Two katars

Jim McDougall · 26th February 2007, 04:46 PM

Hi Jens,
Thank you so much for clarifying that. Incredibly fantastic pieces!!
Interesting point on the smell of the blades. I know that Indonesian blades have distinct smells due to the oils imbued in the blades, and that often old sword blades seem to have distinct fragrances or smells..usually good...some uh, not so good!

Hi Brian,
Very interesting trail you are on, but as we have often noted, beware the terms used in narratives, especially really old ones. I have some information from notes that pertain to a specific dagger form attributed to the Kafirs of Hindu-Kush (now Kalash tribes in Nuristan) which is known as 'katara'.

In Pant ("Indian Arms & Armour", New Delhi, 1980, p.174), he describes a 'katar' (illustr. fig. 532) as a short leaf shaped blade and a hilt with broad flat pommel and guard of same size and shape (like a capital I). He notes that this illustration and data are from Egerton (p.102, #344-45; plate IX,344) and that Egerton has called this a jamadhar-katari, noting that these were used by the Kafirs of Hindu-Kush and that these were popular through Northern India and Nepal from 16th-18th c. It is further noted that the illustration and material were taken by Egerton from the Ain-i-Akbari, which of course suggests the very early application of this term to this particular dagger form. The question really becomes, exactly how generally this term was applied descriptively in those times.

A friend in Germany has a number of these in his collection, most of which were obtained in Nepal over the past ten years. I did more follow up on this and in "The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush" Vol II, Max Klimburg, Stuttgart, 1999, #811) found one of these daggers shown as 'katara'.

In Pant, he describes how the correct term for katar referring to the now familiar parallel bar, transverse grip punch dagger, should be 'jamadhar', and that the term katar is properly referring to the old standard form dagger with hilt of wide pommel and guard.

It would seem that these more ancient daggers may have evolved, much as the chilanum, from the early anthromorphic hilt forms of Hallstadt civilization in late Bronze to early Iron Age Europe. These later 'I' hilt daggers may have, much as in many weapons of these regions, beem atavistic forms recalling the weapons of ancient tradition.

All the best,
Jim

26th February 2007, 04:46 PM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,194	Hi Jens, Thank you so much for clarifying that. Incredibly fantastic pieces!! Interesting point on the smell of the blades. I know that Indonesian blades have distinct smells due to the oils imbued in the blades, and that often old sword blades seem to have distinct fragrances or smells..usually good...some uh, not so good! Hi Brian, Very interesting trail you are on, but as we have often noted, beware the terms used in narratives, especially really old ones. I have some information from notes that pertain to a specific dagger form attributed to the Kafirs of Hindu-Kush (now Kalash tribes in Nuristan) which is known as 'katara'. In Pant ("Indian Arms & Armour", New Delhi, 1980, p.174), he describes a 'katar' (illustr. fig. 532) as a short leaf shaped blade and a hilt with broad flat pommel and guard of same size and shape (like a capital I). He notes that this illustration and data are from Egerton (p.102, #344-45; plate IX,344) and that Egerton has called this a jamadhar-katari, noting that these were used by the Kafirs of Hindu-Kush and that these were popular through Northern India and Nepal from 16th-18th c. It is further noted that the illustration and material were taken by Egerton from the Ain-i-Akbari, which of course suggests the very early application of this term to this particular dagger form. The question really becomes, exactly how generally this term was applied descriptively in those times. A friend in Germany has a number of these in his collection, most of which were obtained in Nepal over the past ten years. I did more follow up on this and in "The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush" Vol II, Max Klimburg, Stuttgart, 1999, #811) found one of these daggers shown as 'katara'. In Pant, he describes how the correct term for katar referring to the now familiar parallel bar, transverse grip punch dagger, should be 'jamadhar', and that the term katar is properly referring to the old standard form dagger with hilt of wide pommel and guard. It would seem that these more ancient daggers may have evolved, much as the chilanum, from the early anthromorphic hilt forms of Hallstadt civilization in late Bronze to early Iron Age Europe. These later 'I' hilt daggers may have, much as in many weapons of these regions, beem atavistic forms recalling the weapons of ancient tradition. All the best, Jim