Afghan Knives: Choora and Pesh Kabz

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มี.ค. 2020
  • These two terms get used interchangeably in some sources, but in my reading of 19th century texts the term 'choora', 'charah', or similar, is usually applied to the larger chopping weapon (often known as a 'Khyber knife'). The term Pesh Kabz is Persian and seems usually to be applied to the smaller daggers. However, just like with many historical and ethnographic words, they have been used for different things at different times.
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ความคิดเห็น • 246

  • @thecaveofthedead
    @thecaveofthedead 4 ปีที่แล้ว +201

    I love how you're making some people who maybe were only interested in medieval European weapons aware of the well-developed military technology of other people designed to be effective in other contexts.

    • @Ludwig.s
      @Ludwig.s 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      🤝🏻 exactly

  • @2008davidkang
    @2008davidkang 4 ปีที่แล้ว +126

    Remembering all the different terms is such a choora

  • @SuperOtter13
    @SuperOtter13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    Thanks, Matt. Afghan blades are definitely my favorite aesthetically. No nonsense weapons with a functional beauty

    • @Gr3nadgr3gory
      @Gr3nadgr3gory 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I have a hard time selecting my favorite blade. Too many choices and they're all lethal!

    • @waynewalters426
      @waynewalters426 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I particularly like the aesthetics of South East Asian and African blades. They often have such fantasy like designs, just really unique shapes though still practical. Some look so foreign they could be a prop from Star Wars.

  • @SpacePatrollerLaser
    @SpacePatrollerLaser 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    From 35 to 38 years ago, Atlanta Cutlery out of Georgia USA sold items very similar to what you have displayed, they called the longer on "Khyber knife" and the shorter one "choora". The owner of that company, Hank Rheihard, was a member of the SCA and pretty knowledgeable and this time period was the heart of US fascination with Afghanistan because of the Soviet occupation there

  • @macfilms9904
    @macfilms9904 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    'One short and stabby, the other long and choppy' might be peak British description

  • @IR4TE
    @IR4TE 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    That Pesh Kabz really looks like it could be the stabmaster, awesome aesthetics!

    • @steirqwe7956
      @steirqwe7956 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I dunno, reminds me a lot of my grandma's kitchen knife. She so stingy she wont buy new knife for like 20 years now and constant sharpening gave it same distinctive shape. Don't get me wrong i admit both weapons have cool and exotic aestetics to it just not my kind of aestetics i guess.

  • @jeebers1700
    @jeebers1700 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Hi 👋
    In Pashto, the long sword looking weapon is actually called 'Toora' meanings sword and you are right about the smaller weapon which is called Pishkabza.
    Chorra/Chala/ چاړه is primarily use in the kitchen for cutting and chopping. Cheers

  • @Entiox
    @Entiox 4 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    I would really like to get a good choora. I imagine that given the design is so similar to an oversized chef's knife, and I spent years as a chef, that it would feel very natural in my hand.

    • @paulpeterson4216
      @paulpeterson4216 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      That was the first thing I thought when I saw the thumbnail. The other one would likely do well as a boning knife, maybe not flexible enough though.

    • @samziegler4957
      @samziegler4957 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      You can carry a chopping board as a shield and wear a mixing bowl on your head.

    • @Matt_The_Hugenot
      @Matt_The_Hugenot 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      It seems more similar to my French chef's knife than German style ones. I also have an older chefs knife that's even closer to the chura in shape.
      The pesh kabs looks like an old chura cut down and sharpened so much most of the blade has gone.

    • @Entiox
      @Entiox 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@Matt_The_Hugenot close to 30 years ago grandparents picked up a really old Henckels chef knife for me at an auction. It was probably made in the late 19th or very early 20th century and was basically a short choora, it even had a T-back to the blade. It had probably been about a 14 inch blade when new, but was down to just under 13 inches after decades of sharpening. Of course it wasn't stainless steel so I couldn't use it in restaurants I worked in thanks to health department regulations, but it was great for home use. It really made short work of cutting up large pieces of meat to go in the grinder for sausage. It was also super easy to sharpen, but didn't hold it's edge nearly as well as the Shun knives I use now. I really miss that knife, some a-hole stole it at a historic reenactment event years ago. I just hope they've treated that knife with the respect it deserves.

    • @samziegler4957
      @samziegler4957 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I think you're only looking at the side profile. What makes these blades distinctive is their cross-section. If you take a look at that you'll see how they differ from each other in function, and how both would be the last thing you'd ever want to use as a chef's knife.

