To continue this VERY esoteric topic, and just for research fun, I have continued with this. As noted, there is no doubt a great deal of 'license' was taken in 1939 with the Cary Grant film "Gunga Din", but as always my curiosity compels me to discover the seeds for these elements. Clearly the writers took from the famed Kipling poem, and in the 30s, the British were indeed still in the 'Khyber', but the 'Thuggee' feature was notably an esoteric perspective not part of that poem.

The tenuous association with the 'Thug' pickaxe and the 'lohar' remains temptingly associated, and I finally located one of these to satisfy my idea in the collection. This is simply the case for 'old guy' fascination with long ago things recalled from youth....and the countless times I watched this movie, not realizing until these later years the impact of the intriguing 'thugs' and these mysterious axes they used, though ceremoniously.

Finally locating a copy of the book by Col. James Sleeman, grandson of the British officer who finally beat the Thugs, and signed edition 1940, I put these items together.

I could not resist my usual humor in recalling watching the original movie in my younger years, thinking of the overplayed part of Sam Jaffee, who played the part of the native water carrier, Gunga Din, and his passionate bugling.
A great parody of this was played by Peter Sellers in "The Party" (1968).

So just for fun, and a serious pairing of the Afghan axe 'lohar' with the book on the thugs, along with a lighter look at the wonderful movie I enjoyed so much.

Corporal Din should have received the VC. I'll dig up a cc. & watch it tonight

I was pleased to see that Gurkhas have been awarded the VC 26 times, though a quick search seems to indicate that the majority of the medal honorees were Brit officers rather than native Gurkhas.

Eligibility and Historical Context

Gurkhas have been part of the British Army since 1815.

The first VC awarded to a Gurkha was to a British officer in 1858, while the first native Gurkha recipient was Kulbir Thapa in 1915.

Only Gurkhas serving in British Army units are eligible for the VC, as those in the Indian Army are recognized under the Indian honors system.

[QUOTE=kronckew;301568]Corporal Din should have received the VC. I'll dig up a cc. & watch it tonight[T

Thanks Wayne! I knew you'd come in! You can appreciate all these old reveries recalling the old films and adventure fantasies of youth that led into this lifelong odyssey in collecting and studying arms.

Golden days!

"Mmmm. Birdy num-nums." One of Peter Sellers' best.

for those not having seen this excellent movie...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGi2AlMhraQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKJuzrCGj4

LOL!!! Ian you nailed it!!! birdy num nums!!! :)
GP thank you for the link!
Thank you so much guys,
These two movies are lifelong favorites....and Peter Sellers' overplayed 'death scene' takes melodrama to new dimensions!!! I burst out laughing even thinking of it.

While a bit off topic, and technically not properly in scope here, just wanted to add this which applies more to the actual historical content of the subject matter and pertaining to the license in the film "Gunga Din".

Focused on the possibility of the 'lohar' axes used in tribal contexts in the Khyber regions perhaps being related to the mysterious Thuggee cults of India and distinctly themed in the movie "Gunga Din", I thought of the famed 'bugling' scene we have discussed.

It appears that the noted axes of the thuggee, in the movie perspective they used a full size workers pickaxe.

In context, I wondered about adding a bugle to this thread of 'the type' used in the movie and in accord with the key scene in the movie, with Gunga Din bugling high on a parapet of the fortress alerting the marching Highlanders of the impending ambush.

I found an interesting example of the type, but with the insignia of the Cameron Highlanders. As far as can be determined the Highlanders who are actually represented in the film were Gordon Highlanders, so again, license and theme representation for image was key.

This 'well worn' example bugle, is distinctly of the type which would have been used in period, and as seen in Gunga Din's famed death scene.
By type, examples by this maker are seen in exactly same form and combination of brass and copper dating from 1891-1936.
As the film was made in 1939, and warfare was still active in the Khyber and environs, in essence the example is virtually 'in period'.

Though in a discussion area focused on weapons of course, and in periods ending effectively at the turn of the century, I hope this bugle addition will be seen purely as context toward the historic elements of films on these topics.
In these times, warfare of the last century still prevailed in many regions of colonial context, and arms used ranged from vintage to modern.
In the bugling scene, the heroic Gunga Din, who only wanted to be a soldier, and his only weapon was the bugle he was given, and armed only with it, he saved the lives of many British soldiers.

While of course this is fiction, it is borne from many true instances of the place taken by musical instruments in battle, such as notably the Scottish bagpipes, drums and actual bands who accompanied forces into battle.