Kukri

"Khukuri" redirects here. For the genus of snake, see Oligodon.
Khukuri

A polished tourist kukri
Type Machete
Place of origin Nepal

The kukri Nepali: खुकुरी is a Nepalese knife with an inwardly curved blade, similar to a machete, used as both a tool and as a weapon in Nepal and some neighbouring countries of South Asia. Traditionally it was, and in many cases still is, the basic utility knife of the Nepalese people. It is a characteristic weapon of the Nepalese Army, the Royal Gurkha Rifles of the British army, the Assam Rifles, and Gorkha Regiments (India) of the Indian Army, and of all Gurkha regiments throughout the world, so much so that some English-speakers refer to the weapon as a "Gurkha blade" or "Gurkha knife". The khukuri often appears in Nepalese heraldry and is used in many traditional rituals such as wedding ceremonies.

History

Balbhadra Kunwar, Gurkha commander during the Battle of Nalapani (1814), part of the Gurkha War, armed with a khukuri in his left hand

While some western authors conjecture that the kukri was based on similar European weapons and brought to South Asia by Alexander the Great, researchers give it a much longer history tracing back to the domestic sickle and the prehistoric bent stick used for hunting and later in hand-to-hand combat.[1] Richard F. Burton ascribes this semi-convergent independent origin to weapons from several regions such as the Greek kopis, the Egyptian khopesh, the Iberian falcata, the Illyrian sica, the Dacian falx, and the Australian tombat. In India, it has also been hypothesized that the kukri was the origin of the kopis, rather than vice versa. Similar instruments have existed in several forms throughout South Asia and were used both as weapons and as tools, such as for sacrificial rituals. Burton (1884) writes that the British Museum housed a large kukri-like ancient Nepal falchion inscribed with writing in Pali. Among the oldest existing kukri are those belonging to Drabya Shah (circa 1559), housed in the National Museum of Nepal in Kathmandu.

The kukri came to be known to the Western world when the East India Company came into conflict with the growing Gorkha Kingdom, culminating in the Gurkha War of 1814–1816. It gained literary attention in the 1897 novel Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart at the conclusion of a climactic battle between Dracula's bodyguards and the heroes, Mina's narrative describes his throat being sliced through by Jonathan Harker's kukri and his heart pierced by Quincey Morris's Bowie knife.[2]

All Gurkha troops are issued with two kukri, a Service No.1 (ceremonial) and a Service No.2 (exercise); in modern times members of the Brigade of Gurkhas receive training in its use. The weapon gained fame in the Gurkha War and its continued use through both World War I and World War II enhanced its reputation among both Allied troops and enemy forces. Its acclaim was demonstrated in North Africa by one unit's situation report. It reads: "Enemy losses: ten killed, ours nil. Ammunition expenditure nil."[3] Elsewhere during the Second World War, the kukri was purchased and used by other British, Commonwealth and US troops training in India, including the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders. The notion of the Gurkha with his kukri carried on through to the Falklands War.

On 2 September 2010, Bishnu Shrestha, a retired Indian Army Gurkha soldier, alone and armed only with a kukri, defeated 40 bandits who attacked a passenger train he was on in India. He was reported to have killed three of the bandits, wounded eight more and forced the rest of the band to flee.[4] A contemporaneous report in the Times of India, that includes an interview with Shrestha, indicates he was less successful.[5]

Design

The two smaller blades are used for sharpening and maintaining the kukri

The kukri is designed primarily for chopping. The shape varies a great deal from being quite straight to highly curved with angled or smooth spines. There are substantial variations in dimensions and blade thickness depending on intended tasks as well as the region of origin and the smith that produced it. As a general guide the spines vary from 5–10 mm at the handle, and can taper to 2 mm by the point while the blade lengths can vary from 26–38 cm for general use.

A kukri designed for general purpose is commonly 40–45 cm (16–18 in) in overall length and weighs approximately 450–900 grams (1–2 lbs). Larger examples are impractical for everyday use and are rarely found except in collections or as ceremonial weapons. Smaller ones are of more limited utility, but very easy to carry.

Another factor that affects its weight and balance is the construction of the blade. To reduce weight while keeping strength the blade might be hollow forged, or a fuller is created. Kukris are made with several different types of fuller including: tin chira (triple fuller), dui chira (double fuller), angkhola (single fuller), or basic non-tapered spines with a large beveled edge.

Kukri blades usually have a notch (karda, kauda, kaudi, kaura, or cho) at the base of the blade. Various reasons are given for this, both practical and ceremonial: that it makes blood and sap drop off the blade rather than running onto the handle;[6] that it delineates the end of the blade whilst sharpening; that it is a symbol representing a cows' foot, or Shiva. The notch may also represent the teats of a cow, a reminder that the kukri should not be used to kill a cow, an animal revered and worshiped by Hindus. The notch may also be used as a catch, to hold tight against a belt, or to bite onto twine to be suspended.

The handles are most often made of hardwood or water buffalo horn, but ivory, bone, and metal handles have also been produced. The handle quite often has a flared butt that allows better retention in draw cuts and chopping. Most handles have metal bolsters and butt plates which are generally made of brass or steel.