  • @mikesummers-smith4091
    @mikesummers-smith4091 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    According to Wikipedia, George Cameron Stone knew a "chura" as the name of a short type of pesh-kabz among the Mahsuds in the Khyber. It's entirely plausible that the word came there from elsewhere with a changed meaning. The French word "soupe" (beloved of Napoleon's troops: fill kettle with water, throw everything in, heat and stir), has come into English twice: firstly as "sop", meat which has been boiled; secondly and separately as "soup", a liquor in which something has been boiled.

  • @heretyk_1337
    @heretyk_1337 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Another good example of what may different words mean: pallasch. In Poland pałasz(pallasch) is one or double edged straight sword with sabre hilt- curved handle(word and weapon came through Hungary from Turkey, i think)... While French would call it "infantry sabre"... But for some reason it is common to use word "pałasz" in context of baskethilted swords as well, while we all know, that baskethilted swords are basically, in some great simplification, basically medieval arming swords with more hand protection... So no curved handle... Languages are wierd...

    • @edi9892
      @edi9892 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      In Austria, we called it Pallasch.

    • @d0r1an06
      @d0r1an06 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      The Turkish term pala (I'm guessing the source for Polish pałasz) as far as I know refers very specifically in Turkish to those small, short but stout sabres. When it came into Serbo-Croatian though its use was expanded and came to refer to any short or side sword, such that even things like yatağan's were sometimes called 'pala'. Perhaps that broader usage was carried up into Poland and might go some way to explaining how a baskethilted sword could fall under that name.

    • @heretyk_1337
      @heretyk_1337 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@d0r1an06 It is possible. People of old times made mistakes namig stuff, just like we do today... and there is also question of common usage. For example in Poland today Adidas is what we call all sport shoes- probably because they were first to introduce this type of shoes here. Just like word Nagan is synonymous with revolver in Russia

    • @Tareltonlives
      @Tareltonlives 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I would suspect that there was crossover with Schiavona (Slavonian basket-hilt sword) that wound up migrating northweast; maybe they were used by the heavy cavalry as an alternative to the palaz and they became synonimized. They would be used the same way despite their different construction as a heavy general cut and thrust sword

    • @emeralddragongaming2930
      @emeralddragongaming2930 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@d0r1an06 also the word KELESH in some parts of Balcans means short but sturdy fit strong man , actually it comes from a short but very heavy sword something like a cleaver.

  • @arctodussimus6198
    @arctodussimus6198 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    It doesn’t matter how bad my day has gone, or how sour my mood. Watching one of your videos always makes me feel good. I enjoyed this one especially.
    My son came back from Afghanistan over ten years ago and had numerous stories about the knives that he saw there. He even designed one himself that took on much of their tradition.
    Thanks for the uplift.
    😎👍🏻👍🏻

  • @DH-xw6jp
    @DH-xw6jp 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    That shield looks udder-ly practical.

  • @1337text
    @1337text 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Thx. I have bought a Choora many years ago for cheap, without sheath. It is a formidable shortsword - in my hands (viking size man) it is a hacking AND stabbing arm.
    Khyber-Knife and khyber talwar were the terms i knew for it.

  • @DemetriosLevi
    @DemetriosLevi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    That Choora is so beautifully brutal looking...vaguely reminds me of the Kopis, at least the hilt does.

    • @edi9892
      @edi9892 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      AFAIK, the Kopis had a very different hilt, except that both of these blades and the Yatagan became thicker towards the end in both dimensions. I´ve seen a Kora (spelt like that) which was more like Kukri and thus closer to the Kopis. It was constructed like the Khyber knife, but became broader to the tip and was far more curved forward.

    • @ChromeMan04
      @ChromeMan04 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Looks nothing like a kopis. The yatagan is more similar in that regard

    • @DemetriosLevi
      @DemetriosLevi 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@ChromeMan04 hence why I said *vaguely*

    • @ChromeMan04
      @ChromeMan04 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Demetrios Levi the hilt doesn’t look similar either, Kopis handles were not curved

  • @yashbheda3335
    @yashbheda3335 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    In India one of the word for a knife is Choori ( notice the feminine i ) for smaller knives and choora for bigger knives (not sword size , mainly cleaver sized knives ) and in my native tongue Kutchi, which is from a region called kutch on the border of Pakistan and a mixture of sindhi, marwadi , minute traces of punjabi ...we call knives as chari and even in gujarati language which borders these same regions, one of the word for knives is chari . Choori , chari , choora are essentially the same thing...pronounced as Chu not cho , chu as in when we imitate the sound of a sneeze aschu ...the chu .

