Translation on kukri requested

jw556

jw556

Joined
Jan 18, 2005
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119
I got one of the Atlanta Cutlery "Longleaf" kukris. The inscription on the spine is supposedly the date. Can anyone translate the (Devangari?) script? It would be nice to know the date of manufacture, since it's suppostedly pre-1890. Thanks.
 

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Where's Ben, aka Beoram?

I'm pretty sure Ben could help you JW, but not sure if anyone else here can read the script. Yangdu might be able to translate come to think about it though.
The trick would be getting it too her so she could see it.
 
Didn't mamav work on the alphabet with her daughter a while back?

She might have the resources...fonts...etc.

I'm too lazy right now....:footinmou.....off to bed soon.
 
I have several guys on my QA Team that can probably read this easily. I'll send it off and see what we get.

Norm
 
Jw,

It seems to read:

shrii 3 chandra gakho 8123

none of these inscriptions exactly 'means' anything. they all say 'shrii 3 chandra' plus one other word, plus four digits. 'shrii 3 chandra' means 'thrice-honoured moon', but here 'chandra' is (part) of someone's name - the Rana PM (prime minister) of the time, and 'thrice honoured' is his title as PM.

'gakho', I don't know the meaning of -- if any -- offhand. I'll look it up. But these words following 'shrii 3 chandra' seem to be names or nicknames of army-divisions (?).

hope this helps,
--B.
 
Here is the reply from one of the Indian guys at my work:

"Norm,

Here is how I read it.

"Sri Om Chandra Ganesh. 23".

It is the name of our God "Ganesh" who has the head of an Elephant. I
believe that it is from 1880s. You might have seen his picture too.

Thanks,
Venkat."

Hope this helps as well.

Regards,

Norm
 
Beoram and Svashtar: thanks for the help. Hmmm... conflicting opinions on the inscription...

Ben (Arown): I know about kukris; it's my SP*DERCO I hold by the blade!
;)

jw
 
JW, as a follow up, my friend says that "23" refers to the lunar year in that century. (?)

Regards,

Norm
 
Svashtar,

With all due respect to your informant, I disagree. I have looked at half a dozen or more of these inscriptions, and they all follow the same pattern: "sri 3 chandra" [various spellings of 'chandra' (moon)] then one more word, then four digits.

Your friend is doing a good job of trying to make sense of an idiomatic inscription. '3' sort of looks like an 'om' symbol, and 'sri om' is a common combination in hindu mantras, etc. But 'sri 3' is the honourific formula for the Rana prime ministers (the real kings had/have 'sri 5' as their title). And 'chandra' appears on all of these AC kukris, and is (part of) the name of the ruling PM of the time (or so it seems).

The last word can hardly be 'gaNesh', though again your friend is obviously just trying to make sense of an obscure inscription. I agree, that the 2nd symbol could be 'N' rather than 'kh', but that still would make the word "gaNo", and not 'gaNesh'. And the last four symbols are definitely numerals, and not letters (your friend is taking the first two numbers and trying to read them as letters completing the word "gaNesh").

So, I still stand by my reading "sri 3 chandra gakho (or gaNo) 8123".

I have talked to John Powell about these AC kukri inscriptions in general, and his knowledge, and that of some of his Gorkha officer informants, seems to match this basic pattern.

Though the reading of Svashtar's informant is a laudable attempt at making sense of an obscure (and abbreviated) inscription, and I understand how he arrived at it.

cheers,.
B.
 
Thanks Beoram, and I certainly defer to your obvious expertise, and absolutely no offense taken. My Hindu friend was just trying to do his best to decipher the (to him) strange characters, and I just reported what he thought the answer was. (I think I would have done better but my Nepalese co-worker is on vacation!)

Question though: in your opinion what is the significance of the last 4 numbers? 1823 would certainly make sense, but 8123? Is that representing a date?

Thanks for the further explanation and info.

Regards,

Norm
 
Beoram is to intellect or data what Bruise leee is to humor; he offends no one, hurts no one. I remember why Beoram is missed.

He handles information and leaves very few fingerprints.


munk
 
Svashtar said:
Question though: in your opinion what is the significance of the last 4 numbers? 1823 would certainly make sense, but 8123? Is that representing a date?

Regards,

Norm
Click to expand...
Doesn't Nepal generally use a different calendar? Could the 8123 represent a date? :confused:
 
The date refers to the lunar year of that century in the Buddist calendar. I did some snooping; the calendar's "Year 0" is 531 B.C., the year of the Buddha's ascension/death. I started adding numbers, checked a few more websites on Buddist calendar dates, and came up with 1879 A.D...definitely pre-1890, as A.C. advertised. THANK YOU ALL for your contributions.

jw
 
The last four digits seem to be serial numbers, not dates. They differ greatly, as I recall, between on the AC kukris I have seen. So they would seem extremely unlike to be dates, unless these kukris were made over a span of several centuries...

Trying to read this inscription as something making sense is sort of equivalent to reading a product bearing a stamp of "Made in India, #435" as "Maiden India, A.D. 435".

The inscription is some sort of coding, perhaps just for storage? Or for distribution?

By the bye, Nepal normally uses the Vikramasamvat (or Bikkramsamvat in Nepali) calendar, which is about 56-8 years ahead of the standard Christian calendar, so it is year 2061 right now in Vikramsamvat era dating.

Nepal is, and has been for at least 250 or more, a Hindu kingdom, and would not use a Buddhist-based dating system on this sort of (government-regulated) object.

--B.
 
Beoram, I finally heard from my nepalese friend at work and this is what he says. (He is in agreement with you about the reference being to an army division or battalion.) He came up with 8/23 though as opposed to 8123.

Just offered up for your information.

Here is what he wrote:


Morris,
It reads like this.

Shree(similar to sir), tin(3), Chandra(name of a person), gana
(battalion), 8/23 (date).

Rana clan ruled 104 years in Nepal. A king puts Shree 5 in front of his
name and Rana put Shree 3 (it is just a hierarchy of rank).

It sounds like this Khukuri (knife) belonged to a person under a
Battalion named "Shree 3 Chandra Samser Rana".

Hope it helps.

Thakur Karkee

Regards,

Norm
 
Thanks, B. Never would have seen that otherwise. Wish we had more historical info to go with the historical blades. :(
The mystery isn't part of the attraction for me, I like the knowin' :)

jw
 
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