted, Certainley the kukri that were carried as side arms and for general use in the old days had functional handles rather than ornate, except fot the sword hilted ones.
In the paintings of the Shah's and Rana's the kukri handles are a lot more elaborate, which suggests that the ones for show were more ornately made.
Indeed the village/town kami still make rough handled and bladed kukri as per the pic.

[sta94]

Wonderful photos, great information! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this report together.

Those weapons hanging on the Kirtipur temple are quite something, huh?! Are all of them fighters, or are some of them more display/religious items?

Also, I'm hoping you'll post more pics of your newly acquired long-handle kukri.

[sirupate]

Hello Sta,

The weapons from the temple are reputed to have been used in the battles for Kirtipur, in the unification struggle for Nepal, so the real deal.

I'll have to wait until the double handed kukri arrives in the UK mate, its still in Nepal, with a Ravi, who will arrange for it to be sent over.

[Jim McDougall]

Absolutely fantastic thread Simon!!! Thank you so much.
Tremendous insight into the weapons of Nepal, and its great to be 'on the tour' with you. Pretty amazing response as well......400 views in 4 days!!!
Very nicely done

All the best,
Jim

[sirupate]

Many thanks Jim, your comments are much appreciated

[Nathaniel]

Great photos...thanks for sharing!

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you sir, for an excellent presentation.