The “ regulation Khyber Knife” in the Afghani Army at end of the 19th – beginning of

[ariel]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

To me the Nepali hilts look more like 18th century English hanger hilts with langet. The production of such components for use by units in British occupied regions is however supportive of the concept establishef of thier supply to such regions.

Jim,
All true and carefully considered, as usual.

The Nepali bayonet saw service in the British Army since 1830s: Brunswick rifle, the same one that was given by the Brits to the Nepali troops later on. No doubt there is a lot of local embellishments, and the "lion rampant" on the semicircular langet may be either Nepalese or British. The animal-like head of the D-guard next to the base of the bayonet looks "local" to me. There were many examples of European weapons of a similar construction, but we are talking about a British-dominated area; more than likely it imitated a genuinely British pattern.

The presense of a similar hilt on a sword of Daoud Shah in 1879 shows convincingly that similar handles were present in Afghanistan long before the Mashin Khana. Thus, unless we demonstrate the spuriosness of the Enfield markings, its pattern fits with the Daoud Shah's example.


The only thing I wanted to point out, is that the "regulation pattern" handle of the 1880s-1890s did not spring forth as a sudden invention of the local weapon industry: it was there in one form or another for quite some time and was likely introduced to the area by the British. It mutated into several final forms depending on the locality and timing.

[spiral]

Great thread Mahratt! The Afghans certainly loved copying weapons!

Heres One of the Official Afghan issue kukri, from 1894/5















& heres an Afghan made Lee Enfield/ Martini Henry 1888 Bayonet carrying the same mark.






Spiral

[mahratt]

[QUOTE=spiral]Great thread Mahratt! The Afghans certainly loved copying weapons!

Heres One of the Official Afghan issue kukri, from 1894/5

Thank you!

I think it's 1895.

[mahratt]

Dear forum members, I have a huge request to all. If you have some sort of information on the Afghan interesting items, please let me know. In addition, I am interested in purchasing Afghan unusual items. Especially from wootz.

[Tatyana Dianova]

A small addition/correction to the excellent article. The author states that "...Against it is the presence of the Mazar-i-Sharif stamp on all 5 examples of this pattern known to us. This stamp was never present on the “ethnic” variety... "
I have found recently an ethnic Khyber knife with early stamps!

[mahratt]

Originally Posted by Tatyana Dianova

A small addition/correction to the excellent article. The author states that "...Against it is the presence of the Mazar-i-Sharif stamp on all 5 examples of this pattern known to us. This stamp was never present on the “ethnic” variety... "
I have found recently an ethnic Khyber knife with early stamps!

Thank you, Tatiana!

I think there is no contradiction in the article. The blade of the regular Khyber knife mounted ethnic handle. And engraved on the blade - it is normal for Afghans. They liked to apply inscriptions and ornaments on a regular bladed weapons.
I have seen several regular Khyber knives engraved on the blade and several regular Khyber knives with new ethical or not at all regular handle.