Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jens Nordlunde · 20th July 2005, 04:32 PM

Hi Rich,

Yes you have a Choora - you may even have both

.
I agree that the Pesh-Kabz is a tricky one, as it seems like Holstein has chosen to call all daggers from NNW India and Afghanistan shown, for Pesh-Kabz.

Now, if we take our old trusty Stone, and read out aloud, here is what he says.

CHOORA. The knife of the Mahsud, a tribe of the Khyber. It is like the Persian peshkabz; but made in the Khyber.

KARUD. Persian, a straight-bladed peshkabz (Moser XII).

KHYPER-KNIFE. I will drop that, as it is irrelevant due to the size.

PESH-KABZ, PESHCUBZ, PESHQABZ. A form of dagger used in Persia and Northern India. The name is Persian and means “foregrip”. The blade is of T section and is quite wide at the hilt, narrowing suddenly just below it, and then tapering regularly to a very slender point. As a rule the blade is straight, but not infrequently has a pronounced reverse curve. The hilt is often of walrus ivory (Persian, shirmani), and is heavy and has neither guard nor pommel. This knife is obviously intended for forcing an opening in a mail; and as a piece of engineering design could hardly be improved uponfor the purpose.

I think the conclusion must be, that all the knives Holstein shows fit to Stone’s description, number three from right less than the others when it comes to the ‘suddenly narrowing’ of the blade, but still. To the Persian name Peshkabz can be added, that many of the knifes had local names, like Karud and Choora, but they are all Peshkabz’s, and what make them this, is the big hilt and the T spine on the blade. But if this is so, why does he call a Choora a Peshkabz, as the Choora’ hilt looks different, besides not having a ‘fat’ hilt?

Funny that Stone writes ‘A form of dagger used in Persia and Northern India’. He must have, as they did in the early days, regarded Afghanistan as being part of India, since he does not mention Afghanistan in particular.

20th July 2005, 04:32 PM	#13
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,713	Hi Rich, Yes you have a Choora - you may even have both . I agree that the Pesh-Kabz is a tricky one, as it seems like Holstein has chosen to call all daggers from NNW India and Afghanistan shown, for Pesh-Kabz. Now, if we take our old trusty Stone, and read out aloud, here is what he says. CHOORA. The knife of the Mahsud, a tribe of the Khyber. It is like the Persian peshkabz; but made in the Khyber. KARUD. Persian, a straight-bladed peshkabz (Moser XII). KHYPER-KNIFE. I will drop that, as it is irrelevant due to the size. PESH-KABZ, PESHCUBZ, PESHQABZ. A form of dagger used in Persia and Northern India. The name is Persian and means “foregrip”. The blade is of T section and is quite wide at the hilt, narrowing suddenly just below it, and then tapering regularly to a very slender point. As a rule the blade is straight, but not infrequently has a pronounced reverse curve. The hilt is often of walrus ivory (Persian, shirmani), and is heavy and has neither guard nor pommel. This knife is obviously intended for forcing an opening in a mail; and as a piece of engineering design could hardly be improved uponfor the purpose. I think the conclusion must be, that all the knives Holstein shows fit to Stone’s description, number three from right less than the others when it comes to the ‘suddenly narrowing’ of the blade, but still. To the Persian name Peshkabz can be added, that many of the knifes had local names, like Karud and Choora, but they are all Peshkabz’s, and what make them this, is the big hilt and the T spine on the blade. But if this is so, why does he call a Choora a Peshkabz, as the Choora’ hilt looks different, besides not having a ‘fat’ hilt? Funny that Stone writes ‘A form of dagger used in Persia and Northern India’. He must have, as they did in the early days, regarded Afghanistan as being part of India, since he does not mention Afghanistan in particular.