# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Middle-East, India & Africa (MEIA) >  What is your favorite Arab Jambiya or Khanjar dagger?

## Manouchehr M.

Dear friends,

I would like to open this thread and would like to ask your opinion.  Let me know about it.  What do you like about your preferd style.

This is one of the styles I really like.

By courtesy of Oriental Arms

"rare version of the Arab Jambiya (the Arabic word for a dagger mounted on the hip). This style of daggers with the �L� shaped scabbard is called Omani, as its originate from Oman. However it is spread as well as other Jambiya�s styles all over the Arabian Peninsula. The hilt is of the specific design is known as the �Al Bu Said� style, made from Rhino horn and very richly decorated with silver filigree pieces. The scabbard is �L� shaped covered with black fabric and woven with gold colored threads. The belt attachment is made of complicate arrangements of four heavy silver rings and twisted silver wire. All scabbard and hilt mounts are chased and filigree silver."

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## A. Ko

Well now that you posted that hilt... it's really growing on me!

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## jim frank

Hmm- I like the straighter style sheath, and perhaps a bit less ornamentation. The 'fishhook' style sheath is also very attractive.

This young man from Al-Hajjarah, Yemen, seems to be quite proud of his dagger.

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## Manouchehr M.

> Hmm- I like the straighter style sheath, and perhaps a bit less ornamentation. The 'fishhook' style sheath is also very attractive.
> 
> This young man from Al-Hajjarah, Yemen, seems to be quite proud of his dagger.


Thank you very much Jim for sharing this beautiful picture.

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Marc Blaydoe

Here is one I got in Saudi Arabia. Hilt and scabbard are silver (in need of polishing).

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## Naziyah Mahmood

Hi, i know this isn't really a dagger, but I've always thought the Katar was a beautiful type of short punching sword. It's native to India and is more often used for close range hand to hand combat. As well as being ornate, they are also known to be quite strong weapons as the blade is often folded or corrugated for extra strength. Additionally, some Katar's use a mechanism which allows the blade to split up into many parts. Quite lethal!

The Moroccan koummya jambiya is also quite impressive. It really does show a sense of creativity as well as having deeply imbedded culture.

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## Manouchehr M.

> Hi, i know this isn't really a dagger, but I've always thought the Katar was a beautiful type of short punching sword. It's native to India and is more often used for close range hand to hand combat. As well as being ornate, they are also known to be quite strong weapons as the blade is often folded or corrugated for extra strength. Additionally, some Katar's use a mechanism which allows the blade to split up into many parts. Quite lethal!
> 
> The Moroccan koummya jambiya is also quite impressive. It really does show a sense of creativity as well as having deeply imbedded culture.


Thank you very much Naziyah for your post.  Let us please concentrate on Arab daggers.  We could open a new thread on other daggers for sure.  Regarding Arab jambiyas, I also love the jambiyas from hadramouth, Yemen.  The so-called Gusbi jambiya.

By courtesy of Oriental Arms

"ne of the rarest forms of the Arab Jambiya is the Gusbi from Hadramaut, an arid coastal area in the south of Yemen along the Arabian see. Although the blade and handle are similar to those on common Arab Jambiya, the Gusbi is characterized by the considerably up-curving scabbard tip, with the chape (scabbard tip) sometimes as high as the pommel. Here is such a beautiful example of a Gusbi. 7 ˝ inches curved blade, I shaped grip of Rhino horn set with silver and brass rosettes. The wood scabbard is covered with tooled leather and mounted with silver locket and chape set with red colored glass pieces."

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## Manouchehr M.

> Well now that you posted that hilt... it's really growing on me!


I see Adrian.  So you also love al-bu-Said jambiyas.  I would love to see a detailed classification of Arab jambiyas and khanjars one day.  One needs to do a field research and work with the scholars from the region there.  There should be lots of names and descriptions there.

What do you think of this Adrian?

By courtesy of Oriental Arms

"A very good quality Arab Jambiya dagger from Oman, in the royal style known as Al-Bu-Said, or Saidi style. It has 8 inches curved and dual edge blade with a pronounced central rib. The hilt is made of Rhino horn in the classical �I� shaped, decorated with many small silver filigree pieces. The scabbard is �L� shaped covered with blue fabric. The top mount is made of silver the rest is gold/ red wire. The belt attachment is made of complicate arrangements of silver rings and twisted silver wire. All scabbard and hilt fittings are silver chased in a typical design. This item comes with its original 38 inches belt, embroidered with gold red and black threads and a silver buckle. The total length is 13 inches."

