How old is the Kora, and from where does it origin?

[sirupate]

I was recently re-reading Egerton's Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour and he made an interesting distinction. He attributed the kukri to the Gorkhas, and the kora to the "Nepali people." It's an interesting book, and while he's far from a perfect source, he was writing during the colonial time, when the Brits were dealing with the various tribes and kingdoms of India and the Himalayas.

Some intersting points there Fearn,

The main problem with Egerton's work is that he never visited Nepal, so information was at least third hand. The term Gorkhas is actualy quite a complicted one, and more to do with Rajput terminology, cerainley most Parbatiyas and definately the Kiranti would not consider themselves 'Gorkha', except in an employed military sense. However the kukri was universal in Nepal. The khunda is not universal in Nepal, and is infact comparitively rare, it is not commonly found in the villages of Nepal (so not a Nepali people weapon), remembering that Gorkha itself was only a village in reality!
I hope that helps a little, cheers Simon