Afghan knives. Combat knives and daggers of the Indo-Persian region

Description:

Dagger (knife) “chura”. Afghanistan, first half of the 20th century. Original. Script.

Expertise.

Dimensions of the chura knife (dagger):

Total length – 283 mm
Blade length with handle – 275 mm
Blade length without handle – 172 mm
Blade width at the heel – 35 mm
Sheath length – 238 mm
Steel, gold, iron, bone, wood, leather.
Safety: no visible losses or damage.

Description of the “chura” dagger:

Blade.
The blade of the dagger (knife) is steel, straight, bladeless, single-edged, the tip is on the line of the butt, with a strong expansion towards the blade in the heel area.
The heel and the point on both sides of the canvas are covered with decorative floral patterns using the gold inlay technique; the wide butt near the heel is decorated with engraved wavy lines stylizing plant motifs.

Hilt.
The handle of a dagger (knife) of an original shape is formed by bone cheek pieces, secured to a flat shank with two iron rivets. A separate pair of rivets attached the upper attachments in the form of T-shaped protrusions - “ears” with surfaces beveled towards the blade, which protected the fighter’s hand from slipping at the moment of a cutting blow. Along the end surfaces of the handle (between the “ears”) there is a silver sheet frame, decorated with chased ornaments, rosettes and castes.

The lower part of the handle, outside the bone cheeks, is covered with a silver sleeve - an oval-section holder, soldered to the frame. Their surfaces are decorated with stamped and engraved round rosettes filled with yellow and red paint, foliage and rope patterns.

Sheath.
The scabbard of the dagger (knife) is wooden, covered with brown leather and sewn up (the seam runs along the right side); the surface is decorated with embossing, the holes are secured with a metal edging.

Conclusions of the examination:

Based on the shape of the blade and handle, and decorative processing techniques, this product can be attributed as the national Afghan dagger “chura” of the first half of the 20th century. “Chura” is a type of eastern (Persian) dagger “peshkabz”, differing from it in having a straight, narrowed blade.
The chura dagger (knife) is of historical and cultural value. Is a collectible.

Attribution Afghan dagger“chura” is made on the basis of a visual examination of the object, without complete or partial dismantling.

Based on the list of categories of items subject to the law “On the export and import of cultural property” dated April 15, 1993 No. 4804-1 and the result of this examination, this item – an Afghan “chura” dagger of the first half of the twentieth century – represents cultural value.

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Reference: Khyber knife or kuber, also known as the salawar scimitar. Kuber (Khyber knife) is the name given to this type of weapon by the British after the area of ​​the Khyber Passage, which lies on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Local population- Pashtuns used another name - salawar scimitar. Since cubers were distributed mainly in the mountains, where warriors moved, as a rule, on foot, the usual size of a cuber is closer to the upper limit of a medium-bladed weapon, 450 - 800 mm. This cuber size was suitable for hand-to-hand combat and for household needs. The characteristic features of cubers are a powerful T-shaped blade that expands significantly at the handle. The handle, as a rule, consists of two bone or horn cheeks and a metal bolster. Simple wooden, conical in shape, the scabbard was covered with leather or fabric, and often had a long metal tip. The scabbard did not have any special suspension, and the cubers were usually worn in the belt. The handle goes into the sheath quite deeply, so that only the beak-shaped head sticks out, however, it is through this head that the cuber is quite easily and quickly removed from the sheath. It should be noted that many characteristics Kuberas are also inherent in other edged weapons of the region: chura, pesh-kabz, karud. Despite the simplicity of its design, the kuber (salavar-yatagan) was a very effective and dangerous weapon. The functionality of these knives was so high that after the Afghan invasion of India, cubers took root in the northern part of this country. Richly decorated or damask kubers were made, as a rule, in Northern India.
Description: Khyber knife. Afghanistan. End of the 19th century Such knives are a typical weapon for the inhabitants of the Khyber Pass between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The blade is steel, straight, single-edged, T-shaped. The handle is made of bone with diagonal grooves - notches and a steel knob with a hole at the top.
Total length 455 mm, blade length 330 mm, blade width 37 mm.

More detailed information You can see about the Khyber knife in the article on the website

Several years ago, the interesting website porco.ru was closed. It contained many chauvinistic publications masculine character, among which there were also bladed weapons. Surprisingly, for a non-specialized resource, what was written was reliable, but written in a very peculiar way. The last article in the trilogy about knives and daggers of the Indo-Persian style was published on April 4, 2011. I decided to re-publish it, preserving the text and illustrations of the original, but adding navigation for convenience.

First, let's define geography. As a rule, the Indo-Persian region includes, in addition to India and Iran (Persia), also the territories of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Note also that neighboring regions such as Turkey, the Middle East, the Caucasus and middle Asia– are under quite strong cultural influence.

The region's population consists of many different nations, united for a long time general history, as well as close trade and cultural ties. Such ethnocultural diversity and interpenetration led to the emergence of a completely indescribable abundance of forms and types of bladed weapons, which were used in battle, hunting, and in the household.

And now we will try to understand this wealth. But not in everything, but, so as not to overstrain, only in knives and daggers.