    • @lalli8152
      @lalli8152 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Interesting. I wonder if there are any indian weapons/large choppy knives that would look kinda like the big khyber knife. I just really like indian weapons, but i have not really looked everything from there. I just like indian weapons, and big choppy knives haha. From curved saber like swords the indian tulwar is one of my favorites, and i think afghans have their own version, but the afghan one is not quite as pleasing to the eye for me.

    • @lalli8152
      @lalli8152 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Oh Matt mentioned towards the end Indians started making their own versions of these. I have to look them up

    • @GreaterAfghanistanMovement
      @GreaterAfghanistanMovement 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      All are Pashto words because Indians used to be ruled by Afghans.

  • @GreaterAfghanistanMovement
    @GreaterAfghanistanMovement 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I am from Afghanistan and i can confirm we call this a sword.

  • @burymycampaignatwoundedkne3395
    @burymycampaignatwoundedkne3395 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    I'm curious about a sword that seems similar to the khyber knife called the flyssa. Is there a relation between the two?

    • @scholagladiatoria
      @scholagladiatoria  4 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      They are both related to the yataghan, so they are related indirectly.

    • @ChromeMan04
      @ChromeMan04 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      scholagladiatoria how are they related tot he yatagan? U said in another video that they weren’t

    • @phoeben9764
      @phoeben9764 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I just looked up flyssa and it looks eerily like the Thrandui sword from LOTR. Must be one of the historical influence for that sword.

    • @xllab1
      @xllab1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@phoeben9764 Funnily enough, the yataghan also looks like it could be an elvish weapon.

    • @ChromeMan04
      @ChromeMan04 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      xllab1 yatagan handle looks like a copy of of khyber knife handle. The Ottoman Empire was multicultural

  • @T_bone
    @T_bone 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Didn't read comments beforehand, but what an ingenious way to make an "all purpose" sword. Adds rigidity and a blocking mechanism that saves the blade if possible when parrying and counter slashing/ stabbing. Added benefits are not needing to repair the bladed edge when no such provision is available. Hmmmmm

  • @gerryjamesedwards1227
    @gerryjamesedwards1227 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I have heard that the fashion for brightly coloured silks sewn in slashes in sleeves that was popular among the nobility of Europe originally began with the lower class soldiery known as Landesknechte.

  • @VashGames
    @VashGames 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice! a closer look at these unboxed pieces.

  • @giacomo8875
    @giacomo8875 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I learned english watching this channel. Thank you Matt.

  • @SuperOtter13
    @SuperOtter13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If anyone's interested. There is an alternative history novel called The Peshwar Lancers, I believe. Takes place in that part of the world and includes this weapon combo quite a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    Thank you again Matt for sharing these with us. Always enjoy your insight on these things. Cheers!

    • @graelgraan2428
      @graelgraan2428 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Fantastic book by S M Stirling!

    • @graelgraan2428
      @graelgraan2428 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Fantastic book by S M Stirling!

    • @SuperOtter13
      @SuperOtter13 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@graelgraan2428 it is. I have read and re-read it numerous times over the years. One of my top 5 authors for sure.

  • @AL4RC0NR4MO5
    @AL4RC0NR4MO5 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Cool to see these sorts of weapons more!

  • @andersbenke3596
    @andersbenke3596 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I was wondering where exactly Khyber knives fit in and what they were. Thank you for teaching me.

  • @Tommiart
    @Tommiart 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wonderful. This is exactly the discussion that I hoped would follow on from the unboxing video...only missing Lucy 😍👍

  • @mallardtheduck406
    @mallardtheduck406 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Came for my daily dose of historical weapons facts and myths. Thanks Matt!

  • @Gr3nadgr3gory
    @Gr3nadgr3gory 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I like the geometry of these blades. Interesting shape, seems good for thrusting and cutting.

  • @zohaibrashid3838
    @zohaibrashid3838 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Churra or choora pronounced "Ch-h-u-rr-a" just means a big knife in Urdu/Hindu/Punjabi and some dialects of Pushto (Pushto being the language of the Pathans or Pushtoons, People who mainly live on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan).
    For a small knife the word is Churi pronounced as "Ch-u-rr-ee".
    Pashkabz or khanjar basically mean dagger style knives or knives used as daggers... also khanjar may mean an arming knife.

