Unusual kukri with mother of pearl handle ?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by ariel

There were Nepalese units in Afghanistan, sent there by the British, of course.
I have seen a couple of Kukris stamped with the " Mazar-i- Sharif" mark on the blade.
This one is likely to be from the same opera:-)

While Gurkha units were surely present in Afghanistan (as they have been even now) it does not seem likely these state stamped examples were made for those forces.The kukri was surely well known with the contact between Afghan regions and Nepal.
The Mashin Khana (Kaar Khana e Jangalak) state arsenal in Kabul was initiated in 1887, and subsidized by the British in their nominal control after the Treaty of Gandamak and end of 2nd Afghan War.

While the primary concern was the production of firearms for Afghan forces, it does seem there was some degree of production of sidearms such as the military sabre (some with Khyber knife blades) in the 1890s. It seems these were produced likely for military levies and tribal forces in these regions.
As there are some examples of the kukri with this state stamp (of Mashin Khana) it has been suggested these were probably test examples for issue to these forces. It is unclear how many were made or issued, but most interesting to see these produced for issue outside Gurkha context.

The character of the stamped marking suggests this one in the illustration to have been produced 1898-1901 as it has the square rather than arched roof over the mihrab.