The Jambiya Knife
An interesting blade, the Jambiya has caught my fancy since a few years now. Browsing for information, I came across this interesting article by Schuyler VR Cammann, which I recomposed into a few lines and thought of sharing it here along with a few blades (old, new, touristy, et al) in my collection…
The Jambiya dagger has cultural origins in Yemen going back nearly 3000 years. With a T-shaped handle made from horns or animal bones and decorated with gold and other precious metals, it is famous throughout the Arab world and areas wherever Arab influence could penetrate historically – from Turkey to the Balkans and from Spain to India. Generally having a ‘J’ shaped curved double-edged blade, it also travelled to other cultures in Persia and the Ottoman Empire albeit with some alterations to the blade, hilt and scabbard. The Jambiya is tucked inside a sheath called Aseeb, which is made of wood and covered with brown or white leather, or decorated metal.
Although it is a knife, it has evolved more as a symbol of wealth and social class or as a token of manhood, rather than a functional tool. While some say it is representative of strength and independence and used during traditional festivals, many others describe it as an object of peace, despite it being a dagger!
Kirpan of the Sikh religion
The historical connect of the Kirpan dagger began with the religious commandment of Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, when it was included as one of the five items of Sikh identity – the five Ks, along with Kangha, Kachha, Kara and Kesh. This Punjabi word, Kirpan, has two roots: ‘kirpa’, meaning mercy, grace, or compassion; and ‘aanaa’ meaning honour, or dignity. It is a designated wearable side-arm to be used for self-protection and also to defend others in danger.
From a village blacksmith forging a simple iron-forged Kirpan nearly 400 years ago, in the modern era, it has caught the fancy of the largest manufacturer of pocket knives in the world – Victorinox of Switzerland, who designed a fine blade in tribute to the Sikhs, inscribing it with ‘Degh, Tegh, Fateh’ – Persian words meaning cooking-pot and sword, and collectively signifying victory for service and protection.
The Indian Constitution deems the carrying of a kirpan to be included in the profession of the Sikh religion, thus legalising the carrying of a kirpan by Sikhs. It has both a physical function, as well as a symbolic function – physically it is an instrument of “ahimsa” or non-violence. The principle of ahimsa is to actively prevent violence; the kirpan is a tool to be used to prevent violence from being done to a defenceless person when all other means to do so have failed. Symbolically, the kirpan represents the power of truth to cut through untruth. It is the cutting edge of the enlightened mind.