  • @ramibairi5562
    @ramibairi5562 4 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    Matt was the Shamshir used in the same way across Persia, Afghanistan and India ?

    • @scholagladiatoria
      @scholagladiatoria  4 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      I don't know and I don't know if we have enough source material to even answer the question. However, from a European perspective the answer is kind of yes - European sources describe similar movement and fighting styles from the Ottoman Empire, through the Persian and into India.

    • @1johnnygunn
      @1johnnygunn 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@scholagladiatoria a qualified yes?

  • @ramibairi5562
    @ramibairi5562 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Looking forward to see a video on the'' sayf'' you unboxed with Lucy in the last videos :)

  • @kshatrapavan
    @kshatrapavan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    In most modern languages of India "Chhūrā" means, (large) "knife". The word comes from the Sanskrit word "kshura", which meant "knife" or "razor". "kshaura-karma" means the act of "shaving" (beard or head) . Apparently, the word for a razor or small tool knife turned into the word for a large stabbing knife.

  • @andrewgillis3073
    @andrewgillis3073 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’d love to see you cover a nation or region in general, or follow the development of non-western weapons. I love your use of technical terms like ‘choppy-choppy’ and ‘stably-stabby.’ 😉

  • @shehryarkhan8360
    @shehryarkhan8360 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Hey Matt, love your videos. Just wanted to ask whether you could do a video on the infamous 1796 heavy cavalry trooper's sword and maybe the 1864 pattern light cavalry trooper's sword. IMO, they're pretty interesting swords, but are often forgotten or neglected, especially compared to the 1796 light cavalry sabre. Cheers!

  • @kdak247
    @kdak247 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Could you do a video on blades with the tbacks and pie backed blades??

  • @derstoffausdemderjoghurtis
    @derstoffausdemderjoghurtis 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I enjoyed the Video Matt!

  • @ThePerceptor555
    @ThePerceptor555 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The choora reminds me of a very large kitchen knife

  • @toddellner5283
    @toddellner5283 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Interesting to see how similar weapons evolved to fill similar needs thousands of miles apart from one another.
    Have you given any study to the Lohar Axe?

  • @repeatdefender6032
    @repeatdefender6032 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    i love the choora, it's my preferred weapon for a no rule of law situation. i don't have one yet, i was super tempted to buy the ultra-crappy, bud k catalog, no name brand "khyber bowie", but i came to my senses. i'd love to have an antique one.

  • @genghiskhan6809
    @genghiskhan6809 ปีที่แล้ว

    One point of contention I would like to give from the account of that doctor is that he may be victim to survivor bias. Perhaps the reason he wasn’t seeing stab wounds in his care was that all the guys who were getting stabbed had already died before they ever got to him, thus preventing him from seeing them.

  • @joejoelesh1197
    @joejoelesh1197 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Always interesting. Thank you.
    How useful it is, in my daily life, well, it is very interesting anyhow.

  • @Tareltonlives
    @Tareltonlives 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Interesting to see many examples of curved Pesh kabz outthere. An image search shows overwhelmingly pesh kabz when most of the museum examples I know have straight blades
    A point on the mail: In Persia and India, there actually was a great deal of riveted mail, but what they did was similar to the early Romans and Celts and have alternating bands of butts and rivets to compromise between time spend forging and having decent mail. It's a real myth that Eastern mail is uniformly weaker than European mail, and really only true if you far east to the Philippines and Japan.

  • @TheAfghan72
    @TheAfghan72 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Hi Matt i wanna thank you for your interest in Afghan weapons, most people on TH-cam don't really talk about our swords or knives. I believe the Khyber Knife could be a descendant of the Scythian long knife; www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ancient-viking-scythian-battle-knife-1928713284
    They look strinkgly similar, what do you think? BTW, Afridis are Pashtuns or "Pathans" like you said and are hence Afghan. All the same people.

  • @franciscallahan2529
    @franciscallahan2529 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    This is the content I like

  • @marpet1253
    @marpet1253 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’d love to see a video about Cumans and their weapons on your channel.

  • @MrNuserame
    @MrNuserame 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    The US special forces name for the Choora was 'BFK'.
    I'll let you guess what that means.

    • @ivan12ak
      @ivan12ak 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Big fucking knife?

