Books on Khukries

beoram · Dec 15, 2001

Originally posted by John Powell
I use 'bookfinder' a lot and the book "Observations of a Gurkha Officer" has some nice tidbits in it, but the others mentioned have more overall history.

A good eBay example would be "The Indian Sword" by Rawson. Got it for about $75 while the other sources are listing it for much more. By the way, this is a real must have book for collectors of Indo-Persian items. Considered the 'bible' by many.

I just ordered 'Observations' since it looked like an interesting book (not getting it for overall history).

'The Indian Sword'? I'll have to keep a look-out for that. thanks, B.

Bill Martino · Dec 16, 2001

Thanks for good help, all.

beoram · Dec 18, 2001

did anyone list:

IN GURKHA COMPANY - Lt. Col. J.P. Cross, OBE
Arms & Armour Press (London), 1986. ?

cheers, B.

Bill Martino · Dec 18, 2001

Thanks, Beo.

John Powell · Dec 18, 2001

More? OK.

Gurkhas (soft cover) M. Chappel
Gurkha Rifles (soft cover) JBR Nicholson
Johnny Gurkha ED Smith
Armies of the Raj B. Farwell
Gurkhas Northey&Morris
Nepal & the Gurkhas Her Majesty's Stationary Office
Gurkhas James&Sheill-Small
Beyond the Khyber Pass J. Walker
Legendary Soldiers Adshead

Bill Martino · Dec 19, 2001

I told you that John knows everything.

beoram · Dec 19, 2001

see it here: http://www.cog.jhu.edu/~slade/gurkbook.html

cheers, B.

Bill Martino · Dec 19, 2001

Thanks, Beo.

beoram · Jan 5, 2002

Concerning weapons of the subcontinent....trying to find a good book on this--looking round, the best recommendations (in no particular order), seem to be:

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1)The Indian Sword(1967) by Philip Rawson. Copenhagen: Danish Arms & Armour Society

2)Indian Arms and Armour(1980) by Dr. G.N.Pant - printed somewhere in India...

3)An Illustrated Handbook of Indian Arms; Being a Classified and Descriptive Catalogue of the Arms Exhibited at the India Museum(1880) by Lord Egerton. London: William H. Allen. reprints available.
-------------------------------------------------

does anyone own & have comments on these (I think JP said he owns the Rawson at least). I'm interested in anything which might have some khukuris in it, but also very interested in kattars.

None of these are cheap books in any case (though I saw the Rawson go for US$66 on eBay a week or two ago) and I can't find the Pant anywhere.

thanks for any help - cheers, B.

John Powell · Jan 5, 2002

I took a pass on the Pant book because he does nothing but rehash Rawson and the great one by Egerton. Plus, it's really poorly bound. I have these last two and they are both excellent refernece pieces.

I do have an 'extra' Rawson book if anyone is interested, but it's quite a bit more than $66. These are very hard to find and even reprints of the Egerton book are very rare.

beoram · Jan 5, 2002

Originally posted by John Powell
I took a pass on the Pant book because he does nothing but rehash Rawson and the great one by Egerton. Plus, it's really poorly bound. I have these last two and they are both excellent refernece pieces.

I do have an 'extra' Rawson book if anyone is interested, but it's quite a bit more than $66. These are very hard to find and even reprints of the Egerton book are very rare.

Thanks for the help John. If you had to choose between the Egerton & the Rawson....?

Actually, I found that one can buy reprints of Egerton for round US$80.00.

cheers, B.

John Powell · Jan 5, 2002

Both.
Where can you get these reprints? I get a lot of requests after they see my original.

beoram · Jan 5, 2002

Originally posted by John Powell
Both.
Where can you get these reprints? I get a lot of requests after they see my original.

No Desert Island list then?

reprints available through Alibris, Lord Egerton's Handbook of Indian Arms

I don't know what the reprint quality is like though--it's a black & white fascimile.

cheers, B.

Bill Martino · Jan 7, 2002

Thanks for link.

beoram · Jan 10, 2002

Originally posted by beoram

No Desert Island list then?

reprints available through Alibris, Lord Egerton's Handbook of Indian Arms

I don't know what the reprint quality is like though--it's a black & white fascimile.

original copy of Lord Egerton's handbook for sale

also, I found another place for reprints--which look like they might be nicer (I know they're cheaper). Details to follow.

B.

beoram · Jan 10, 2002

A Description of Indian and Oriental Armour : Illustrated from the Collection Formerly in the India Office Now Exhibited at South Kensington and The Authors Private Collection: With An Introductory Sketch of the Military History of India/Egerton of Tatton. Reprint of first edition. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 2001 - US$60, including air-mail postage!

@ VedamsBooks

B.

John Powell · Jan 10, 2002

Tried these guys once on another book and the order never got completed although it was 'confirmed'. Good news is my credit card didn't get charged both times I got their confirmations.

I hope you are successful.

beoram · Jan 10, 2002

Originally posted by John Powell
Tried these guys once on another book and the order never got completed although it was 'confirmed'. Good news is my credit card didn't get charged both times I got their confirmations.

I hope you are successful.

John - I've actually ordered from them quite a few times. They've recently mucked about with their website (I don't know when you tried to order)--so it's having problems processing VISA & MC right now until things are fully integrated, but hopefully their new design (which is quite nice too) should solve some problems they had before.

Whenever I've had a problem with an order I just email them and they usually respond within a few hours. And they don't charge credit cards until they actually despatch the books (unlike most places), so even if an order is uncompleted like you had, they won't charge.

So I recommend them--they're fast too! (Certainly quicker than getting things from Canada

). Even books available elsewhere are often cheaper to buy in the Indian edition, even with the postage charges....I've got a number of linguistics books in their Indian editions for about 1/4 of the USA price from Vedams.

best, B.

beoram · Jan 10, 2002

...but I stumbled upon a very nice web-site about indian arms & armour, with nice scans from some book (I don't know which). Some nice illustrations/pictures of katars, khukuris, &c.:

Arms, armour: weapons and accoutrements of warriors in Bharat through the ages @ Hindunet.org

cheers, B.

John Powell · Jan 10, 2002

Glad you're experience was better than mine. I'll check out the new site.

The Bharat site is a strange compendium of bits and pieces from many sources. It seems strangely unfulfilling especially after the long download. I have many of these pictures in the books we've discussed.