Original Item: One of a Kind. We have had several of these Indo-Persian Pesh-kabz daggers over the years, but this one definitely reigns SUPREME over all of them, both in quality and definitely in provenance!
The pesh-kabz or peshkabz (Persian: پیش قبض, Hindi: पेश क़ब्ज़) is a type of Indo-Persian knife designed to penetrate mail armour and other types of armor. The word is also spelled pesh-quabz or pish-ghabz and means “fore-grip” in the Persian language; it was borrowed into the Hindustani language. Originally from Iran, it is now widespread in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. It is possible that this is a chura, a smaller version pesh-kabz dagger, specifically used by the Mahsud clan of the Pashtun Khyber tribe. Aside from size, they are identical.
This example is amazing, from the 18th. Century, and fitted with a spectacular ROCK CRYSTAL bag shaped CLEAR grip. The grip has a couple of original inclusions and cracks in the Crystal, just as it was originally mined. The blade is hollow-ground WOOTZ DAMASCUS steel, a laminated crucible steel with a beautiful swirled grain pattern. The dagger measures 10 1/2″ in length with an overall length of 14 1/2″. The mounting where the blade fits to the Rock Crystal grip is gilt brass. This…
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