    • @andersbenke3596
      @andersbenke3596 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Black feathered kumbaya

    • @brabhamfreaman166
      @brabhamfreaman166 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Nuserame BBQ Filled K(C)hicken

  • @emeralddragongaming2930
    @emeralddragongaming2930 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    There was a certain curse among old people in my country (Balcans) mainly addressed to an animals , it sounded like : O , MAY CHARA or choora STABS YOU!!! Or when something or someone was kind of injured or not visually hurt or ill but resulted with death they would say "it or he was choored or charred", so now I know where did it came from , actually I thought it was some kind of sickness, thanks .

  • @zeeshanansari939
    @zeeshanansari939 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Hey Matt, really love your videos. In India/Pakistan/Afghanistan...
    1. Chura/Choora = long dagger (for domestic or military use).
    2. Chaqoo = small dagger.
    3. Churi/Choori = smaller kitchen knives (kind of feminine version of Choora).
    4. Khhan-ger = military grade dagger (but this term is archaic)

  • @ronkawasaki1896
    @ronkawasaki1896 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    this dagger looks like it can hunt wild boar 💯 I like British commando dagger but this particular one looks unique and awesome for self defense

  • @smilodnfatalis55
    @smilodnfatalis55 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    How well does that cut/chop with that T-shaped cross-section? Can you show us some test cutting?

  • @TyLarson
    @TyLarson 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    You can still see people wearing and using pesh kabz. A friend of mine won a pesh kabz in a game of chess. Chess is a really popular game among the Pashtuns. They really like beating russians at chess and letting them know that you crushed a Russian master is a good way to get a smile :D

  • @ramibairi5562
    @ramibairi5562 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Matt did British officers ever carry daggers or PeshKabz in action ?

  • @RajaSingh-lk2oi
    @RajaSingh-lk2oi ปีที่แล้ว

    Nihang Sikhs in india, punjab , I was in jalender district , called those daggers Choora also. I bought two at the time, specifically calling then Chooras . As this was what i believed they are called,he brought the shorter daggers out ? Interesting stuff thank you for the info.

  • @bretalvarez3097
    @bretalvarez3097 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I hope you make a video on the yataghans you got

  • @ondrejbrezina4053
    @ondrejbrezina4053 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Hey Matt, I was thinking, could you maybe sometime talk about butted mail? From what I've seen in various tests (usually those low-quality fake tests, where they call it real medieval armour), butted mail seems almost useless. It almost looks like it isn't worth not only the expense, but also the added weight, so I wonder why some cultures used it (they obviously had a reason).

    • @andersbenke3596
      @andersbenke3596 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      He talks about the subject in comment reply to Austin Howard, which I'll quote here:
      "Butted mail is quicker and easier to make, but also you can more easily make smaller rings. Some of the Indo-Persian mail has really tiny rings that it would be almost impossible to rivet. Having such small rings brings extra strength which balances out the butted construction."

  • @edi9892
    @edi9892 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I would have loved to get a closer look at their grips from the side. It seems that both become gradually thicker to the bottom like the Yatagan (minus the extensions at the very end). This makes for a very secure grip for a chopping weapon, but it makes me wonder about the Pesh Kabz, because it would cause you to slip up to the blade, where the finger would bump into the protrusion similar to a kitchen knife. This can hurt a lot when stabbing bone, or even armour. A rondel dagger or katar would be much better regarding a secure grip and impact distribution.
    If I would design a Khyber knife, I would make it closer to the Yatagan with a stronger S-curve in the blade and a more canted grip. That should improve the cutting even further and takes into account the T-crosssection. Moreover, you could still thrust with it.

  • @LuxisAlukard
    @LuxisAlukard 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Is that T-cross section acting like a brake when cutting? Blade is going into flesh and than it stops, because it suddenly becomes much wider?

  • @austinhoward6557
    @austinhoward6557 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Great video as always! I was curious why the afghan's and perhaps others too, preferred butted mail to riveted. I've heard butted mail is kind of crap, and even that it's ahistorical, though those claims could simply be uninformed about people who had used it, or talking about a group of people who didn't ever use it in the referenced time period, so it's ahistorical in the sense that a native american didn't use a musket in 1490, but there were forces that did in that same time period.

    • @scholagladiatoria
      @scholagladiatoria  4 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      Butted mail is quicker and easier to make, but also you can more easily make smaller rings. Some of the Indo-Persian mail has really tiny rings that it would be almost impossible to rivet. Having such small rings brings extra strength which balances out the butted construction.

    • @j.f.fisher5318
      @j.f.fisher5318 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@scholagladiatoria thanks for that insight.

