Katar with a retractable blade for identification

[Ian]

VernBorg,

Welcome to the Forum!

Several of our members have commented on your katar already, indicating it is a relatively recent object of doubtful use as a weapon, being more in the nature of a decorative piece. This is the prevailing view of this type of katar.

However, there is a refined example of a "scissors katar" (as these have been termed in the Western literature) in the Metropolitan Museum in New York —a bequest from George Cameron Stone, the noted collector and author on arms and armor:

Indian "scissors" katar (jamadhar sehlikaneh), 18th to 19th century, L. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm); W. 3 3/16 in. (8.1 cm); Wt. 30.5 oz. (864.7 g), Met Museum, Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935. #29

Yours is an example of this well known katar variant that probably first appeared in the second half of the 19th C as a decorative item (despite the earlier attribution range provided by the Met).