- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 3,264
Click on pics for bigger pics.
Direct scans on the flatbed scanner:
<A HREF="http://www.chaicutlery.com/images/HI-Bura12Dhankuta-a.jpg" TARGET=_blank>
<A HREF="http://www.chaicutlery.com/images/HI-Bura12Dhankuta-scabbard.jpg" TARGET=_blank>
<A HREF="http://www.chaicutlery.com/images/HI-Bura12Dhankuta-scabbard-back.jpg" TARGET=_blank>
And a close up of the scabbard & handle.
The scabbard is more Good Ethnic Art than something you'd carry about, but the khukuri itself seems simple and sturdy enough to do serious work, and the handle seems like a useful shape. But then I'm still trying to get used to the big-pommel grip on more "standard" sorts of khukuri.
From the literature that came with the knife, I see that Bura is more formally known as Lal Bahadur Bishwakarma. Bahadur as a given name in Nepal and India means "brave," and the word comes from the Mongols.
For example, one of Chingis Khan's best generals was known as Subotai Bahadur (western spelling and pronunciation of these names is flexible). In old Russian stories, an epic hero might be called a "bogatyr." In recent Communist Mongolia, the capital city of Urga was renamed Ulaan Baatar - "red hero." The honorific name came to India with the Moguls, a dynasty that claimed dynastic roots back to Chingis Khan.
Did I mention I like this knife?
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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
