Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

dennee · 16th March 2016, 02:27 PM

I'd love to see any solid attributions of 'koras' to Tibet. There were certainly examples found there, whether or not any actually originated there. There are some early to mid-twentieth-century photos of religious dancers with koras, and these are of this type: narrow, with a very convex end.

But I haven't seen koras in other period photos or paintings from Tibet or in monasteries. I have seen talwars, 'katars,' Indian shields, etc. Weapons made their way into Tibet in any number of ways (including Gorkha invasions), and many were donated to the protector chapels in monasteries. Koras may have been attractive for ceremonial use because of their exotic appearance and origins, rather like the flamboyant archaic Indian sword forms remaining in Buddhist art.

One could certainly argue that the medial ridge found on this type has more in common with Indian swords than Tibetan, which were more heavily influenced by Chinese weapons. (Such a ridge is probably structurally necessary on such a narrow sword.) Of course, we lack truly ancient Tibetan swords (although I hear there's a sword in Bhutan that is said to be more than a thousand years old, although I believe it was derived from the Chinese pallasch, as you would expect).

There also appear to be rare examples of what folks have called "Tibetan" kukris, presumably made in Nepal using hairpin-laminated steel. I don't have any photos, so I don't know if they were made from scratch or fashioned from Tibetan trade blades.

16th March 2016, 02:27 PM	#19
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	I'd love to see any solid attributions of 'koras' to Tibet. There were certainly examples found there, whether or not any actually originated there. There are some early to mid-twentieth-century photos of religious dancers with koras, and these are of this type: narrow, with a very convex end. But I haven't seen koras in other period photos or paintings from Tibet or in monasteries. I have seen talwars, 'katars,' Indian shields, etc. Weapons made their way into Tibet in any number of ways (including Gorkha invasions), and many were donated to the protector chapels in monasteries. Koras may have been attractive for ceremonial use because of their exotic appearance and origins, rather like the flamboyant archaic Indian sword forms remaining in Buddhist art. One could certainly argue that the medial ridge found on this type has more in common with Indian swords than Tibetan, which were more heavily influenced by Chinese weapons. (Such a ridge is probably structurally necessary on such a narrow sword.) Of course, we lack truly ancient Tibetan swords (although I hear there's a sword in Bhutan that is said to be more than a thousand years old, although I believe it was derived from the Chinese pallasch, as you would expect). There also appear to be rare examples of what folks have called "Tibetan" kukris, presumably made in Nepal using hairpin-laminated steel. I don't have any photos, so I don't know if they were made from scratch or fashioned from Tibetan trade blades.