Interesting Choora Inscription

[ariel]

I got my version from the official list of the US Department of State, Dept. of Consular Affairs: KGZ. Hope they know:-)
Google “Kyrgizstan official abbreviation”
The abbreviation on your Ch’hura is written as K-G( with a dash, implying 2 separate words), not as KG.
You may also google “knives Kyrgizstan” and try to find something similar to the ch’hura.
Ch’hura is an exceedingly specific knife: even in Afghanistan it is seen only in the vicinity of the Khyber Pass.

Best I could do.

[mahratt]

Of course, the choora is now widespread throughout Afghanistan and samples of this dagger can be found in the bazaar in any city in this country. But, of course, Ariel is right when he says that these weapons are very specific and associated exclusively with Afghanistan. Chooras were not used in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

[ariel]

Just to make your life easier:
https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-acronyms.html

Also pay attention that all abbreviations contain at least 3 letters, sometimes even 4, but never only two: otherwise, Chad, Chile and China would become a single entity CH ( but not C-H)'

Ch'hura is a purely Afghan object and name. Even its name is of Hindi origin ( " knife"), to which Kyrgyzstan has nothing in common.

Gosh, what kinds of strange nooks and crannies of languages do we enter on this Forum :-)

[RobT]

Hi All,

Thanks for your input and information. Whatever the KG stands for, it isn't Kyrgyzstan.

Sincerely,
RobT

[ausjulius]

KG is indeed kyrgizstan or can be.. but ive neevr seen a knife like that.. KG can also be kashgar. but this knife has a little bit of age on it not old but its not made last week and somebody carried it.. heres what i think.. afghans dont make knives these days, and for quite some time they were buying them form the uyghurs, tajiks and uzbeks.. there is several tajik and uzbek knife making areas in - if i recall osh and biskek that make knvies for the kyrgiz. it can be indeed that its made in kyrgizstan and for afghan customers by tajik knife makers for example. but its far to "traditional" for the most recent products made in these places for their own consumption,, same with the uyghur knife makers.. most knives made these days are just regular buchak or lil clip point bowies or other sort of more utility styles.. (these type of knife were made in the past and you can see illistrations fo them from kashgar and bukhara ect.) i would guess its either from kashkar or from kyrgizstan and indeed made to sell, but not to any americans but to local afghans.. you can see some footage of pashtuns wearing these and some look recently made.. i was watching a documentary the other day of female to male crossdressing customs among pashtuns in afghanistan and one woman in mans attair had what looks to eb a recently made pesh kabz knife and pistol on a pistol belt.... and ive seen several other in images that appear recently made..

[RobT]

Ausjulius,

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that there possibly is a knife making center in Kyrgizstan that is making traditional style chooras for export to Afghanistan because the Afghanis no longer make their own blades. While I consider this a plausible idea, I do wonder why the country of origin is given in English. I doubt most Afghanis could read it. I had also considered the possibility that these chooras were made as much for foreign troops as for the native Afghan market but then I asked myself, would a foreign soldier care about country of origin on a war bring back and concluded that wasn't likely.

Sincerely,
RobT

[ausjulius]

Originally Posted by RobT

Ausjulius,

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that there possibly is a knife making center in Kyrgizstan that is making traditional style chooras for export to Afghanistan because the Afghanis no longer make their own blades. While I consider this a plausible idea, I do wonder why the country of origin is given in English. I doubt most Afghanis could read it. I had also considered the possibility that these chooras were made as much for foreign troops as for the native Afghan market but then I asked myself, would a foreign soldier care about country of origin on a war bring back and concluded that wasn't likely.

Sincerely,
RobT

no idea if they make chooras.. but they make all manner of knives. ". I doubt most Afghanis could read it." yep.. . no the knife is not made to sell to Americans.. you could sell those american troops a sharpened carrot for 50$. like the fake turquoise the indians and afghans sold to the american troops in kabul 20 cents but they were taking 300$ of dollars. nobody made any effort to supply some ethnically accurate, an afghan knife to an american soldier who dosnt know the difference between that and any other knife, whats the difference...... .. its made for the afghans. spending money to import it just for Americans from a place where its not popular makes no sense.
why put English.. why not..? you want them you put Cyrillic that afghans also dont read? or Pushtu in arabic script that tajiks making knives in kyrgizstan dont read? what language do you want them to put on the knife? English is good .. people like it, shows "quality" ive seen uyghur knives with English on them too... lots of fake guns in pakistan have English jibberish too.

this knife is made for afghans to buy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iPEzIg6Fc4 here you can see knife making in Charikar, a pashtun village near kabul.. they make these there too but the quality is so so and the production dosnt meet the demand, mostly due to the conflict situation.. .. hence afghans importing so many knives. its just like the iraqis importing the persians knives in large numbers.