Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Jim McDougall · 22nd September 2016, 05:58 AM

Very interesting paluoar!!!
First one Ive ever seen with a British military blade, but this does not seem an unlikely combination. After the Treaty of Gandamak (1879) and end of 2nd Afghan War, the British installed Abdur Rahman Khan as Emir and they continued a nominal occupation of Afghanistan. This included the creation of the Mashin Khana state armoury in Kabul, which produced British military rifles for Afghan army as well as some other arms. This seems to have taken place around 1886, but production seems to have faltered around 1905.
While I cannot recall for certain, it seems the small arms produced were Enfields.

While the forte on this blade is partially obscured by the langets, it appears to be either an 1885 or 1890 pattern British cavalry blade, although there were earlier ENFIELD production blades. The earlier blades usually had the year after the Enfield stamp.
There should be WD and arrow mkgs on the blade.

Enfield began producing sword blades after 1820, but as noted, like other British makers, blades were not made for export.
Rather than suspecting this blade may have been captured, I believe it more likely to be from the British occupation period, with an Afghan armourer using it for mount in a traditional hilt, probably around turn of the century or later.

22nd September 2016, 05:58 AM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,747	Very interesting paluoar!!! First one Ive ever seen with a British military blade, but this does not seem an unlikely combination. After the Treaty of Gandamak (1879) and end of 2nd Afghan War, the British installed Abdur Rahman Khan as Emir and they continued a nominal occupation of Afghanistan. This included the creation of the Mashin Khana state armoury in Kabul, which produced British military rifles for Afghan army as well as some other arms. This seems to have taken place around 1886, but production seems to have faltered around 1905. While I cannot recall for certain, it seems the small arms produced were Enfields. While the forte on this blade is partially obscured by the langets, it appears to be either an 1885 or 1890 pattern British cavalry blade, although there were earlier ENFIELD production blades. The earlier blades usually had the year after the Enfield stamp. There should be WD and arrow mkgs on the blade. Enfield began producing sword blades after 1820, but as noted, like other British makers, blades were not made for export. Rather than suspecting this blade may have been captured, I believe it more likely to be from the British occupation period, with an Afghan armourer using it for mount in a traditional hilt, probably around turn of the century or later.