A 19th century Afghan warrior’s opinion on European blades compared to his own

Sakalord364 · 20th September 2025, 04:36 PM

This is a collection of Afghan proverbs from 1876, compiled by the British. Their territory fell under British jurisdiction, and this is a fairly standard ethnographic book for the period.

What caught my eye was this proverb regarding combat implements, should the proverb be interpreted literally, in that the Afghans preferred “firangi” (British) swords compared to their own?

I do remember a major thread a while back (linked below) discussing how Indians felt about European blades (and vice versa) so a potential Afghan perspective is interesting.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=20954

20th September 2025, 04:36 PM	#1
Sakalord364 Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Posts: 71	A 19th century Afghan warrior’s opinion on European blades compared to his own This is a collection of Afghan proverbs from 1876, compiled by the British. Their territory fell under British jurisdiction, and this is a fairly standard ethnographic book for the period. What caught my eye was this proverb regarding combat implements, should the proverb be interpreted literally, in that the Afghans preferred “firangi” (British) swords compared to their own? I do remember a major thread a while back (linked below) discussing how Indians felt about European blades (and vice versa) so a potential Afghan perspective is interesting. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=20954 Attached Images