This is a 'RAL GRI'
Gav, this is an absolutely astounding example of one of these Tibetan swords!!! which has led me into researching some old notes as it is (as far as I have known) almost unheard of to see a sharply pointed blade like this.
The usual blades on these swords, which I have discovered are not typically termed ke tri as long believed, are of course the rather hatchet tipped single edged blades.
Apparantly (and according to Donald LaRocca , "Warriors of the Himalayas" Rediscovering the Arms and Armour of Tibet", N.Y. 2006) this particular example refers to the RAL GRI.
* RAL GRI: sword type with usually shorter blade where tip comes to an acute tapering point (in manner of Scottish dirk).
The regularly seen Tibetan sword with hatchet type point is termed DPA DAM (also Pa TAM).
The Chinese ancestry of these comes from the ancient 'zhibeidao' with straight SE blade with oblique or angled tip.
It is noted that these RAL GRI swords were typically carried by Tibetan chieftains, and a reference cited to Lt Col. Laurence Austine Waddell, consultant on the 1904 Younghusband expedition into Tibet, he notes,
"...a few nomad chiefs had shortish swords with a pointed tip.
- from "Armies of the 19th c: Central Asian and Himalayan Kingdoms", Ian Heath, 1998.
In looking at various examples of Tibetan swords online, I found a couple of this trilobate style ( which I refer to as RAL GRI as noted) which did have these sharp points, and were indeed much shorter than the usually encountered forms .
Both Philip Tom and Peter Dekker contributed to these online discussions in November of 2008 .
I would say this is likely to be a key example of one of these swords for a Tibetan chieftain and of the 19th century, perhaps much earlier than the 1904 events noted. Possibly these became shorter later in the century as they became less combatively required?RAL GRI
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