Appearance of the Kukri in Classical South Indian Culture

Emanuel · 3rd March 2010, 01:41 AM

Hello

Thank you for these photos. I'm very interested in the khukri origin question and associations with the Macedonian kopis. I don't think we can discount parallel development of the same shape in India prior to Macedonian incursion. Similar problems often give rise to similar solutions despite wide geographic separation and isolation. India also experimented with some very complex and extravagant blade shapes.

Elgood (Hindu Arms and Ritual) shows a number of friezes from Mamallapuram (p83) dating from the mid-seventh century, that depict forward curving blades with recurved edge. There are also a number of 15th-16th century swords with similar characteristics. These are all sword sized and they straddle a fine line between convex curve and recurve. I'm sorry I don't have access to a scanner at the moment.

I've edited the pic with the katar a bit, it's somewhat more visible. I doesn't seem that diminutive. In proportion to the rest of the figure it's as long as his thigh so fairly long.

Nice discussion!
Emanuel

laEspadaAncha · 3rd March 2010, 02:13 AM

Hello Emanuel,

Interesting! I guess I'll have to add Mamallapuram to my list of destinations the next time my wife and I return to India... Those reliefs you reference would predate the temple at Halebidu by half a millennium. Do you happen to recall if those friezes also depicted a kink in the spine as well, or was the forward curve / convex / recurve limited to the cutting edge?

It just goes to show how thin my reference library is... thank you for the reference to the text, as well as for the better enlargement.

Regarding the katar in Nidhi's photo, if I mimic the angle of the knee (approximating stirrup position based on that depicted in the frieze), I measure approximately 7-8 inches / 17.8-20.3 cm in vertical drop from my belt line to the bottom of my thigh. I guess as per my exposure to the weapon, a 7 inch katar blade still seems rather diminutive to me...

Cheers,

Chris

3rd March 2010, 01:41 AM	#1
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	Hello Thank you for these photos. I'm very interested in the khukri origin question and associations with the Macedonian kopis. I don't think we can discount parallel development of the same shape in India prior to Macedonian incursion. Similar problems often give rise to similar solutions despite wide geographic separation and isolation. India also experimented with some very complex and extravagant blade shapes. Elgood (Hindu Arms and Ritual) shows a number of friezes from Mamallapuram (p83) dating from the mid-seventh century, that depict forward curving blades with recurved edge. There are also a number of 15th-16th century swords with similar characteristics. These are all sword sized and they straddle a fine line between convex curve and recurve. I'm sorry I don't have access to a scanner at the moment. I've edited the pic with the katar a bit, it's somewhat more visible. I doesn't seem that diminutive. In proportion to the rest of the figure it's as long as his thigh so fairly long. Nice discussion! Emanuel Attached Images

3rd March 2010, 02:13 AM	#2
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Hello Emanuel, Interesting! I guess I'll have to add Mamallapuram to my list of destinations the next time my wife and I return to India... Those reliefs you reference would predate the temple at Halebidu by half a millennium. Do you happen to recall if those friezes also depicted a kink in the spine as well, or was the forward curve / convex / recurve limited to the cutting edge? It just goes to show how thin my reference library is... thank you for the reference to the text, as well as for the better enlargement. Regarding the katar in Nidhi's photo, if I mimic the angle of the knee (approximating stirrup position based on that depicted in the frieze), I measure approximately 7-8 inches / 17.8-20.3 cm in vertical drop from my belt line to the bottom of my thigh. I guess as per my exposure to the weapon, a 7 inch katar blade still seems rather diminutive to me... Cheers, Chris