Kukri from Birmingham (UK) antique arms fair.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by RobT

Hi Marc M,

I believe that the size of your blade indicates that it was made when armed conflict (whether civilian or military) was considered very likely and a khukri was expected to be a primary weapon. In support of this contention, I offer examples from my modest collection. Of the sixty-three khukri I have, only nine are 14” (35.56cm) or more. (For obvious reasons, I’m not counting the 2 very large ceremonial items I have.) Of the aforementioned nine, three are shree tin Chandra marked blades and another is quite probably Gurkha military but bears no marks. Of the remaining six, I consider only three to be of post WWI (or possibly post WWII) manufacture. One has large, teardrop shaped bone inlays in a wood hilt with carved decoration and brass furniture (ferrule and butt cap). Another has a tin chirra blade with carved decoration on a horn hilt and brass furniture (ferrule, butt cap, and decorative disc). The third I suspect of having been made by a smith outside the culture. It has a crudely shaped but very heavy blade, a panna batta hilt (repaired with some sort of very hard, green substance), and a flat slug of metal for a ferrule. I call it my frankenkhukri.
Based on my interpretation of what is shown in my collection, I would bet an aesthetically pleasing, large size khukri of good manufacture like yours was made prior to WWI unless there is obvious evidence to the contrary (brass ferrule, etc). For me (as it is with you), the blade is of paramount importance. I think that the excellent quality of your khukri makes the question of whether it is a kothimori or not, irrelevant.

Sincerely,
RobT

Hi RobT
Thank you very much for your further explanation, very informative for me, my knowledge is limited as far as kukri's are concerned. A collection of sixty three kukri's is pretty impressive, pictures are always welcome. The ferrule is steel ( magnet sticks). I am very satisfied with my kukri and the fact that it is not a kothimora is of no importance. The question came to me because of the remnants of blue fabric on the scabbard, a different finish than the standard kukri scabbards. Since I suspected my kukri was older, but found no examples of scabbards with a cloth finish, kothimora might have been an answer , hence my question on this great forum.
Best regards
Marc