    • @citadelchase8858
      @citadelchase8858 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@scholagladiatoria Pathan from India here, I have an ancestral Pesh Khab as you call it dating from the 17th century. We have always referred to it as Churra (dagger) feminine Churri(kitchen knife), is different. BTW pesh khabs were dipped in poison before engaging in combat.

  • @ak20k6
    @ak20k6 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    We use the word "Choora" or "Choori" even today in India & Pakistan for a big knife like a butcher's knife.

  • @ajithsidhu7183
    @ajithsidhu7183 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Pls do on how its weilded

  • @Temujin1206
    @Temujin1206 ปีที่แล้ว

    I know I'm a bit late to the party but another term to be aware of is "karud", which I'm fairly sure is a modern collectorism rather than a historical term. You'll often see it applied to the type of straight Pesh-Kabz addressed in this video but I (and Peter Dekker of the Mandarin Mansion) believe this is most likely a corruption of the word "Kard", which of course denotes both a specific type of straight Indo-Persian knife and a Persian word meaning knife in the more general sense, and although it may have been used in Persian speaking communities in Afghanistan (Qizilbash, Hazara or Tajik among others) in the sense of generic knife, is more likely to be a modern term used by Western Collectors for what would historically in period be termed a Pesh-Kabz, the short stabby knife of the Afghans and related groups.

  • @matthewcourtney8239
    @matthewcourtney8239 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey Matt I was doing some research on feudalism and land grants in England and I came across the primary unit being the Hide. Which was mostly defined as the area of land that could support a single family unit or produce £1 in income annually. Now from what I read it said that every five hides was required to produce a single fully equipped fighting person. However it also said that a Knight would have about 50 hides so my question is what was this soldier and what would have been the kit he would’ve been expected to have had?

    • @M.M.83-U
      @M.M.83-U 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      A spearman or, later a billman. Of my memory is good.

  • @StarlightEater
    @StarlightEater 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I always wondered if you ever ran across any antique tuna swords.

  • @randelldarky3920
    @randelldarky3920 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Pakistan still produces really good muzzle loader rifles. All hand made from memory. Quite a fascinating video if You can find it.

  • @justsomeguy3931
    @justsomeguy3931 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Another Schola video watched en garde. Sound historical and martial information (to the best of my knowledge), as always

  • @jcastle614
    @jcastle614 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Handsome looking weapons , like to have both these.

  • @salmanfazal3963
    @salmanfazal3963 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    both of them are churra, the big one is called "ghata churra" and the dagger is called as " warra charra" Pushkar is more like a curve dagger without the T-Bone use only for draw cuts. both of them are great in stabbing as it wounds cannot be healed easily

  • @aluminiumknight4038
    @aluminiumknight4038 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Love the dagger

  • @c.j.ferris1533
    @c.j.ferris1533 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Interestingly a Wikipedia search for "Khyber Knife" directs you to the page for "Pesh-kabz" and goes on to state the "chura" is a slightly smaller version of the Pesh-kabz. Seems there is a lot of confusion and conflicting information around this.

    • @steirqwe7956
      @steirqwe7956 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Same confusion goes with a lot of weapons like rapier for example.

  • @Matt_The_Hugenot
    @Matt_The_Hugenot 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    British troops operating in cold areas of India and its frontiers were issued poshteen, an example being the Tibet Expidition of 1903-1904 where the Royal Fusiliers who were sent wore them.

  • @ricardoartesao
    @ricardoartesao 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Greetings sir. Excellent video. I always knew the pesh kabz was curved and choora was straight. The big knife they only call it a khyber knife. Is that correct! Regards!

  • @hschan5976
    @hschan5976 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    These are reminiscent of the early iron age sword they found at Hjortspring

  • @dronillon2578
    @dronillon2578 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks.

  • @chana-ms2cq
    @chana-ms2cq 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Could you hold short and stabby behind the not-a-buckler offhand and long and choppy strong hand, as a dirk and targe kind of combination with a sword?
    Asking for a friend.

    • @kevingooley9628
      @kevingooley9628 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Most targes I've seen had loops for the forearm, allowing for the gripping of a dirk. Matt's buckler appears to be center gripped, so you'd have to try and hold the shield and knife in the same hand together.

  • @christophersandidge8257
    @christophersandidge8257 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I saw that sword, as a competition on "Forged in fire" on the History Channel. It was not (as I recall) called what you're calling it, but it was the same weapon.

    • @scholagladiatoria
      @scholagladiatoria  4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      They called it 'charay' bizarrely.

