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Item:
ONSV4061

Original Victorian Afghan Khyber Pass Chura Dagger with Scabbard circa 1840

Item Description

Original Item: One Only. The chura is a smaller version of the Perso-Afghan pesh-kabz dagger, specifically used by the Mahsud clan of the Pashtun Khyber tribe, who were one of the groups faced by the British Empire during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. A fearsome weapon from India's North West Frontier from the time of that great Movie "THE MAN THE WOULD BE KING" starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.

The typical example has a tempered steel single-edged full-tang blade with a thick spine bearing a "T" cross-section for strength and rigidity. Interestingly, the body of the blade is somewhat "skeletonized" beyond the edge, which makes it very light, but still strong. These daggers were designed to penetrate chain mail and other types of armor, so they are of very solid construction. The blade is  broad at the hilt, but tapers progressively and radically to a needle-like, triangular tip. Upon striking a coat of mail, this reinforced tip spreads the chain link apart, enabling the rest of the blade to penetrate the armor. One knife authority concluded that the pesh-kabz "as a piece of engineering design could hardly be improved upon for the purpose".

Our example comes from a recent military show, and this was apparently brought home by a soldier during one of the Anglo-Afghan wars, as were most. It has a 9 1/2 inch blade, and is 13 3/4 inches over all, with bone grip scales attached on either side of the brass mounted full tang. The grip mountings are also very nicely engraved with line and circle motifs. There is some staining to the blade, but it is still solid and in very good condition otherwise. It comes complete with wood lined all leather scabbard, designed to cover part of the dagger's handle. There are some cut out areas of leather, but overall the scabbard is in very good condition, with no structural issues or major damage.

This is Most probably a British Trooper's bring back from the Second Anglo-Afghan War of Queen Victoria's reign. Very impressive, a memento of the Victorian Empire with plenty of research potential. Ready to Display.

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