Gentlemen, thank you! You're giving me quite an education in kukris--it's great to have scholars like you leading the way!
Gene, FWIW, somewhere in this lot there is a kukri made like the one you
show, with no trident cutout. I got it from Windlass Steelcrafts in Dehra
Dun, about 25 years ago. What Sudhir Windlass told me was that during
World War II, the "trident" marking was left off, for ease in production. The Gurtkha troops didn't like that--they said the knife was not as effective without it, etc., etc. So the (then British) Government dropped that idea.
Also, there was an attempt to make kukris in Sheffield. I had a couple from,
best I recall, Joseph Rodgers. The British factory guys said the Gurkhas
didn't want to use them because they hadn't been made with the proper
religious rituals. When I asked Sudhir Windlass's dad about it (he had made
kukris for the (British) Indian Army since 1943), he said the problem with the
Sheffield made knives was the cost--the Sheffield knives cost much more than Indian or Nepali product.
Thanks,
Bill
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