# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Middle-East, India & Africa (MEIA) >  Bank,  	 Bank, Sickle Shaped Knife, Mahratta, India

## Manouchehr M.

These highly curved knives are truly interesting.  Does anyone know how these knives are used?  Are they used in forward grip or a reverse grip?  Do Gatka pratitioners use this knife in their training?  Truly fascinating shape.  Have you seen it depicted in the Indian art work?

Kind regards

Manouchehr

Courtesy of Oriental Arms

"The Bank Is a rare type of an Indian sickle shaped knife used by the Mahratta. It has its edge on the inner curved side of the blade. This specimen is 5 ˝ inches wide (Point to point), laminated steel blade, 3� long bone grips riveted to the blade tang and silver bolsters."

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## Doug Mullane

I wonder if these weapons would have been used for attacking the wrist.  The design looks like it would be very capable of that if not designed for that.

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## Greg T. Obach

i can see it being a close quarters weapon...  woof..
maybe when shield are close, it can be used to hook a leg or arm....  or even trap a weapon and move it/control it

interesting blade
Greg

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## Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini

> i can see it being a close quarters weapon...  woof..
> maybe when shield are close, it can be used to hook a leg or arm....  or even trap a weapon and move it/control it


I would say you're right in the first assumption. 
I such a situation I would add neck and armpits as targets too...

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## Manouchehr M.

Thank you Carlo, Doug and Greg for your input.  THis is indeed a fascinating weapon.

More.

Courtesy of Oriental Arms

"he Bank Is a rare type of an Indian sickle shaped knife used by the Mahratta. It has its edge on the inner curved side of the blade. This specimen is 5 inches wide (Point to point), steel blade and 3� long bone grips riveted to the blade tang. "

Look at the high curve on this example.  This is truly fascinating.

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## Kai W.

Hello Manouchehr,

These bank are nice/nasty - depending on the POV, I guess...
Sickle-shaped blades (some agricultural tools, others crafted as dedicated weapons) seem to have been widely used for fighting purposes.

Since the handles of the Indian examples seem to be very much alike those used for daggers, I'd thing that these were supposed to be held in a "forward" grip. The highly curved examples seem to suggest a pretty specialized function.

In addition to similar sickle blades, there is quite a diversity of curved blades used for close-in fighting in Southeast Asia. Some hilts allow for both forward and reverse grip but most have a preferred grip orientation.

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## Manouchehr M.

Thank you very much Kai for your input,

I will ask a Gatka master whether they know how to use this weapon.  That is really interesting.  There is an Indonesian knife with a similar shape of the blade.  I cannot remember the name at the moment.  hat you know what it is called?

Kind regards

Manoúchehr





> Hello Manouchehr,
> 
> These bank are nice/nasty - depending on the POV, I guess...
> Sickle-shaped blades (some agricultural tools, others crafted as dedicated weapons) seem to have been widely used for fighting purposes.
> 
> Since the handles of the Indian examples seem to be very much alike those used for daggers, I'd thing that these were supposed to be held in a "forward" grip. The highly curved examples seem to suggest a pretty specialized function.
> 
> In addition to similar sickle blades, there is quite a diversity of curved blades used for close-in fighting in Southeast Asia. Some hilts allow for both forward and reverse grip but most have a preferred grip orientation.

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## Kai W.

Hello Manouchehr,

The sickles are often known under the name arit but I suspect that many of the hundreds of languages (and many more dialects) across the archipelago will have their own name for an agricultural sickle and possibly additional ones for dedicated weapons derived from it. Look also under celurit for a variety with an even stronger curve (closer to your second example).

There are quite a few other blade types derived from the ubiquitous sickle shape also primarily used for agricultural purposes (and subsequently utilized as weapons, too). The Sumatran sadeueb and the Moro tuba, for example.

Then there are several types of dedicated weapons with small blades probably derived from sickles and/or curved Hindu/Muslim daggers. You're most certainly thinking of kerambit (aka: korambi, lawi ayam, etc.) but there are quite a few more out there.

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## Stephen Renico

Manoucher,

Are you specifically wondering only about India and Gatka, or about this shape in general?  I ask only because blades of this general shape are used in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Kerambit

Use of a Kerambit

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## Manouchehr M.

> Hello Manouchehr,
> 
> The sickles are often known under the name arit but I suspect that many of the hundreds of languages (and many more dialects) across the archipelago will have their own name for an agricultural sickle and possibly additional ones for dedicated weapons derived from it. Look also under celurit for a variety with an even stronger curve (closer to your second example).
> 
> There are quite a few other blade types derived from the ubiquitous sickle shape also primarily used for agricultural purposes (and subsequently utilized as weapons, too). The Sumatran sadeueb and the Moro tuba, for example.
> 
> Then there are several types of dedicated weapons with small blades probably derived from sickles and/or curved Hindu/Muslim daggers. You're most certainly thinking of kerambit (aka: korambi, lawi ayam, etc.) but there are quite a few more out there.


Thanks KAi for the explanation.

Kind regards

Manouchehr

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## Manouchehr M.

> Manoucher,
> 
> Are you specifically wondering only about India and Gatka, or about this shape in general?  I ask only because blades of this general shape are used in the Philippines and Indonesia.
> 
> Kerambit
> 
> Use of a Kerambit


Thank you Stephen for your input.  Yes I was looking for India.  Very interesting video.  Thanks.

Kind regards

Manocuhehr

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