thouma jambiya for comment

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Peter Hudson

Hello Marc,

I agree it is very odd how they appear to have been made. I almost never encountered single piece blades. Joining the two plates of blade seems peculiar but that is how they were apparently produced...although I never actually took a blade apart to confirm it. The other oddity about blades is the very short tang... something like half an inch only....and not rivetted ...simply glued. Khanjar makers in Oman imported blades and the performance of some buyers was quite amazing and despite the expense of a good hilt...Rhino or Giraffe...or Ivory much attention was given to the blade where it was said ...that the finest steel was obtained from metiorites!!
Having said that...
The following is a brilliant treatise on Khanjar making at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/195632974.pdf where the whole story unfolds including the forging of the single blade...
Peter Hudson.

Hello Peter
indeed, the very short tang is a bit strange, but seems to be that way.
Perhaps because the jambiya has lost its function as a weapon, the tang has become shorter.
I try to read as much as possible about these objects, but haven't found anything yet that it had a longer tang in the past and was riveted through the handle. As a weapon, the blade was the most important part and much attention was paid to it, unlike today.
Fascinating objects, these Arabic curved daggers.
regards
Marc