The traditional handle attachment in Nepal is the partial tang, although the more modern versions have the stick tang which has become popular. The full tang is mainly used on some military models, but has not caught-on in Nepal itself.

The kukri typically comes in either a decorated wooden scabbard or one which is wrapped in leather. Traditionally, the scabbard also holds two smaller blades: an unsharpened chakmak to burnish the blade, and another accessory blade called a karda. Some older style scabbards include a pouch for carrying flint or dry tinder.

Manufacture

A Gurkha officer of the Gurkha Contingent, Singapore Police Force patrols around Raffles City during the 117th IOC Session. He wears the distinctively tilted Hat Terrai Gurkha, the kukri can be seen attached to the back of his belt

The Biswakarma Kami (caste) are the traditional inheritors of the art of kukri-making.[7] Modern kukri blades are often forged from spring steel, sometimes collected from recycled truck suspension units.[7] The tang of the blade usually extends all the way through to the end of the handle; the small portion of the tang that projects through the end of the handle is hammered flat to secure the blade. Kukri blades have a hard, tempered edge and a softer spine. This enables them to maintain a sharp edge, yet tolerate impacts.

Kukri handles, usually made from hardwood or buffalo horn, are often fastened with a kind of tree sap called laha (also known as "Himalayan epoxy"). With a wood or horn handle, the tang may be heated and burned into the handle to ensure a tight fit, since only the section of handle which touches the blade is burned away. In more modern kukri, handles of cast aluminium or brass are press-fitted to the tang; as the hot metal cools it shrinks and hardens, locking onto the blade. Some kukri (such as the ones made by contractors for the modern Indian Army), have a very wide tang with handle slabs fastened on by two or more rivets, commonly called a full tang (panawal) configuration.

Traditional profiling of the blade edge is performed by a two-man team; one spins a grinding wheel forwards and backwards by means of a rope wound several times around an axle while the sharpener applies the blade. The wheel is made by hand from fine river sand bound by laha, the same adhesive used to affix the handle to the blade. Routine sharpening is traditionally accomplished by passing a chakmak over the edge in a manner similar to that used by chefs to steel their knives.

Kukri scabbards are usually made of wood or metal with an animal skin or metal or wood covering. The leather work is often done by a Sarki.

Uses

Gurkhas at kit inspection showing kukri in France during World War I

Weaponry

The kukri is effective as a chopping and slashing weapon. Because the blade bends towards the opponent, the user need not angle the wrist while executing a chopping motion. Unlike a straight-edged sword, the center of mass combined with the angle of the blade allow the kukri to slice as it chops. The edge slides across the target's surface while the center of mass maintains momentum as the blade moving through the target's cross-section. This gives the kukri a penetrative force disproportional to its length. The design enables the user to inflict deep wounds and to penetrate bone. This has been proven over and over in battlefields where Gurkhas chopped the heads off the enemy off in one smooth slice.

In India the kukri sometimes incorporates a Mughal-style hilt in the fashion of the talwar, but the plainer traditional form is preferred in Nepal.

Utility

While most famed from use in the military, the kukri is the most commonly used multipurpose tool in the fields and homes in Nepal. Its use has varied from building, clearing, chopping firewood, digging, slaughtering animals for food, cutting meat and vegetables, skinning animals, and opening cans. Its use as a general farm and household tool disproves the often stated "taboo" that the weapon cannot be sheathed "until it has drawn blood".

The kukri is versatile. It can function as a smaller knife by using the narrower part of the blade, closest to the handle. The heavier and wider end of the blade, towards the tip, functions as an axe or a small shovel.

Anatomy

Blade

Scabbard

Classification

Kukris can be broadly classified into two types: Eastern and Western. The Eastern blades are usually regarded as the thinner and are often referred to as Sirupate (Siru leaf). Western blades are generally more broad. Occasionally the Western style is called Budhuna, (referring to a fish with a large head), or baspate (bamboo leaf) which refers to blades just outside the proportions of the normal Sirupate blade. Despite the classification of Eastern and Western, both styles of kukri appear to be used in all areas of Nepal.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kukri.
  1. ↑ Richard Francis Burton (1987). The Book Of The Sword. London, England: Dover. ISBN 0-486-25434-8.
  2. ↑ Stoker, Dacre and Ian Holt. Dracula the Un-Dead. Penguin group, 2009. Page 306.
  3. ↑ Reagan, Geoffrey. Military Anecdotes (1992) p. 180, Guinness Publishing ISBN 0-85112-519-0
  4. ↑ "Lone Nepali Gorkha who subdued 40 train robbers", Republica, 13 Jan 2011
  5. ↑ "Soldier takes on dacoits on train", Times of India, 4 Sep 2010
  6. ↑ Wooldridge, Ian (20 November 1989). "Episode 3". In the Highest Tradition. Event occurs at 13 minutes 25 seconds. BBC. BBC Two. Retrieved 8 August 2013. Here if I may describe, you see a little pattern there, which some people say that it has got some religious significance, but I doubt very much. In fact, that is just so that when you have blood on the kukri, it just sort of naturally drips there, it doesn't get onto your hand and starts clogging up and that is what it is for, that little nick there.
  7. 1 2 "Welcome to the world of the Nepalese Kami"
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