Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa bordered by Somalia to the southeast, Eritrea and the Red Sea to the north and northwest, Ethiopia to the west and south, and the Gulf of Aden to the east.
A knife is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools. Originally made of wood, bone, and stone, over the centuries, in step with improvements in both metallurgy and manufacturing, knife blades have been made from copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, and titanium. Most modern knives have either fixed or folding blades; blade patterns and styles vary by maker and country of origin.
A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. As well, rifles and other long guns may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring lever-action carbines and rifles on their horses for transportation and protection. Scabbards have been made of many materials over the millennia, including leather, wood, and metal such as brass or steel.
The kukri or khukuri is a type of short sword with a distinct recurve in its blade that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It serves multiple purposes as a melee weapon and also as a regular cutting tool throughout most of South Asia. The kukri, khukri, and kukkri spellings are of Indian English origin, with the original Nepalese English spelling being khukuri.
The katar is a type of push dagger from the Indian subcontinent. The weapon is characterized by its H-shaped horizontal hand grip which results in the blade sitting above the user's knuckles. Unique to the Indian subcontinent, it is the most famous and characteristic of Indian daggers. Ceremonial katars were also used in worship.
The culture of the Republic of Djibouti is diverse, due to the nation's Red Sea location at a crossroads of trade and commerce.
The yatagan, yataghan or ataghan, also called varsak, is a type of Ottoman knife or short sabre used from the mid-16th to late 19th century. The yatagan was extensively used in Ottoman Turkey and in areas under immediate Ottoman influence, such as the Balkans and the Caucasus.
The sgian-dubh – also anglicized as skene-dhu – is a small, single-edged knife worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. Originally used for eating and preparing fruit, meat, and cutting bread and cheese, as well as serving for other more general day-to-day uses such as cutting material and protection, it is now worn as part of traditional Scottish dress tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The sgian-dubh is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand.
A puukko is a small traditional Finnish general purpose belt knife with a single curved cutting edge, solid hidden tang and, usually, a flat spine. Military models of puukko were popular in the Russian criminal underworld under the name "Finnish knife" or finka since the 20th century. The modified version were among the models on which the Soviet military knife NR-40 was based and which was informally called "finka".
The pugio was a dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm. It seems likely that the pugio was intended as an auxiliary weapon, but its exact purpose for the soldier remains unknown. Officials of the empire took to wearing ornate daggers in the performance of their offices, and some would wear concealed daggers for defense in contingencies. The dagger was a common weapon of assassination and suicide; for example, the conspirators who stabbed Julius Caesar used pugiones. The pugio developed from the daggers used by the Cantabrians of the Iberian peninsula.
A khanjar is a traditional dagger originating from Oman, although it has since spread to the rest of the Middle East, South Asia and the Balkans. Worn by men for ceremonial occasions, it is a short curved blade shaped like the letter "J" and resembles a hook. It can be made from a variety of different materials, depending on the quality of its craftsmanship. It is a popular souvenir among tourists and is sold in souqs throughout the region. A national symbol of the sultanate, the khanjar is featured on Oman's national emblem and on the Omani rial. It also features in logos and commercial imagery by companies based in Oman.
A jambiya, also spelled janbiya, jambya, jambia and janbia, also known as a shibriyeh in the Levant, is a specific type of dagger with a short curved blade with a medial ridge that originated from the Hadhramaut Governorate region of Yemen. They have spread to other countries in the Middle East, to other countries in the Arab world, and to parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Men typically above the age of 14 wear it as an accessory to their clothing.
A shotel is a curved sword originating in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. The curve on the blade varies from the Persian shamshir, adopting an almost semicircular shape. The blade is flat and double-edged with a diamond cross-section. The blade is about 40 inches (1,000 mm) in total length and the hilt is a simple wooden or rhinoceros horn piece with no guard similar to the jile or jambiya. The shotel was carried in a close fitting leather scabbard which was often decorated in precious metals and worn on the right side.
The Issa is a northern Somali clan, a sub-division of the Dir clan family.
Listed here are the weapons of pencak silat. The most common are the machete, staff, kris, sickle, spear, and kerambit. Because Southeast Asian society was traditionally based around agriculture, many of these weapons were originally farming tools.
A billao, also known as a belawa, is a horn-hilted Somali shortsword or long dagger depending on blade length. It served most notably as a close-quarters weapon in the Dervish State, at the turn of the 20th century.
Mughal weapons significantly evolved during the ruling periods of its various rulers. During its conquests throughout the centuries, the military of the Mughal Empire used a variety of weapons including swords, bows and arrows, horses, camels, elephants, some of the world's largest cannons, muskets and flintlock blunderbusses.
Sewar refers to a dagger of Indonesian origin, typically carried in a belt and used mainly in Sumatra, Indonesia. The blade is also referred to as Sewah by the Gayo people, Seiva by the Minangkabau people, Siva by the Alas people, and Siwaih by the Acehnese people.
The piha kaetta, also sometimes called 'the Kandyan knife', is a knife or dagger native to the island of Sri Lanka. A typical piha kaetta has a straight-backed blade combined with a drop-point and a curved cutting edge. Many of the finest piha kaetta knives were produced in royal workshops, show very high levels of craftsmanship, and were given to courtiers and the nobility as status symbols.
Pisau raut is a whittling knife that is commonly as a tool to prepare the rattan and other fine carving found throughout the entire Malay archipelago. It is well known as an accompanying knife placed in the same sheath with the mandau, a traditional weapon of the Dayak people.
