Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Marking on Nepalese Kukri, correction for collectors

Silver John · 10th July 2015, 06:19 PM

Many thanks for the reply Sirupate.

So this translation and interpretation comes from J P Cross and Buddhiman Gurung themselves? Wow, nice to have easy access to those two!

They definitely said that they said the mark is not Devanagari but an "old local Nepali dialect"? It is certainly an interesting idea, as there is a significant difference in the way that Dh(a) would be written depending on the old script type. In Pacumol it looks not too dissimilar, though not really particularly close either.

There is one significant problem with this theory that comes to my mind, though I am nothing like an expert, just a collector with a casual interest.

I'm not sure exactly when these kukri were made, I think most guesses for these span 1890-1920, but it was certainly in the Rana era. From what I have read, the Rana's essentially tried to wipe out all other forms of Nepali script other than Devanagari. Indeed, in 1906 the Rana regime banned Nepal Bhasa, Nepal Era and Nepal Lipi from official use. To me this makes it hard to accept that the mark would be any other form of "old local Nepali dialect". Especially as Dhulikhel would have most likely been Newar:

"Newar suffered heavily under the repressive policy of the Rana dynasty (1846–1951 AD) when the regime attempted to wipe it out.[34][35] In 1906, legal documents written in Newar were declared unenforceable, and any evidence in the language was declared null and void.[36] The rulers forbade literature in Newar, and writers were sent to jail.[37] In 1944, Buddhist monks who wrote in the language were expelled from the country.[38][39]"
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newar_language

It's an interesting idea, especially as it looks at the symbol from a different orientation (rotated 90 degrees to the right). I can't say I'm sold on it though.

10th July 2015, 06:19 PM	#4
Silver John Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 31	Many thanks for the reply Sirupate. So this translation and interpretation comes from J P Cross and Buddhiman Gurung themselves? Wow, nice to have easy access to those two! They definitely said that they said the mark is not Devanagari but an "old local Nepali dialect"? It is certainly an interesting idea, as there is a significant difference in the way that Dh(a) would be written depending on the old script type. In Pacumol it looks not too dissimilar, though not really particularly close either. There is one significant problem with this theory that comes to my mind, though I am nothing like an expert, just a collector with a casual interest. I'm not sure exactly when these kukri were made, I think most guesses for these span 1890-1920, but it was certainly in the Rana era. From what I have read, the Rana's essentially tried to wipe out all other forms of Nepali script other than Devanagari. Indeed, in 1906 the Rana regime banned Nepal Bhasa, Nepal Era and Nepal Lipi from official use. To me this makes it hard to accept that the mark would be any other form of "old local Nepali dialect". Especially as Dhulikhel would have most likely been Newar: "Newar suffered heavily under the repressive policy of the Rana dynasty (1846–1951 AD) when the regime attempted to wipe it out.[34][35] In 1906, legal documents written in Newar were declared unenforceable, and any evidence in the language was declared null and void.[36] The rulers forbade literature in Newar, and writers were sent to jail.[37] In 1944, Buddhist monks who wrote in the language were expelled from the country.[38][39]" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newar_language It's an interesting idea, especially as it looks at the symbol from a different orientation (rotated 90 degrees to the right). I can't say I'm sold on it though.