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## Manouchehr M.

> Here is one I got in Saudi Arabia. Hilt and scabbard are silver (in need of polishing).


Is the silver gilded?  How old is this dagger?

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Marc Blaydoe

> Is the silver gilded?  How old is this dagger?
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> Manouchehr


I'm pretty sure it is solid silver, I found it in an old souk in Al Khobar and I really have no other information on it other than I paid about 500 riyals.

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## Manouchehr M.

> I'm pretty sure it is solid silver, I found it in an old souk in Al Khobar and I really have no other information on it other than I paid about 500 riyals.


Marc,

Thanks.  The I think it is due the lights that it looks yellowish a bit.

Thanks

Kind regards

Manocuhehr

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## Manouchehr M.

I also like this style because of its handle

By courtesy of Oriental Arms

"This very good Arab Jambiya Dagger is known as Mecca style, with a silver scabbard and uprising scabbard tip. The rich silver decoration suggest a Yemeni origin, probably early 20 C. The blade is of good quality, 7 inches long, double edge with a central rib. The grip and the scabbard are made of silver thoroughly decorated with fine silver filigree work. The back side of the scabbard is iron sheet covered with recent fabric. Very good condition. Minor dents on the silver work."

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## jim frank

Beautiful filigree work on that last one. As a side question, does anyone know the history of filigree type ornamentation? Am I correct in thinking it dates to the Egyptians of about 500 BC or so?

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## Manouchehr M.

> Beautiful filigree work on that last one. As a side question, does anyone know the history of filigree type ornamentation? Am I correct in thinking it dates to the Egyptians of about 500 BC or so?



Jim Could you please post a pic of Egyptian filigree work?

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Kevin Man

Nice pics everyone!

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## Lee Cordochorea

There is an example of 7th C BC Eutruscan filagree (jewelry) shown in _Greek And Roman Jewelry_ by Philippo Coarelli. The technique may have been known earlier and/or elsewhere. I've no idea when it was first used on sheaths and hilts.

Very beatiful examples of fine work in this thread. A real treat for the eyes.

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## jim frank

It seems, after a bit of online research, that I was thinking of cloisonne rather than filigree being elevated to a masterful art form with the Egyptians. From what I see, the Greeks and Etruscans did much more filigree work, while the Egyptians, by adding fused enamel, made cloisonne works.

I attached a couple of photos of this cloisonne work. It's similar in that the artist fuses foundation wires to a substrate, but rather than infilling with wires and beads of precious metal, they fill the spaces with colored enamel.

Now I have a little more on-topic question: Are there any examples of Jambiya or Khanjar daggers using cloisonne work as ornamentation?

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## Manouchehr M.

> It seems, after a bit of online research, that I was thinking of cloisonne rather than filigree being elevated to a masterful art form with the Egyptians. From what I see, the Greeks and Etruscans did much more filigree work, while the Egyptians, by adding fused enamel, made cloisonne works.
> 
> I attached a couple of photos of this cloisonne work. It's similar in that the artist fuses foundation wires to a substrate, but rather than infilling with wires and beads of precious metal, they fill the spaces with colored enamel.
> 
> Now I have a little more on-topic question: Are there any examples of Jambiya or Khanjar daggers using cloisonne work as ornamentation?



Marvellous examples Jim.  Thank you for sharing.  I do not know about Arab daggers, but there are Persian khanjars with cloisonne work.

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Manouchehr M.

Omani style khanjars with seven rings are also very beautiful.  I like this example:

By courtesy of Oriental Arms

"A fine late 19th Century, classical version of the Arab Jambiya (the Arabic word for a dagger mounted on the hip). This style of daggers with the �L� shaped scabbard is called Omani, as its originate from Oman. However it is spread as well as other Jambiya�s styles all over the Arabian Peninsula. The hilt is cut from Rhino horn and mounted with a silver panel on its front face. The scabbard is �L� shaped covered with leather and embroidered with dense pattern of silver and gold strips. All scabbard fittings are chased silver, covered with a thin gold foil. The belt attachment is made of complicate arrangements of four heavy silver rings and twisted silver wire."

