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#1 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 84
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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.
Last edited by Anandalal N.; 1st November 2016 at 10:37 AM. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
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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 |
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#3 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: AUCKLAND,NEW ZEALAND
Posts: 624
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![]() Quote:
These look like daggers from Indonesia please could you post some pictures/examples showing they we used by mahouts Regards Rajesh |
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#4 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
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nothing by this knives let think me that they could be from Indonesia. ![]() Regards, Detlef |
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#5 |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: OKLAHOMA, USA
Posts: 3,138
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THANKS FOR POSTING THESE
![]() Last edited by VANDOO; 3rd November 2016 at 05:49 AM. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 84
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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. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
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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.
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#8 | |
Keris forum moderator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 7,085
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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. |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: England
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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
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#10 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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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/ |
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