1800s Nepal Royal Arsenal Dvi-Chirra kukri [photos]

[beoram]

Finally got this khukuri cleaned up with a bit of Flitz---


19th century Nepal Royal Arsenal khukuri GALLERY

two crescent and arrow markings on each side (Nepal Royal Arsenal??!):

The scabbard also wanted repair--there was a large gash and a section of missing wood on the spine-side. Every time the blade was sheathed it shot through this hole -- I hadn't noticed it at first. I'm glad I noticed it with my eyes before my hand, as I could have quite easily done the latter . Fitted a piece of wood into the break and closed up the leather with some glue:

for more photos click here:
19th century Nepal Royal Arsenal khukuri GALLERY

cheers all, B.

 

[Bill Martino]

Nice.

 

[ruel]

The double crescent with three dots at each end is supposed to be an Italian proof mark, and shows up on alot of Maratha swords with imported blades. Not surprisingly, it was also faked and put on local blades, like this little guy of mine:

You can just barely see the stamp in the photo.

After discussing it on the Ethnographic Edged Weapons Forum, we came to the conclusion that it was made in Sindh and exported to Bukhara around the time the Russians conquered Bukhara -- nothing to do with Italy!

 

[beoram]

Originally posted by ruel
The double crescent with three dots at each end is supposed to be an Italian proof mark, and shows up on alot of Maratha swords with imported blades. Not surprisingly, it was also faked and put on local blades, like this little guy of mine:

After discussing it on the Ethnographic Edged Weapons Forum, we came to the conclusion that it was made in Sindh and exported to Bukhara around the time the Russians conquered Bukhara -- nothing to do with Italy!

Hmm...on another thread we were discussing crescent markings, and JP remarked:

Originally posted by John Powell
This crescent can be found on many different arsenals throughout Nepal in the 19th and late 18th century. Any arsenal that was authorized to make weapons for the military and constabulary had to be approved by the court, therefore they all had the title "Royal". The different arsenal variations are dots, circles, sometimes nothing and a repeat of the crescent itself. It is still theory, but a repeat of the mark further down the blade or repeated on the obverse may indicate quality or a blade of ranking.

This also doesn't mean a lot of kukris weren't being banged out in small forges all over the place. Many of these kamis wanted to put their mark on the blade so you find variations that can't be traced to a particular arsenal.

The mark itself comes from a symbol of a crescent moon that was given by one of the Nepalese kings (gotta look up which one)to his closest generals and trusted court members. They were known as a group named the "Band of the Moon".

So I assumed that this was one of the Nepalese arsenal markings (the arrows are interesting too.....almost like broad arrows....). The blade doesn't look like one of European manufacture (unlike my katar blade).

Perhaps JP or N2S will have something else to say. It seems sort of odd for a khukuri to have an Italian-manufacture marking on it, 'fake' or not. But who knows?

cheers, B.

 

[Bill Martino]

Who knows? Certainly not me.