The Omani Khanjar

[Jim McDougall]

I don't have any ideas, but I have many questions as a latecomer to the world of khanjhars, and I have been remiss in not following them with you more closely .
What I have learned in trying to go through the remarkable detail and guidelines/observations you have shared here over the years and with others here keen on these daggers, is how very complex they really are.

In the recent discussions on the materials used for the hilts on khanjhars, you brought up giraffe horn, which nearly two years ago apparently was thought to have not actually been used despite the ZRAF HINDI term used. It appears that it was thought to be hoof material from giraffe possibly.

The realization that it indeed was giraffe horn you made recently seems to have been very important, and I have always thought that the rhino horn characteristically used in these was essential for either talismanic or other properties.

So what I am trying to understand is if there are indeed any certain stipulations or specific reasons for one material over another. Have any khanjhars used ivory for hilts?

The use of this orange wood material seems aesthetic, so it seems perhaps that availability of materials superceded some such requirements such as I thought were observed re: the rhino horn.

Just trying to get an idea of various hilt materials and any significances etc.
I know this has been covered through many posts, but just catching up.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Thanks Jim ~ Good questions and I agree it is a bit puzzling. Of the 11 different regions in Oman they can all sport some of the same design variables as the next region which must be slightly confusing when a researcher is trying to nail a style. I often refer back to the website http://khanjar.om/Types.html which probably serves half the equation and has a most useful regional map of Oman and distinctive regional differences and similarities.

Time has dictated that a silversmith in any of the northern regions can produce any of the 10 /11 variable styles from any of the regions and that further difficult original locating is made worse when a style is mixed. the book says that Nizwa for example produces the largest khanjars yet I have seen huge daggers from the baatinah coast and from a separate entity around Bahla a giant thing twice as big as any khanjar worn by a giant. The man was 80 plus years old and he was a true giant over 7 feet tall with hands like three mens but these are examples of one offs...and there are more of those … and even 8 and nine ringers! then the variables from the UAE sometrimes impossible to separate from Dhakiliyya Khanjars next door ….but I digress..

The incredible appearance of the facts surrounding the Giraffe horn

The horn from the male African Giraffe is quite substantial although it is not so translucent as the Rhino ...in fact it is quite dark..though its colour can vary from dark to greenish...its not translucent but has excellent acceptance of silver nails and is used on both normal 4 ringers and on Royal khanjars. It is however an endangered species thus ought to be avoided although old giraffe may be acceptable it certainly is not to me.

What I think are excellent hilts are the hardwoods such as Sandalwood which I am about to show on site and this other bitter orange which I must track down since as a south Asian wood I am absolutely certain it is one of those old traded hardwood varieties that must be brought to the table for recognition and as a replacement hilt for these endangered animals.

On Fils (Ivory) the first big assault was on Ivory was from the USA !! in the shape of billiard balls and piano keys. Indeed it was done via an American shipping company operating direct from Zanzibar at the time of Saiid The Great.

The whats in a word angle goes wild here when the old Arabic words get used>>>>Zraf Hindi means Indian Giraffe and even the term for old replacement Yemeni Jambia hilts on Omani work>>>Zraf Yemeni... and the use of Hasheb Norang for bitter orange wood which I still have not traced. The name in Arabic for Rhino horn is also odd>>Zraf Afrique.. AFRICAN GIRAFFE

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Just to insert an Ivory hilt...from #247

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

This is an extremely detailed floral design with what appears to be Indian influence...not surprising since their close proximity as trading partners throughout history not to mention the fact that Sheherezad one of the wives of Saiid the Great actually designed the new fangled hilt on the Royal Khanjar in about 1835 from Indian designs.
What I don't prefer to see are the rings which are woven, I think, to a newer design that clash in my view.
Here is an intricate design with zraf hindi hilt which is of course African Giraffe.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Focusing on a little Ethnographics ...The Funun is the set of Traditions played out in Oman in dance music poetry and singing in a form of pantomime to rhythm and often an ancient musical score . In fact this entire set of Genres was the means by which traditional performance passed these performances down the generations so that in researching weapons the Sword or Khanjar dances can be traced far into the past. Please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87h_...rt_radio=1#t=1 for the Bara'a The Khanjar Dance

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Focusing on a little Ethnographics ...The Funun is the set of Traditions played out in Oman in dance music poetry and singing in a form of pantomime to rhythm and often an ancient musical score . In fact this entire set of Genres was the means by which traditional performance passed these performances down the generations so that in researching weapons the Sword or Khanjar dances can be traced far into the past. Please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87h_...rt_radio=1#t=1 for the Bara'a The Khanjar Dance

Thank you so much for adding this visual look into these important traditional events, in which the weaponry is so much an integral part. These have long been overlooked in the study of Omani arms, which in itself has only ever had a brief inclusion in the study of the arms of Arabia.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Thanks Jim, The Funun is almost completely overlooked in appreciating Omani weapons . The key is that here are the passed down enacted Traditions some beginning at the outset of the religion here. The weapons Genres are vital in our understanding of their place in Omani history and point to their use in the socio religious reason for their use and development. No study of Omani weapons can take place without looking at The Funun.

Below is rather an odd one out since it appears in Salalah in Southern Oman …(Dhofar) where it is worn by Jebali mountain tribesmen. This weapon is the same essentially to what their distant cousins wear in close by regions of Yemen...What is also peculiar is that the same weapon crops up in the OMANI Wahiba desert in North East Oman. In this case the hilt is the now well known (on these pages) use of Giraffe Horn (now endangered) from African sources called in Omani Arabic zraf hindi. Typically worn on a simple narrow leather belt.

In Salalah they call it al Genoobi and in the Sharqiyya al Hanshiah. for further detail see http://khanjar.om/Parts.html and look under TYPES.