Battle Khukuri

JayGoliath

JayGoliath

Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
4,988
As far as war is concerned, blade is one crucial partner; other than weapon it’s used for chopping wood, prying wooden carts or just slaughtering livestock for food.
We heard about battle axe/hawks, war hammer but I thought why not give the due respect to one of the most fearsome knives in civilization, some love?
Over the years I’ve acquired different models from Auntie Yangdu as well as studying the history behind it. It is believed that until these days the effort was well-spent and remained a student of the craft itself; The Gurkhas, Biswarkarmas and Nepal.(including the Proto-Indo-European influence)
These blades have rich history, perhaps stained with blood (so the curse of Khuk was true about bloody-thirsty nature?), sweat and tears of war and represented the evolutions of khukuri from Himalayas to Kandahar, from Snowdonia to Swampland.

Hereby I wish to share some wonderful toys from my humble vault of never-ending sharking:
From right, clockwise: The Malayan Emergency, Royal Nepalese army Bhojpure and the Burmese Chindit “Pioneer”
ZombieKilla.jpg


The insurgency of Communism during Malayan Emergency (1948-60) ignited the need for foreign aid and Gurkhas were deployed to this tropical rainforest especially the hilly areas where guerilla warfare were fought.
Nepal.jpg

It’s believed that this khuk belongs to that era; 16” of stick tang, wood handle with canvas sheath without the twins :karda and chakmak. Acquired via Simon Hengle, Mr.Torablades.
WELCOME BACK TO MALAYSIA!

ZombieKilla7.jpg

“I remember how ill-equipped we were: we carried our water in bamboo containers; we were ordered to shoot rubber-estate dogs to prevent them from barking a warning of our presence; we had neither canvas jungle boots nor waterproof capes, so we slept on and under leaves; our ‘wireless sets’ were so heavy we had to carry them on stretchers; and on one occasion the police ordered me out on a job to contact guerrillas, then wanted me arraigned for murder when we killed one.-Lt-Colonel John Cross, 1st battalion 7th Gurkha Rifles”
Click to expand...
More stories here:
http://www.ayo-gorkhali.org/index.php/timeline/last-days-of-the-raj/1948-60-the-malayan-emergency
http://www.avalanchepress.com/GurkhasInMalaya.php
http://www.orderofthefleurdelys.org/Malaya Campaign.html

The next khuk might just be the fore-father of the MK1 when the 1st regiment was formed.
During WW I knives were made at various depots in India, Nepal and even Burma for the 10th Gurkha Rifles. The steel came from "condemned carriage springs from the Insein (not a pun) Railroad Works." 'Yindek' and 'Simal' were obtained from the jungle for handles and scabbard-John Powell, HI's article.
Click to expand...

Many of the so called military Bhojpures appear to be WW1 or 1920s date to my eye. This one appears to be older, the shape is reminiscent of some early to mid 19th century kukri & is clearly entirely handmade implying earlier manufacture as an arsenal made piece. The date it was actually made at I don’t know, It may be an early piece or maybe t it was late 19th century or even early 20th century one copying an older style .or perhaps made by a very old kami who had made such pieces for most of his life? I suspect it older though.-SpiralTwista
Click to expand...

ZombieKilla2.jpg

ZombieKilla3.jpg

ZombieKilla4.jpg

ZombieKilla5.jpg

ZombieKilla6.jpg


13 inch blade 24 oz weight, blade over 2 3/4 inches deep, all clearly hand forged. It reminded me of the earlier models from Atlanta Cutlery but it caught grand-daddy of khukuri collector, John Powell’s attention as he thought this profile, construction and finishing resembled the ideal Bhojpure model. Acquired via Jonathan AKA Spiraltwista.

More info here:
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/MilitaryStyles.htm
 
Last edited:
From H.I's link on military style, there's a blade featured in BETWEEN THE WARS:
It was a rare bond of this particular khuk as I’m always a non-believer when it comes to KLO. It’s possibly the earliest form of KLO that functioned very well as a weapon first, utility second blade.
Flooknotexactlykukri001.jpg


According to Ron Flook, it was a copy of the nearest cousin, Khukuri as the Chindits might have ran out of supply.

