The Omani Khanjar

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 22nd January 2016, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard G

Thank you for this link Ibrahim. It is very inreesting.
Do you know whose site it is?
Regards
Richard

Salaams Richard G ...No idea ...I thought it was Government inspired... but I can find no source. Al Wusta is a newly introduced region inside the last 2 years in Oman...The old boundaries are reformatted making the historical trace difficult but it can be seen that the major sea port way back through antiquity was Sur...long the sealink with the south including Red Sea Regions and Zanzibar etc.

Where the penny drops is on its style linking it/the Royal Khanjar and the Habaabi (of Abha) Red Sea (Yemen now Saudia ) style...down to the UUUUUUU decoration above the belt and the more curved Scabbard and Hilt and Scabbard style. The key factor is the close proximity to the important Slave and Ivory port of Sur in the 19th C and before. The major difference now between Asir/Habaabi Flower men Khanjar type and Omani is the Yemeni makers signature and floral etching often placed on the back of that Yemeni form..now part of Saudia...since 1923...but steeped in darkness for about 30 years after that.

I have to say that this new website removes a shroud of misunderstanding upon all those issues.

Please see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=omani+khanjar which shows Flower Tribe stamps of the maker plus...the form and the similarity in style with the Al Wusta Khanjar...The transmission being via Sur .

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

colin henshaw · 27th October 2016, 10:55 AM

There is another reference to the manufacture of jambiya/khanjar blades, to be found in the book "Traditional Crafts of Saudi Arabia" by John Topham, page 136 :-

"While the sheaths were often made by local craftsmen, the blades were usually imported from Damascus or the Yemen"

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 27th October 2016, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colin henshaw

There is another reference to the manufacture of jambiya/khanjar blades, to be found in the book "Traditional Crafts of Saudi Arabia" by John Topham, page 136 :-

"While the sheaths were often made by local craftsmen, the blades were usually imported from Damascus or the Yemen"

There is a lot of loose referencing on the web ...e.g. http://www.thenational.ae/arts-cultu...er-circa-1930s where names like Damascus and Yemen crop up with no factual evidence ...I think they are traded in from India and as you say Germany...however I cant think why they don't come from Hadramaut...and local manufacture must have occurred...as well as Baluchistan Iran etc None of the blades I ever saw are marked stamped or identifiable...

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 30th October 2016, 02:49 PM

Al Saidi or Royal Khanjar. For another plate form short belt section see #128 here.

30th October 2016, 02:49 PM	#4
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Al Saidi or Royal Khanjar. For another plate form short belt section see #128 here. Attached Images

27th October 2016, 10:55 AM	#2
colin henshaw Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,429	There is another reference to the manufacture of jambiya/khanjar blades, to be found in the book "Traditional Crafts of Saudi Arabia" by John Topham, page 136 :- "While the sheaths were often made by local craftsmen, the blades were usually imported from Damascus or the Yemen"