Need Help With A Big Knife

[DocB]

Picked this up at a local gun store/pawn shop seven years ago for $10. Some vet brought it back from WWII with a bunch of other stuff. It's 18 inches long with a 12 inch blade. . .so sharp that I don't like to even have it in the house. I showed to an Indian friend of mine. He said it was very old. I asked him what it was made for. All he said was it was "made to kill people." The blade is a very heavy dark iron. The ears of the horse are like needles. . .a weapon in themselves. Any leather scabbard it ever had is long gone. Has anyone ever seen a knife like this? Where might it be from? How old is it? What is it worth? I figure it might be from Pakistan or India, but don't really have a clue. It is a very heavy knife.

 

[kwill1911]

Persian (Iranian). Google "persian horse knife" and you can find lots of similar examples.

 

[Texas Star]

It does look to be Indo-Persian. I don't think it's an elegant example of the sort. May be a spin-off of the Khyber knife style.

You 'd better ask Bernard Levine. I think he's on Knife Forums and still at the publication that was, Knife World. It has a new title, which I think may be, Knives. Check under, Knife World and see if there's an announcement.

Send him more photos, of the whole knife and include a ruler in some. What is the blade thickness? Weigh the knife and measure the handle. Saying that it's very heavy is a subjective description. From
what I saw, I doubt that it's very valuable. It may be too heavy and ill-balanced to be a real weapon, more a tourist item. It is not as elegant as others that I've seen in knife books. Some are quite ornate, with excellent workmanship.

It is not an Arab jambiya.

NOTE: Kwill posted while I was typing. I think he has it right. His example looks pretty good. Y our Indian friend is correct: it 's for killing people.

I enlarged your image and saw the handle detail better. It 's a nicer knife than I thought. The blade's an odd color. Any chance it's copper or bronze?

 

[BearBio]

Looks to be a kindjal(?) type of dagger-used to pierce chain mail.

 

[DocB]

This really helps a lot! I collect blades, and it is old. . .not a modern reproduction. Problem is my oldest blades only go back around 130 years, so I've never seen this type of dark iron or enamel used in a weapon of this type. This is a photo of the other side. A lot of what I'm finding on the internet looks flimsy and modern. Thanks for the info so far.