New page at Himalayan-Imports.com ?

beautifully and comprehensively done. I'm going to post a link over in Plainsman's Forum.


Kis
:rolleyes:
 
Pretty damned classy. It's come a long way since my first circus wagon site I put up when I was still having trouble turning on my computer.
 
Nice, but what's a jawan?

"The khukuri however is far more than just a jawan's weapon."
 
Jawans are the little Star Wars guys from the first movie that sell used robots and such.

I didn't know they carried khukuris.

I liked that pic of the kopesh too--first time I ever saw one after years of wondering just what in the hell they looked like.

-Dave
 
That is up to your usual good standards, Ben, and not bad at all for a "liberal royalist"......whatever the heck that is :D
 
Thanks all.

<i>Jawan</i> is the Indian army equivalent of 'soldier'. (Dave K - LOL) Hmm, so if the term is obscure to a general Western audience, perhaps I should change it to 'soldier', though that doesn't have quite the same 'ring'. I could 'gloss' it, i.e. 'The khukuri however is far more than just a jawan's (soldier's) weapon', but I don't know if that breaks the 'flow' too much. Opinions?

The etymology bit is a linguist's indulgence ;) I suppose, but I thought some visitors might be curious.

Other critiques, comments, suggestions, &c.? I'll try to work it into the main site soon.

thanks again,
Ben
 
Leave it "as is". I didn't know the word either, but it is part of the mystique - those whose curiosity is piqued can run it through a search engine or translator, and enjoy having a bit added to their knowledge, through their own effort. For those who don't follow this logic, remember your first time on the forum, and the attraction of the terms and associated nuances - go to the Ethnographic Edged Weapons forum, and rattle around in the various parts/variations of the keris. This is part of the fascination of the blades.
 
Good idea but don't link it yet. I don't think we want to deal with more katars. However, I do need to get the chitlangis and M43s onto the main shopping site -- but when?
 
Whoops! I guess I'm too late.

Firstly, this a nicely laid out page, up to your usual high level.

Now I'll be blunt...part of this history confused the crap outta me.

a) from the position of the handle "beak", and appearance of the blade, the kopesh appears to be upside down with respect to the other blades. And the outside of the curve seems the sharp bit. If so, it seems a big stretch, almost disingenuous to relate it to the khuk. Particularly since so many other blades have curvature opposite to khuks like that the kopesch appears to have.

b) the depicted kora, notably also from Nepal, is not mentioned even though the inner edge of the curve is sharpened (as I understand it), and would appear a much closer relative.

The similarity of the kopis is, of course, readily apparent.

The rest of it seems fine to me, apart from appearing on my browser as narrow column ALL the way down the page, and thus a little annoying to read.
 
Uncle Bill - no, the 'new stuff' page is not linked up yet, just the 'test' page. Forgot about chitlangis.. Just tell me which things to add, remove, keep, &c. I might even be able to figure out the shopping site...

Firkin, it's not too late - changes can always be made. Annoying about the narrow column thing, I played round with it for a while and thought I had fixed that. Maybe Pen will be round - he helped me before with getting the web pages to look right.

I think the sharp edge of the kopesh is also the inner curve, but perhaps I'm wrong - I've never seen a real one. I suspect actually that the kopesh, kopis, & khukuri may be independent developments - they all look like they developed out of agriculture tools (think 'sickle'). Not sure what I might write on the kora - suggestions?

B.
 
Very interesting site.

Gentlemen,

Note that the language chart of Indo European languages is not complete. Persian or Faris belongs to this and is an Indo European langauge which is spoken in today's Iran, Tajiskestan, North of Afghanistan.

Regards

Manoucher
 
beo,

It's the first time I've seen a depiction of a kopesh, so I know nothing...

But I just can't imagine the thing being used in the same orientation as it's shown alongside the others. That hook or beak at the end of an apparently normal length handle screams "upside-down" to me. The photo "looks" like it is the outside of the curve that is sharp--could be misleading.

Perhaps actually writing "agriculteral tools such a sickles" would help, as well. I bet many folks think of things like ploughs when they see that term. And have even less exposure to the types of handtools employed than I do. I can't even recall the last time a saw a sickle in a gardening or hardware store. "Weed-eaters" have totally taken over. Haven't seen any of those hand-operated lawn edger/clippers for a while either. The ones with handles that always pinch your hand...

Kora...Well John Powell would be the one to ask.
There has been some relevant stuff posted, but it looks like basic members are still S.O.L. regarding searching. Could be something in the FAQ. Perhaps something about the curve being ergonomic and permitting the strike to occur with maximum power as has been described for khuks/axes. I seem to recall something about the kora thought to be older than the khuk as well but I'm not positive.

Hey, the relationship of the outer edge of the kopesh to the handle very much resembles the relationship of the khuk belly to handle. Maybe that is the similarity. Add a little curvature to the straight part of the kopesh blade by the handle, and you get something like a UBE. Perhaps the sickle analogy is misleading here. I think the kopesh just needs to be flipped over, and maybe forget the sickle stuff.
 
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