Pesh Kabz to date
 

Hello,

Would you help me to date this Persian (I guess) pesh kabz correctly.
It does not appear to be of an intricate design but all in all is of decent quality with very sharp blade and frail scabbard.
As this is the first sample of this kind of blades I handle I wonder how old is it?

Many thanks for your opinions.

If those are lotus flowers engraved on this would it be of Persian origin?-- bbjw

Pesh Kabzes are single-edged, although rarely they may have partial edge close to the point. Yours is clearly double edged.
Double-Edged Indo-Persian daggers are Khandjars.
Yours has a camel or ox bone handle and big brass bolster. I would guess it is of Afghani or NW Indian origin and dates to the second half of the 19 to early 20 century. Good full example with highly likely original scabbard.

Hi Conduit.

I agree with ariel. Not likely to be Persian in origin, and more probably NW Indian. In response to BBJW's suggestion about lotus flowers--they are not lotus flowers depicted on the blade. Similar knives are still being made today in Rajastan.

Ariel called it. It's Afghan work, mid-late 20th century.
These were sold to NATO, American and other soldiers as tourist pieces.
Some earlier pieces, c. 1900-mid century, were engraved after the fact.
This is not to say they weren't carried by Afghans and others, I have no
doubt they were. Is it sharp?

Thank you Oliver. I was wondering about this being a tourist piece due to the irregular form, the bone quality, and the form of the etchings on the blade, but wasn't sure.