Frontier Arithmetic: The Afghan Jezail

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Victrix

Glad you liked the article Jim. The last rifle I thought looked rather similar to yours. The EIC flintlocks have a charm of their own I must admit.

Here is another photo of some Afghan tribesmen.

Interesting pic of the time, though obviously posed. The shooters gun is not cocked and the guy below with the matchlock version does not seem too concerned with what is happening around him. A great pic though, and thanks for posting.
Stu

[Jim McDougall]

Ricky, I cannot possibly thank you enough for the wonderfully positive and detailed assessment of my jezail. As I have noted, this was purely serendipity, and actually I was visiting a very prominent and well known gun dealer in Albuquerque. While I ceased collecting years ago, I have always had a little bucket list, and I was looking for an authentic well used Winchester saddle ring carbine.
He had so many guns it was hard to describe, many had come in from estates and collection purchases, and there were countless items not yet cataloged or listed. He was tight on the price for the carbine I chose, and I saw this jezail among a literal pile of them brought back from Afghanistan. For some reason I liked this one and negotiated a package deal.......somehow not only did I get my saddle ring....but this jezail, which I have wanted since the wistful readings I described of some 50 years ago!

I would not dare disassemble it, but have optimistically held the same views you have, that it is likely far to elaborate for a tourist item. Still, that even the guns of tribesmen authentically used end up in the bazarres in Kabul, so this may be one. The touch hole, and other necessary features seem notably functional, and it is indeed smooth bore, .58 cal. according to the dealer.

It is pretty exciting to have luckily found a good example, never really expecting I would ever get one, and the great responses here from you and the guys as I try to learn more about these is great.
Thank you so much again.....and REALLY looking forward to your pics

[kahnjar1]

As promised the lock detail not yet posted of the two other jezails.
The one with MOP decoration similar to yours does not have the RAMPANT lion but has a lion standing on all four feet. The date, if in fact it is one, is in Hindi I think. No doubt someone here will be able to confirm or deny that.
The other (percussion) jezail has no EIC or any other marks, but a string of I.I.I.I.etc. Not sure what that signifies, or maybe it is just part of the decoration. The lock itself looks to me to be a civilian type rather than military.
Stu

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

The one with MOP decoration similar to yours does not have the RAMPANT lion but has a lion standing on all four feet. The date, if in fact it is one, is in Hindi I think.

Hi Stu
I can see 1272, 1856 and a Persian lion or a copy i don't know...

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi Stu
I can see 1272, 1856 and a Persian lion or a copy i don't know...

Thanks Kubur.
Are the numerals Hindi? The particular lion is familiar to me but I could not place it. Certainly not EIC though.
Stu

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Thanks Kubur.
Are the numerals Hindi? The particular lion is familiar to me but I could not place it. Certainly not EIC though.
Stu

It's Farsi, Persian numbers (in fact Arabic), the persian calendar is a bit different
so +/-10 years...

[Jim McDougall]

Stu, thank you!!! These are excellent images, and I think what I like most about these guns is their inherently rugged charm, so appropriate for the tribal warriors of the Khyber and its environs.

The 'standing' lion is of course Persian, and while officially the Lion and Sun of the Pahlavi dynasty of late in Iran, it was of course prevalent in the Qajar dynasty preceding. In Afghanistan, as has been noted, the influences of Persia are profoundly present much as throughout India with the Mughals.
This is an amazing lock, and honestly the first I have seen with the Persian lion. With the previously noted presence of England in Persia and the use of the EIC markings on locks produced there, this is fascinating.

The 'date' on this is in characters I do not recognize, but clearly in imitation of EIC configuration, and it is tempting to consider the Persian Lion and Sun were deliberately placed in lieu of the EIC rampant lion as well.

The percussion lock example is also fascinating and unusual. It will be interesting to find what these 'I' characters added in such a grouping with periods mean. From the obsessive research I have been involved in the past weeks, it seems the percussion locks (of c. 1830s+) were not particularly favored by the tribesmen as obviously, the caps were hard to come by while flints and powder were not.

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Kubur

It's Farsi, Persian numbers (in fact Arabic), the persian calendar is a bit different
so +/-10 years...

Thanks very much.
Stu