    • @christophersandidge8257
      @christophersandidge8257 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@scholagladiatoria cool. Thanks for correcting me. I love your channel.

    • @christophersandidge8257
      @christophersandidge8257 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@scholagladiatoria now that I think about it, i think that wss what it was called.

  • @sqike001ton
    @sqike001ton 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Ive read of the clubbing of the musket being somewhat common till up to the american civil war as it was common to not attach the bayonet as it slowed down loading so if you were pushed into melee without time to put the bayonet on this was a common o shit tactic

  • @mordi7729
    @mordi7729 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Do you have any info (origin, etc.) on the saber hanging behind you, between the rapier and the black buckler? I have one just like it, and would love to get a pointer to where I can search up some more info on it.

    • @scholagladiatoria
      @scholagladiatoria  4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's a French M1822 light cavalry sabre.

    • @mordi7729
      @mordi7729 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@scholagladiatoria Thank you!

  • @nik2507able
    @nik2507able 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    In India we also call knives chura sometimes and the word shamshir is also used in Indian languages and poetry. More so in punjabi etc.

  • @phoeben9764
    @phoeben9764 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Is there a chance that both weapons evolve out of the yataghan but used differently by different martial art schools? Like, maybe the Khyber knife's ancestor was designed for thrusting but when it was adopted by Afghans the locals favour mostly chopping motions.

    • @TheAfghan72
      @TheAfghan72 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I am Afghan i think i can answer this, the answer is no. The Khyber Knife is most likely ancient and derives from some form of knives or swords used in the region, most likely stemming from an Ancient Scythian long knife. Yatagan on the other hand related to Greek Kopis's and the only similarites they share is the eared handles which in turn originate from Central Asia.

  • @bozzskaggs112
    @bozzskaggs112 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I just did a Google image search for "choora sword" and approx 90% of the images shown were knives (or daggers) like the Push Kabz. Even if one doesn't know the difference between a choora and a Pesh kabz one might have the expectation that people would know a 12" blade or less is nor a sword.

  • @josecorona3317
    @josecorona3317 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Nice fam

  • @Kidlogic321
    @Kidlogic321 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    In common languages of the nearby Punjab region , Choora = Knife (literal translation)

    • @TheAfghan72
      @TheAfghan72 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Chara is Pashto, it means Knife.

  • @evilwelshman
    @evilwelshman 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    On the subject of the 19th Century Afghans propensity for using chopping weapons as opposed to stabbing weapons, is it plausible that it wasn't so much that the wounds from pulwars and chooras were less lethal but that the quality and standards of trauma medicine in the region at the time was such that chopping wounds were in fact as lethal as stabbing weapons were in Europe?

  • @krigsgaldr7603
    @krigsgaldr7603 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Looks very similar to a Saxon Seax that i own :O

  • @theorthodoxredneck1887
    @theorthodoxredneck1887 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I’ve always known it as a Kar !

  • @joelthompson4854
    @joelthompson4854 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Matt, could you do a review of the movie "The Man Who Would Be King" and take a look at what was done well or totally wrong? Afghan military history is quite rich from Alexander the Great to the British Empire and even to modern times.

  • @thomasmyers9128
    @thomasmyers9128 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    It still gets 🥶 in the 21st century 😳

  • @tahmidchoudhury3017
    @tahmidchoudhury3017 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    How big are they in inches

  • @fleurdelispens
    @fleurdelispens 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Afghanistan: where empires go to die

    • @heretyk_1337
      @heretyk_1337 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      If they just didn`t die in such high numbers, while they bury those empires... Sounds badass, but it is grim as Hell

    • @wierdalien1
      @wierdalien1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      British Empire didn't die in Afghan

  • @kotimoto
    @kotimoto 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Choora or Choori basically translates to any type of knife.

  • @TheAfghan72
    @TheAfghan72 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I really think you need an Afghan input here.
    The weapon you call a "Khyber Knife" is what we call "tura" in Pashto meaning sword. While the "choora" is what the Pashtuns have historically called the small Pesh-Kabz dagger. In fact, the word "choora" is an Indian corruption of the Pashto word "Chara" which simply means knife which was probably borrowed into North Indian languages from Afghan influence in the sub-continent. In Hindi, they say "Chaqo" for knife. I have also seen some rare 16th-17th century Khyber swords with guards and generally finished products while Victorian era Khyber's lack guards due to being mainly being unfinished products, during this time, Afghans preferred functionality over looks since it was the time of war and many were being made in a hurry. Oh and i don't see any relation to the Yataghan, i just don't see it, the Yataghan from my understanding was the knife of the Zeibeks who were incorporated into the Ottoman army after their Islamization and this weapon (which would later became a side arm for the janissaries) was adopted by the Ottomans as well. Other than hilt similarites, there is no relation at all.