So, knives and daggers of the Indo-Persian region:

Card

Let's start our review with the simplest, one might say, classic knife, which is also simply called -.

This knife is the most common in the region. Moreover, its distribution area includes former Turkish possessions in the Balkans, Turkey itself, the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

For example, a Turkish card with an agate handle:

The card has a straight blade, slightly widening towards the handle, with a straight, thick, often beautifully decorated spine. Cards are usually decorated with gold, less often with silver koftgari notching.

There is no crosshair. The handle of the blade is narrower and widens towards the end. It is most often made from voluminous applied horn or bone cheeks, riveted onto the shank.

Indian cards, especially from Rajasthan, are often all-metal.

The scabbard is conical, leather, sometimes lined with silk. The card is immersed in them for almost two-thirds of the handle.

The size of the knife is on average up to 30-35 cm, but there are also longer cards. Despite its “peaceful” appearance and origin from ordinary households. everyday life knife, card is a serious military weapon. Essentially, this is a single-edged dagger designed for stabbing. Combat purpose Some cards are obvious: in order to increase penetrating ability, they were made with a reinforced tip of the blade, which made their thickened tip shaped like an armor-piercing bullet.

Finishing the conversation about cards, I will add that for the manufacture of their blades (and not only them), as a rule, Damascus and damask steel were used, or, as it was also called in the Indo-Persian region, wootz.

Some advanced blacksmiths could make a “chevron” damascus like this:

to the begining

Now let's move on to a whole family of other equally famous single-edged dagger knives, which are called peshkabz.

As Dr. T. Capwell writes, " the term peshkabz originally referred to the front of the belt worn by the Persians during wrestling matches. The use of this word to refer to a dagger means that the peshkabz was worn on the front, in contrast to the khanjar and qarda, which were worn on the right and left side respectively".

Basic distinctive feature All peshkabzes have a very wide blade spine, which is necessary so that this blade can deliver powerful piercing blows that pierce armor. After all, the main function of peshkabz is armor-piercing. They are designed to penetrate chain mail armor (plus, at a minimum, a thick quilted robe) - the most common armor of the Indo-Persian region.

To achieve the required width of the butt and at the same time reduce the weight of the knife, its blade was made thinner on both sides immediately below the butt so that its thickness was 1.5-2 mm

So the blade of the peshkabz acquired a T-shaped section. Otherwise, having such a wide spine and wedge-shaped section, the blade would be much heavier.

According to the existing tradition, knives with blades having a T-shaped section are classified as peshkabs.

However, there are a number of differences according to which such knives are divided into: peshkabz, karud and churu.

Actually, the peshkabz differs from others in its curved blade.

The butt of the peshkabz, like the butt of the card, is often decorated with koftgari or engraving.

A long curved blade, wide at the handle, gradually tapers and has a very narrow tip, and sometimes a one-and-a-half sharpening.

Blades with a flared end are often found.

The handle is made of two applied cheeks, usually made of bone, jade or horn. The back of the handle is often curved, especially in peshkabzes with strongly curved blades.

The groove for the fingers is quite deep, so that the knife is comfortable to hold even with a strong blow.

The sheath follows the shape of the blade, with the entire handle protruding from it. Average size 35-45 cm.

While I was looking for pictures on the topic, I came across this peshkabz multitool, in the hollow handle of which the Indian master placed a whole set of tools:

Moreover, each tool fits tightly into its niche, so that when the “multi-tool” is assembled, nothing clinks anywhere.

Before moving on to the karud and chura, I will provide one more picture. Very beautiful Damascus peshkabz from India:

He, along with two zira-bouk daggers (Zirah-Bouk - literally, “chain piercer”, Mail Piercer), decorated in the same “elephant” style:

Karud and chura

to the begining

Now let’s pay attention to the brothers of the peshkabz - karudu And awesome.

Both of them are combat knives with a straight T-shaped blade in cross-section. Distributed mainly in Northern India and Afghanistan, as well as in Central Asia.

The blades of karuda and chura, wide at the hilt, begin to narrow a couple of centimeters from the base, and this narrowing can vary from sharp, almost exponential (characteristic of chura), to more gradual (found in karuda).

Both knives are also often decorated with floral or geometric patterns using the notch method.

As a rule, karud is different from chura larger sizes(on average 35–50 cm versus 30–40 cm for the chura), and a massive thick handle consisting of two cheeks, usually bone.

The handle of the chura is thinner and ends in a large beak-like protrusion, which vaguely resembles the pommel of the handle of a scimitar or checker.

The scabbard is wooden, covered with leather or velvet, most often with a metal mouth and tip. The handle of the chura “sits” deeply into the sheath, while the handle of the karuda remains open.

It should be noted here that chura and karud became widespread among Afghan tribes.

And it was precisely these combat knives that the British colonialists had to become quite familiar with, who experienced their sharpness first-hand during the three Anglo-Afghan wars.

