Sword - Ghurka Antique - Nepal - 1960-1970

Antique Hand-Made Nepalese Gurkha / Kukri-Kukri / Khukuri knife with Karda, Chakmak and buffalo-leather sheath.

The knife is delivered with the two smaller Karda and Chakmak blades. These two small blades served as a filleting knife and a sharpening steel.

The blade is 30 cm long, in good condition and very heavy. The blade is oiled for corrosion protection. For a nice shine on the knife, a bit of cleaning is optionally needed. Please study the photos for the condition of the item.

Everything is hand-made, and therefore unique.
Knives were bought in 1974 by my father in Asia, and are thus at least 50 years old.

- Material of the handle: buffalo horn and brass
- Material of the blade: hardened steel
- Material of the sheath: heavy buffalo leather and wood

Background:
The Kukri knife was the traditional, highly feared hand weapon of the now almost legendary Gurkhas, the Nepalese elite mercenaries who served in the British Army from 1815. In the two World Wars, as many as 210,000 Gurkhas served, who were reputedly more inclined to decapitate their opponents than to take them prisoner. With the fading of the British Empire, their numbers dwindled quickly. In 1994 the remaining Gurkha units merged into a single regiment of only 3,400 men: The Royal Gurkha Rifles, which still carry the 30 cm long Kukri alongside automatic weapons. It is their surplus Kukri knives that are now available in small quantities to collectors. The long, curved Kukri was forged entirely by hand from hardened steel. In the 20th century Nepalese weapon smiths discovered that there was no better material for the blade than… the steel from automobile rear springs! The ornate handle was carved from buffalo horn and mounted with brass. No two Kukris are alike: each piece is unique and shows differences. The Kukri rests in a heavy buffalo leather sheath, in which two small tools are tucked: a filleting knife and a sharpening steel. This sharpening steel played an important role in the Falklands War of 1982. The sound of Kukris being sharpened in the dead of night was enough to drive the Argentines out of their trenches in a panic. Once drawn, a Kukri knife was not supposed to return to the sheath before it had tasted blood. The reason many Gurkha fighters bore numerous superficial cuts on their thumbs. Original Gurkha Army Kukris are sought after by collectors. So it is not about cheap imitations sold to tourists in India and Nepal. Each Kukri is unique.