  • @nickdarr7328
    @nickdarr7328 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love the hand weapons that these "honor" cultures create. You could easily take an Afghan or Kazakhstani and drop them in the Scottish highlands or the cossacks on the steppes or Cherokee in north Carolina and they'd get right along. They no how to wrestle and they know to carry and use an every day carry weapon. And a finely sharpened blade with custome ivory handle is a better status symbol than a Rolex. Plus there's something about the nature of a small weapon that says problems will be resolved immediately. You aren't writing letters or newspaper articles. You aren't having seconds negotiate. You're handling it now

  • @EattinThurs61
    @EattinThurs61 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Sorocabana knives have similarities with khyber knives . The Spanish where known to fight with large knives.15th century. Canary Island knives are sort of in that group too.Bauerwehr where sort of large straight knives too. Tods workshop make a nice one at fair price. Or just a 30 cm bladed Sabatier chefs knife in carbon steel.

  • @Lyulfr
    @Lyulfr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I don't know, Matt. It looks to me like the Pesh Kabz is basically a Choora that has been sharpened nearly to death... ;-)

    • @playswithknives
      @playswithknives 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      like Grandma's favorite paring knife

  • @NoNo-bw5cq
    @NoNo-bw5cq 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    doesnt pesh kabz have an unusually thick tip and just like pointy and not sharpened at the end?

  • @daltoncook209
    @daltoncook209 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Did Afganistan at this time have a prominent dueling culture? the choora and that buckler might make sense in duels as it wounds fairly brutally in a chop but isn't as lethal as stabbing.

  • @yomauser
    @yomauser 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    Do you knnow that a Pesh kabz is just an overly sharpened and wear down Chorra? You can see a similar blade pattern from old butcher knives, like a cook knive and a filleting knive.

  • @rickybuhl3176
    @rickybuhl3176 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Ok, showing my stoner side here but hashish (made from the living plant) is called Charas in that part of the world (and has been since before Hastings) . It was also a cash-crop in British India - being sold in gov't pharmacists.. Anyway, any chance it's like a machete equivalent? Be a good blade for harvesting tough hemp!?

    • @ChromeMan04
      @ChromeMan04 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Nope it’s strictly a sword, machetes are shorter and don’t have t spine edges

  • @PrometheaExcelsior
    @PrometheaExcelsior 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Is choora the same as qama?

  • @nickbenton3545
    @nickbenton3545 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    But did they have khyber crystals?

  • @indrajitR
    @indrajitR 4 ปีที่แล้ว

    I am from india. As per our history & religious texts, the todays afghanistan was part of india upto just few century backs. After the muslim invasions on afghanistan it lost indian / hindu rules. We find many endemic hindus, baudh and hindu temples, buddhas stupas (bamiyan budhha ) and many more. India was very well advanced in weapons tech. It was a very big country. Todays pakistan and afghanistan were part of it. The muslim invasion created all the topsy turvey. we find both the daggers name choo-ra used in india. its probably indian word. thanks.

    • @TheAfghan72
      @TheAfghan72 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Sorry dude but we were never part of India since it didn't exist 100 years ago before the British, its was Indians that were part of Afghanistan since they used to be ruled by Afghan kingdoms, and no the word "chura" is not Indian. Its a Pashto word and we pronounce it as "Chara" when the term got desified to "chura" in India. Have a good day.

    • @indrajitR
      @indrajitR 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@TheAfghan72 read true history. ashoka, shivaji rajes army,shikhs ruled gandhara territores. the name identity came after isalm snatchet it from hindus few century back and you got converted.

    • @TheAfghan72
      @TheAfghan72 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That's not history but myths and Afghans before Islam were Buddhist not Hindu. Like i said, Afghans ruled India for decades before the British came, honestly you Indians don't know anything about Afghanistan.

    • @worralll0
      @worralll0 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      While what is known as Afghanistan had many foreign rulers before Durrani what could vaguely be called indian held no further than Peshawar. Pre Islam Afghanistan was a mix of Buddhist from the various surrounding Hun/Mongol rulers and Zoroastrianism from Persia.

    • @worralll0
      @worralll0 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      There was apparently archaic Hindu worship in what's now Nuristan but they certainly weren't Indians.