Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ariel · 11th December 2013, 02:37 AM

Beautiful..... Must be at least beginning of the 19th century, judging by the quality of wootz and patination of the walrus ivory.

Strictly speaking, it is what is called Karud (as first defined by Buttin and then adopted by Holstein, Moser and Stone), but Elgood and Flindt ruefully noticed in the footnotes to the Flindt's chapter on weapons from Bukhara, that they could not figure out the veracity of that name. They suggest that it is likely to be a local variant or just a mis-pronounciation of the word "kard" ( not all European travellers to Central Asia possessed the magic ear of Prof. Henry Higgins:-))

Pesh Kabz is curved and is Iranian in origin. Karud and choora, although related to Pesh Kabz, are from further East: Afghanistan, Central Asia, Indo-Persian realm.

I am still not sure that karud and choora are separate entities: the blades are identical, and only the handles are different. IMHO, that may be just a local variant peculiar to the Mahsud tribe. Ironically, both "kard" and "choora" are just "knife", but in different languages.

11th December 2013, 02:37 AM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Beautiful..... Must be at least beginning of the 19th century, judging by the quality of wootz and patination of the walrus ivory. Strictly speaking, it is what is called Karud (as first defined by Buttin and then adopted by Holstein, Moser and Stone), but Elgood and Flindt ruefully noticed in the footnotes to the Flindt's chapter on weapons from Bukhara, that they could not figure out the veracity of that name. They suggest that it is likely to be a local variant or just a mis-pronounciation of the word "kard" ( not all European travellers to Central Asia possessed the magic ear of Prof. Henry Higgins:-)) Pesh Kabz is curved and is Iranian in origin. Karud and choora, although related to Pesh Kabz, are from further East: Afghanistan, Central Asia, Indo-Persian realm. I am still not sure that karud and choora are separate entities: the blades are identical, and only the handles are different. IMHO, that may be just a local variant peculiar to the Mahsud tribe. Ironically, both "kard" and "choora" are just "knife", but in different languages.