13 inch blade, 31Oz full tang of cold-rolled (Bessemer?) and cut-out blade, born in 1927 at Cossipore India. Monster chopper.
Leather sheath DOB 1921. Acquired via Spiral.
ZombieKilla8.jpg

ZombieKilla12.jpg

ZombieKilla10.jpg

ZombieKilla11.jpg

ZombieKilla9.jpg


Inscription on the right side of blade " W. I.W.I 4"
ZombieKilla15.jpg

ZombieKilla13.jpg

ZombieKilla14.jpg


It took me a while to relate the gap between 1927, the date of manufacturing in Cossipore with the emergence of the Chindits in 1943-44 and I believed this summarize it:

If indeed the Pioneer khuk was also called the Chin knife, then it could be the source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_Pioneer

Early history
The expansion of the British Indian Army during World War I led to the raising of two companies of Burma Pioneers in Mandalay in November 1916. Burmese of all groups were recruited for these units. After expanding to four companies, the Pioneers became the 70th Burma Rifles in September 1917. The 85th Burman Rifles were raised from the Burma Military Police in July 1917. A second battalion of 70th Burma Rifles was raised in January 1918 and both battalions served in the Middle East in 1918-20.[1] Two more battalions were raised during 1918.[2] According to John Gaylor in his history: Sons of John Company - The Indian & Pakistan Armies 1903-1991, the 3/70th Burma Rifles, raised in April 1918, went to Southern India to suppress the Moplah Rising whilst the 4/70th, raised in May 1918, remainded in Burma.
1922 reorganisation of the British Indian Army
In the 1922 reorganisation of the British Indian Army the 70th Burma Rifles and the 85th Burman Rifles were merged to form the 20th Burma Rifles. The new regiment numbered four regular battalions. A new battalion, the 11th (territorial) battalion was also formed in 1922.
The Burman element in the regiment was mustered out after 1927,[1], although continuing to serve in the Burma Military Police. Personnel drawn from the hill-tribes of Burma and other groups (Karens, Kachins and Chin) continued to serve and in 1940 Burmans were again recruited, although the Anglo-Burmese tended to be overly represented in the Burma Rifles and the Burma Military Police.
Separation from India
After the British formally separated Burma from India in 1937 the 20th Burma Rifles was allocated to Burma and renamed the Burma Rifles. The intention was for officers to be drawn from the British Army. However the majority of the British officers already serving with the regiment chose to remain with their units on secondment from the British Indian Army.
Also some backgrounds on the Chin people in Burma:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chin_people
I believed eventually they were absorbed into the Chindits, where Pioneer/Chin knife has already existed and since it's a British Indian army, having the khuk made in Cossipore, the only artillery manufacturer at the time and having copied the khuk was perfectly making sense.

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?92946-Kukri-or-Kukri-Wannabe
 
Nice Khukuri and well written article , Jay!
I bet you dream of Burmese Gurkhas at night. ;)
 
"Wonderful toys" indeed:D. Thanks for sharing them, and some excellent research.:thumbup:
Berk
 
Very interesting Jay. Thank you for the effort you put into composing it.

It's great to have feet on the ground in the region, digging up history.
 
Excelent pieces & brilliant research & deduction I think Jay!

When I find the past IKRHS posts about them Ill link to your article here.

Spiral
 
Hi lads,

I owe you all many bows. There are still many mysteries that's graved. My sincere thanks and appreciation to all the guidance, critics and direction!

Tried chopping with the Pioneer khuk over the weekend and it really bites!

I'm thinking of getting a local smith to forge one in a sawmill steel (15N20) with a little twist on handle. The tapered spine (7-8mm), thickest at the angle to form the tip, shifted more weight to the sweet spot in return, makes chopping a wonderful task.(Maybe i should take a pic off the spine to show)
 
Last edited:
Thank you Jay for the opportunity to travel through time and culture with this engaging and informative discussion.
 
Very interesting article. I love the historic research and found it fascinating... thanks! I always enjoy reading about ghurkas, khukuris, and military history from that era and part of the world... Needless to say, we didn't get that into it when I was a young one in school!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top