Kirpan Souvenir from Karachi, British India, 1944

[Kiipu]

My father, a radio operator aboard SS Nathan B. Forest, purchased this knife as a souvenir.  His ship arrived at Karachi, British India, on September 9, 1944, and departed the same month on the 12th. While there, the British "suggested" they purchase items from the local craftsmen.

 

Measurements

Overall length with scabbard: 12 inches.

Overall length without scabbard: slightly over 11 inches.

Blade length: 7 inches.

Hilt: 4 inches.

 

Details

Blade markings on left: pure steel.

Blade markings on right: Victory.

Grips made from bone.

Brass parts caste, very obvious. The brass used supposedly came from shell casings.

Pommel in shape of a birds head.

Leather scabbard with brass fittings.

 

 

[Kiipu]

Does anyone happen to know if this style of knife has a specific name?

[Bruce Pennington]

While we wait, it seems to have been made in the Indo-Persian (Turkish?) style.  

One example, of many, but the handles are different

 

[Stegel]

I think i found its brother... HERE

 

Slightly different but with same markings..... HERE

 

I suspect that it may be a mass produced tourist piece in the Indo-Persian, and Afghani styles. 

My parents also bought similar items in Colombo Ceylon, now Sri Lanka

 

 

 

Found It !  This style is called the Modern  kirpan and  is carried by Sikhs.  It had traditionally been the full size tulwar sword but reduced to a size of 18inches or less in the 20th century .  More info ....HERE

Edited Thursday at 09:21 PM by Stegel
corrected the ID

[Kiipu]

Those are indeed coming in part from the same source.  Even the markings are the same as on one.  However, my father was only in India once, with stops in Australia coming [Fremantle] and going [Melbourne].  So I think the source would be modern day Pakistan, formerly part of British India.  The leather scabbard on his is dark brown.  He even mentions it in a letter home, written while at sea heading back for the States via Melbourne, Australia.

 

As an aside, the cargo carried enroute was airplanes, beer, and a hundred or so Chinese soldiers that had been trained in the United States.  They ran out of food and my father subsisted on canned milk and cereal.  He never set foot on a Liberty ship after this voyage.  For the duration of the war, he was on tankers.

 

forrest-us-ship-movement-card.pdf

[Kiipu]

31 minutes ago, Stegel said:

This style is called the modern Kirpan and is carried by Sikhs.

 

That's it and thread title changed accordingly!  Many thanks Ernie.

[Stegel]

Yes Karachi is in Pakistan. A desert/dry hot place it is too!

 

For future readers, the info from the last link:

Weapons - Modern Kirpan

In earlier times the sacred kirpan carried by Sikhs had traditionally been the full size tulwar sword. By the 20th century the kirpan carried by Sikhs had evolved from the typical 30 inch blade of a tulwar sword to a short blade less than 18 inches.

Early 20th century kirpan with inlaid mother of pearl handle 12.5 inches in length, ca. 1920's - 1930's, private collection

The change in blade length of the sacred kirpan from a sword to a knife was a difficult one for Sikhs and a direct result of onerous laws passed by the British in India. Under the Indian Arms Act (XI) of 1878, no person could carry arms except under special exemption or by virtue of a licence; the act was applied to the Sikh kirpan. At the advent of World War I, the British government fearing that the ban would affect Sikh recruitment into the British Army, thought it advisable to relax the enforcement of the provision. Between 1914 and 1918, two notifications were issued by the British government giving Sikhs the freedom to possess or carry a kirpan. However the terms of these notifications were vague; the size and shape of the kirpan having remained undefined; prosecution of the Sikhs for wearing, carrying and manufacturing the kirpan continued. During the period of the Gurudwara Reform Movement (1920-1925), the British revoked the notifications and Sikhs were once again prosecuted and imprisoned, Sikh soldiers in the armed forces were even court marshalled and dismissed for keeping kirpans. In 1921 the kirpan factories at Bhera and Sialkot in Punjab were raided and all kirpans exceeding 9 inches in length were seized and the owners of the factories put under arrest. Eventually in 1922 after negotiations between the British and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee the Sikhs again won the right to carry their kirpans, although now with a much shorter blade. [1]

 

Edited Thursday at 09:49 PM by Stegel