Something New From Nepal

[WebleyGreene455]

Received this in the post today, all the way from Kathmandu and made to my request:

It's a slightly-modified version of a 19th-century military-issue khukuri, one of the first standardised patterns issued to soldiers and in service from at least the mid-1800s up through WWI.

If anyone can help with a translation of the blessing/prayer on the cloth it came wrapped in, I'd appreciate it. I believe the gist is something to do with eternal good fortune, happiness, and auspiciousness based on the rough translation I was able to make.

~~W.G.455

 

[NJC]

That is a cool looking blade, and much better quality than the one I saw from the 90’s! Do you have a link where a guy could order one of those?

 

[WebleyGreene455]

That is a cool looking blade, and much better quality than the one I saw from the 90’s! Do you have a link where a guy could order one of those?

I do indeed! This is the one I used as the base design but I requested a few changes (the black blade, an added shallow fuller to the flat, the handle carving) and a Buddhist blessing ceremony for mine: https://www.thekhukurihouse.com/gi1-kukri . There are plenty of standard patterns to choose from and you can also order a custom knife (not just a khukuri, either) to your liking or request one based on an existing custom job too.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Very cool.

 

[NJC]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Sika98k]

Great knives, I was in Nepal over 20 years ago after visiting Kaladhungi, Nanital and the Corbett Tiger Park, India as my own little pilgrimage.
Anyhow in Kathmandu I visited the Kukri House and purchased my own kukri, a Sirupate, a more slender knife than the traditional. In Durbar Square I bought a couple of old ones. I mean there’s luck in numbers.
I finished the trip by visiting the site of the siege of the residency in Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny. Eerie stuff, musket ball holes in the walls, memorials in rooms to people who were killed.

 

[fourfive8]

Thanks for posting, right down my alley of interest- me likes! Yes... Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet, all have their unique cultures thus blades!

 

[Newboomer]

Contact Major Poton Khan on AH. He is from India and can translate for you.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Contact Major Poton Khan on AH. He is from India and can translate for you.

I don't think I've seen @Major Khan online in a while but I'd be happy for any assistance he might be able to lend.

As I said, I've managed a rough translation. I used the simplest online method I could find (transcribing the text was actually kinda fun but parsing through a half dozen different translations for each word was not) so it wasn't terribly grammatical or necessarily accurate.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Very cool.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

If anyone can help with a translation of the blessing/prayer on the cloth it came wrapped in, I'd appreciate it.

It says, The Cattle Are Dying.

 

[fourfive8]

Sorry, can’t help with the translation. If it were Arabic I could help via a friend who was a translator for Uncle Sam. I too have a couple of blades from there with some presumed arsenal marks I can’t cipher….

I see two smaller blades which is correct for a kukrie “set”. One should be sharp for use as regular utility and one dull edged and hardened to be used as a steel for flint/steel fire starting. If so, have you tried striking on a flint or chert to see if it sparks?

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Sorry, can’t help with the translation. If it were Arabic I could help via a friend who was a translator for Uncle Sam. I too have a couple of blades from there with some presumed arsenal marks I can’t cipher….

I see two smaller blades which is correct for a kukrie “set”. One should be sharp for use as regular utility and one dull edged and hardened to be used as a steel for flint/steel fire starting. If so, have you tried striking on a flint or chert to see if it sparks?

Chakmak on top, karda on the bottom. The chakmak's for honing the blade and can be used as a firestarter, aye. I've got some nice flints somewhere that I picked up off the ground in Britain a while back; I'll see if I can find them and give it a try.

 

[fourfive8]

Blades from that region. Group pic including: 2 Nepalese koras, Tibetan utility knife, Nepalese kukri with smaller associated blades, Bhutanese long knife. Note- may not want to know the origin of the bone used for some Tibetan knife handles . Close up of dot punched inscription on the larger kora. Close up of brass inlay symbol on kukri blade. Close up of circular Buddhist symbols on the kora blades.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

Blades from that region. Group pic including: 2 Nepalese koras, Tibetan utility knife, Nepalese kukri with smaller associated blades, Bhutanese long knife. Note- may not want to know the origin of the bone used for some Tibetan knife handles . Close up of dot punched inscription on the larger kora. Close up of brass inlay symbol on kukri blade. Close up of circular Buddhist symbols on the kora blades.

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Quite the opposite, if a knife or sword has someone's femur for a grip, I very much want to know about it!

I've seen a few of those straight-bladed knives for sale around the web. Might pick one up sometime.

 

[fourfive8]

Quite the opposite, if a knife or sword has someone's femur for a grip, I very much want to know about it!

I've seen a few of those straight-bladed knives for sale around the web. Might pick one up sometime.

That way part of grandma could be with you everyday

 

[fourfive8]

If you are referring to the straight backed blades from Tibet, yes, they show up here and there with some frequency. For whatever reason, they don't seem to generate as much collector interest as many other blades. They are so unique- there's no difficulty in identifying them. All I've seen are slightly different and definitely hand made, with a somewhat crude, straight backed blade shape. The scabbards are unique and some have quite a bit of decoration which indicates ceremony, status or costume. One of the scabbards below shows real craftsmanship with very fine and deep chase engraving of the silver- odd contrast to the somewhat crude blade. The stones are coral and, IMO, high grade turquoise along with a ray skin band. I do not know what type of bone is in the hilts.

Pics of two I have

 

[fourfive8]

@WebleyGreene455, Equally recognizable are the daggers, knives and long knives from Bhutan. Their blades are usually well forged and some with folded, laminated (layered) steel. This one has folded, laminated steel. The scabbards are usually wood covered with thin sheet nickel silver. The faceted nickel silver hilt, wrapped with braided silver wire are common diagnostic characteristics of Bhutanese knives. Although most probably coincidental, these at a glance, kind of remind me of a Dirk.


This one is of common form with a blade length of about 12 inches. This blade is of layered steel. Overall, IMO, this knife/dagger is of pretty good quality.

 

[WebleyGreene455]

@WebleyGreene455, Equally recognizable are the daggers, knives and long knives from Bhutan. Their blades are usually well forged and some with folded, laminated (layered) steel. This one has folded, laminated steel. The scabbards are usually wood covered with thin sheet nickel silver. The faceted nickel silver hilt, wrapped with braided silver wire are common diagnostic characteristics of Bhutanese knives. Although most probably coincidental, these at a glance, kind of remind me of a Dirk.


This one is of common form with a blade length of about 12 inches. This blade is of layered steel. Overall, IMO, this knife/dagger is of pretty good quality.


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These are the ones I was referring to. I've kind of got a thing for knives like that, dirk-like ones with a stout straight blade. Can't go wrong with a knife of that style; probably the reason why cultures across Eurasia developed them at one point or another.

 

[spike.t]

Nice have 3 I ordered from them...love kukris...and was given one of these for a bday by a friend who is involved with a gurka charity stroke operations outfit....beautiful piece..