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## Gonzalo G

Sorry if I´m late. Why did you stop this posting about jambiyas? It would be very interesting if you post about a gross classification of them with examples. This is a needed job to do. I swear I will not interrupt you with disgressions or off-topic things.

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## Manouchehr M.

> Sorry if I´m late. Why did you stop this posting about jambiyas? It would be very interesting if you post about a gross classification of them with examples. This is a needed job to do. I swear I will not interrupt you with disgressions or off-topic things.


Dear Gonzalo,

Thank you very much for your kind post.  I was in Iran for one wekk, giving lectures and also doing research.  I will report on it soon.  I had a TV interview as well.  Hence my absence here.  I will continue this topic my friend.  Thanks for your interest.

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Emanuel Nicolescu

Re-reading over the thread I realize that Manouchehr had specified to concentrate discussion on Arab daggers specifically, so I have removed my post on Ottoman khanjars.

My apologies,
Emanuel

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## Gonzalo G

Thank you for sharing this photos with us, Emanuel. Sorry for  my ignorance, but I want to ask if the jambiya and the khanjar are in escence the same weapons, only with different names by their different regional origins, or if there´re diferent characteristics among them? It looks  as a very widespread weapon in islamic countries, like the shamshir-saif. I wonder which could it be the original place of invention or diffusion of this dagger, and how the different local cultures modified it, and why. I feel that their history is closely related with their classification.

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## Emanuel Nicolescu

Hello Gonzalo,

I have barely begun studying ethnographic arms, but as I understand it, the jambiya form originated in the Arabian Peninsula, likely in Oman and Yemen. These forms expanded geographically along the lines of Islamic expansion and trade networks. As George C. Stone puts it, some forms of this back-curving dagger exists wherever Muslim people have settled. 

Others will correct this but I believe that the term Jambiya is used in Yemen and Saudi-Arabia, while khanjar is used in most other places. There are local names as well, the Moroccan koummiya for example. 

The jambiya form merged with local ones as Islam diffused to the Maghreb in the west and Indonesia in the east. The best characteristics of all forms available were kept, producing the weapon most adequate to the Islamicized local groups. It's interesting that in places such as the Balkans - under Ottoman rule, khanjar forms remained fairly homogeneous. It's now hard to tell an Albanian khanjar from a Turkish or a Kurdish one. I do not know what the trend would be within the Persian Empire, but perhaps the Qadjar period was also fairly uniform?  

Check out the Oriental-Arms collection, you can go crazy just admiring these beauties. 

Best regards,
Emanuel

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## Gonzalo G

Thank you for your response, Emanuel, very interesting points. Perhaps Manouchehr can help us about the iranian historical status of this weapon. And yes, I visit often Oriental-Arms, since I can´t collect antique wepons and there is not a single jambiya-kanjar in the museums of my country, so I collect files and photos.

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## Manouchehr M.

> Thank you for your response, Emanuel, very interesting points. Perhaps Manouchehr can help us about the iranian historical status of this weapon. And yes, I visit often Oriental-Arms, since I can´t collect antique wepons and there is not a single jambiya-kanjar in the museums of my country, so I collect files and photos.


Gonzalo,

Actually this thread is only meant for Arab jambiyas.  NOte that in Persian the word jambiya does not mean anything.  The word khanjar is used for curved double-edged weapons.  So calling a Persian/Iranian dagger a jambiya is a misnomer.  

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Gonzalo G

Oh, please excuse us, Manouchehr, we did not meant to post off-topic, we were just thinking in the relation of the jambiya with their equivalents in the islamic world, their morphology and history. And besides, nobody called a persian wepon "jambiya" in this posts.

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## Manouchehr M.

> Oh, please excuse us, Manouchehr, we did not meant to post off-topic, we were just thinking in the relation of the jambiya with their equivalents in the islamic world, their morphology and history. And besides, nobody called a persian wepon "jambiya" in this posts.



Gonzalo

No problem at all.  I just wanted to point that out so that we stick to Arab jambiyas/khanjars here.  Thanks no problem

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Manouchehr M.

Gonzalo

I will continue with this thread soon.  I was very busy my friend.

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Gonzalo G

Thank you very much, I appreciate your concern, Manouchehr. I´ll wait, don´t feel pressed by me.

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