Let's give the floor to Rudyard Kipling, that selfless singer of the British Empire, who in his poem "British Recruits" has some rather gloomy lines, inspired, it seems to me, by such a deadly acquaintance:

"If you are abandoned wounded in the Afghan fields,
And the Afghan women have already taken out knives,
Then everything you can, beat your ashes,
Put the barrel of a gun in your mouth and use your brains.
To go to the Lord God as a soldier..."

to the begining

But more terrible than any peshkabz and karud for the English soldiers were the “Khyber knives,” those same “three-foot” Kipling knives (3 feet = 0.9144 meters).

"And then the enemy came close, hand-to-hand combat began; It was then that the soldiers learned the hard way how strong and resilient the enemy was; this fight ended with screams and lamentations, and it’s better not to remember what the three-foot knives did. The line crumpled like paper, fifty ghazis rushed forward, followed by the rest, intoxicated with victory and therefore fighting with the same fury as them. The soldier beat the hammer at the sight of dark, thick blood. They ran back, bumping into each other. The regiment ran wherever they could, just to escape these merciless knives. The officers of the last company met their death completely alone".

The Pashtun tribes of Afridi, Waziri, Masudi, etc., residents of territories near the Khyber Pass call it “salawar scimitar”, the British call it “Khyber knife”, and for the sake of brevity we will say “ Khyber", especially since calling this almost meter-long miracle a knife is somehow not very convenient. In fact, it is a single-edged sword.

Khyber has a heavy straight or slightly concave scimitar blade of considerable length (from 50 to 100 cm).

The butt is most often almost straight, T-shaped in cross-section. The blade widens significantly toward the handle, so that its lower part at the base plays the role of a stop or guard. The handle is not very thick, as a rule, it is made of two horn or bone cheeks, and if the cheeks are bone, then they are often made of several pieces of bone.

The pommels of the handle are different: simple semicircular, beak-shaped, like those of a chura, or even the handle does not have a pommel. There are also such rather elaborate finials:

"If you want to know what weapon they fight with, I have a long knife under the bench,” said the English cavalryman and pulled out a terrifying Afghan knife with a bone handle. They can easily snatch a hand from a shoulder. It's like cutting a bar of soap in half.".

Rudyard Kipling. “Drummers of the “Advanced-rear” (1888).

Khyber probably came to North India during the Afghan invasions of Ahmad Shah Durrani of 1851–61 or even earlier, with the troops of the Iranian Shah Nadir, who served many Afghans, and who occupied Delhi in February 1739. Since then, Khybers have taken root in India, and now richly decorated examples can be found there.

The scabbard is conical, wooden and covered in leather or fabric, often with a long metal tip and metal mouth. The handle, as a rule, is recessed into the sheath deeply, two-thirds of the way.

The origin of the khyber is not entirely clear. Judging by the T-shaped butt, it was a development of the peshkabz family, which, having increased in size, acquired the ability to chop. Perhaps the evolution of the Khyber was influenced by the Turkish scimitar, and it is this point that is reflected in the local name “salavar scimitar”. By the way, in Northern India there are scimitar-type blades - sucker-pata. And some of these blades also have a T-shaped spine.

In general, looking at these giant overgrown knives, you get a feeling of deja vu and remember the Langsaxes and Scramasaxes of the Germans Early Middle Ages(I begged the photo from von_herrmana, for which great respect to him!).

Concluding our conversation about Khybers, let’s look at a few more examples.

The last one will be a khyber with a secret...

which, with a slight movement of the hand, turns into... two khybers!

to the begining

Now let's move from the cool Khyber to the hot Malabar on the southwestern coast of India. The Coorg people living there (the self-name of Kodagu) have such a remarkable knife, known as "".

The blade is heavy, wide at the base, at the end it expands even more and sharply descends to the “snub” tip. A sort of cleaver, no more than 30 cm long. In fact, the Kodagu themselves pronounce the name of the knife as “Peechekathi”. "Kathi" means "knife" in Tamil or Malayalam (Dravidian languages). And "pichikatti" is " hand knife", in contrast to another fairly well-known "knife" of the Kurgov - "ayudhakatti", which means "combat knife" ("ayudha" - "weapon" in Sanskrit).

The pichangatti was worn in front, in a beautifully designed sheath, from which protruded an elegant handle with a massive spherical pommel. The handle was usually made of wood and brass. To emphasize the high status of the owner, the handle and scabbard were often trimmed with silver.

A small set of toilet instruments for caring for nails and ears was attached to the scabbard on a chain.

You may ask, what is so special about this knife? It seems to me that this is the following: the characteristic shapes of this knife...

...reminiscent of the equally characteristic forms of the Central Asian pchak (aka pichak, pechak, pichok, etc.).

In this regard, and also given the strong similarity of the names of both knives, the question arises whether there is some kind of historical connection here. Perhaps the victorious warriors of the Iron Lame Timurlenga, who returned from the Indian campaign of 1399 to Samarkand or Bukhara, brought with them, among other things, this knife, which over time spread, acquired some local features and lost the ending “-atti” from the name. And so the “pichak” turned out...

PS: This bird in the last picture was found by my eldest daughter about 7 years ago. I wonder what is written on it? The name of the master or a saying from the Koran?