Thanks guys. it is a good one.
The steel hilt checkering is 21 lines to an inch.
Ian Ive only had it for 48 hours & so my opinions & thoughts are still forming.
I havent researched on it yet or taken it to the various old time gunsmiths , engineers, English cutlery collectors {including English Bowies etc.} whos opinion I look forward to & may realisticly I may never be able to get to the botton line with it
But I have a few possibilities & thoughts I can happily share.
I didnt know Nahan was a mans name? It is certanly a Persian surname that was carried to & left in India as a surname as well & possibly is where the city of Nahan derieved its name perhaps? { Pure conjecture on my part.]
It is known that the Sirmoor rifles commisend 3 London made commerative kukri in 1880 & they were founded in Nahan Sirmoor in 1815, but I dont think it is one of those as it carries nothing to signfy the 2 G.R. regiment symbol wise & by 1880 they were no longer based in Nahan, so it seems unlikly it is one of those pieces.But that is just my intial thought & reaction.
So realy I cant say I have an answear.
There are a few other kukris about that attempt to follow this ones style but they are all clearly of Indian workmanship & in my opinion { & that of JP whos had several of them.} they dont realy come close to this one in quality or finese.
which came first though is an intresting questian, did an English firm copy an Indian kukri or did the Indian lohars copy an English one?
There were no new mararajahs coming to power in 1880 in Nahan {Many of the Indian Mararajahs were schooled & trained at Eton , Rugby, Sandhurst etc. in England & orderd custom guns & knives from English manufacturers when here or after they returned to rule the princly states.}
I feel that as the apparently English maker didnt put his name on it it was probably made to the order of a very powerfull as well as rich person who probably wasnt born in England. But that is just my fantasy with no evidence to back it up.
Other than that all I can say is I think it was a gift or special order made to commerate a person, time or event in Nahan in Sirmoor in 1880.
I dont think the man who carved the commeration made the kukri. so the kukri might be slightly older perhaps? But other than that there not much I can add, at the time bieng, or possibly ever.
But I would happily welcome any info, thoughts or opinions you or others may wish to share.
Spiral