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.
During the golden age of the Mughal Empire in India from the 16th to the early 18th century, dagger production and use was widespread. These daggers were notable for their high-quality metalwork, fine ornamentation and distinctive elegant forms. The graceful form found in many daggers and knives during the period indicates influence from the Islamic world. These daggers were often worn by princes and nobles for self-defence, for hunting, or for display. In combat, they were weapons for close-quarter combat, and some were capable of piercing the mail armour of Indian warriors. [1]
Between the late 17th century and the 18th century, Sri Lanka began to locally produce the piha kaetta, a kind of knife with a graceful 'recurved' edge, they represent the south-easternmost extension of a blade shape similar to the Nepalese kukri and Turkish yatagan. Unlike the Mughal-influenced subcontinental daggers, which were mostly used as status symbols and in combat, the lower-quality piha kaetta of Sri Lanka were often employed for everyday use in farm work, or in the wilderness. However, the higher-quality weapons were essentially status symbols, but were also undoubtedly used in combat and for self-defence. The finest piha kaetta were made at the "four workshops" (pattal-hatara), a kind of craft guild where a selected group of craftsmen worked exclusively for the king and his royal court, or for others only by the king's permission. The name "four workshops" refer to respectively the "jewel", "crown", "golden sword," and "throne" workshops. In Sri Lanka, the arts of building, painting, ivory-carving, jewellery, etc. were in the hands of a hereditary guild or caste of craftsmen which occupied an honourable position. [2] [3]
The typical piha kaetta has a heavy blade about 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) to 2 inches (5.1 cm) wide and 5 inches (13 cm) to 8 inches (20 cm) long, with a very thick back, up to 0.4 inches (1.0 cm). The thick back of the blade combined with a slab-sided, triangular cross-section gives the blade great weight for its length; this imparts considerable momentum to the knife when used to cut. Most knives have a narrow, but deep, fuller near the back of the blade. Kaetta means a "beak" or "billhook", probably referring to the knife's down curving tip. [4]
Simple piha kaettas are plain and made of steel with a wooden or horn hilt. Higher quality piha kaettas are finely decorated: the fuller, the section of blade below it and the back of the blade are often inlaid with thin sheet brass or silver panels, decorated with stylised patterns in repoussé and chasing. The hilts of high quality piha kaettas are made from a variety of materials e.g. precious metals (gold, silver), brass, copper, rock crystal, ivory, horn, steel or wood. The handles are of a characteristic shape, almost like the grip of a pistol, specific to the piha kaetta. Often the grip-scales are carved with the liya-pata, a stylised 'breaking wave' pattern. This type of handle usually has small silver plaques, often flower-shaped, pinned to each side and a larger, curving, repoussé silver or brass pommel-cap. Occasionally, the end of the handle is carved in the form of the head of a mythical figure, such as the sérapéṅdiya bird. The larger 'chopper-like' knives are the true piha kaetta, the slimmer, straighter-bladed, more delicate knives, often provided with a silver-inlaid stylus in the same sheath, are more properly termed ul pihiya. Sheaths are of a light wood, usually longitudinally ribbed. They often have decorative sheet silver or brass sheathing at the throat, extending a variable distance down the length of the sheath. [5] [6] [4]
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 Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife created by Rezin Bowie in the early 19th century for his brother James Bowie, who had become famous for his use of a large knife at a duel known as the Sandbar Fight.
The sgian-dubh – also anglicized as skene-dhu – is a small, single-edged knife worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. 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".
A trench knife is a combat knife designed to kill or incapacitate an enemy at close quarters, such as in a trench or other confined area. It was developed as a close combat weapon for soldiers attacking enemy trenches during the First World War. An example of a World War I trench knife is the German Army's Nahkampfmesser.
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 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 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 kalis is a type of Philippine sword. The kalis has a double-edged blade, which is commonly straight from the tip but wavy near the handle. Kalis exists in several variants, either with a fully straight or fully wavy blade. It is similar to the Javanese keris, but differs in that the kalis is a sword, not a dagger. It is much larger than the keris and has a straight or slightly curved hilt, making it a primarily heavy slashing weapon.
A neck knife is a knife worn on a cord hanging from a person's neck. It usually means a small fixed-blade knife which is carried by means of a cord, by which the knife sheath is suspended from around one's neck. They can either hang handle up or handle down. The knife may be hung from a loop of natural or synthetic cord, a length of braided paracord, a leather thong, or even a breakaway beaded or ball chain such as those utilized for military dog tags.
A push dagger is a short-bladed dagger with a "T" handle designed to be grasped and held in a closed-fist hand so that the blade protrudes from the front of the fist, either between the index and middle fingers or between the two central fingers, when the grip and blade are symmetrical.
The flyssa is a traditional edged weapon of Algeria produced and used during the 19th century and earlier. It originates from the Kabyle Iflissen Lebhar tribal confederacy.
The V-42 stiletto was a fighting knife issued during World War II to the First Special Service Force, a joint American/Canadian commando unit.
The navaja is a traditional Spanish folding-blade fighting and utility knife.
The United States Marine Raider stiletto was issued to the Marine Raiders and 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion during World War II.
Ek Commando Knife Co. or Ek Knives is an American combat knife brand produced by several different companies since the original founded by John Ek in 1941. In May 2014 the Ek brand was purchased by Ka-Bar, which began selling its versions of Ek knife designs in 2015. Although not officially issued gear, Ek Knives have seen use by US forces in six major conflicts: World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, both wars in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. Ek Knives manufactures Bowie-style blades, daggers, and a Fairbairn-Sykes MkII. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Clark Gable, and General George S. Patton have been identified as Ek knife owners.
The Mark I trench knife is an American trench knife designed by officers of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) for use in World War I. It has a 6.75 in (17.1 cm) double-edged dagger blade useful for both thrusting and slashing strokes, unlike previous U.S. trench knives such as the M1917 and M1918. The handle is made of cast bronze and uses a conical steel nut to hold the blade in place. The Mark I's blade was blued with a black oxide finish, the bronze handle was chemically blackened, with cast spikes on the bow of each knuckle. The spikes were intended to prevent an opponent from grabbing the knife hand, as well as to provide a more concentrated striking surface when employed in hand-to-hand combat.
A kastane or kasthane is a short traditional ceremonial or decorative single-edged Sri Lankan sword. The sword is featured in the Flag of Sri Lanka.
The pesh-kabz or peshkabz is a type of Indo-Persian knife designed to penetrate mail armour and other types of armour. The word is also spelled pesh-qabz or pish-ghabz and means "fore-grip" in the Persian language; it was borrowed into the Hindustani language. Originally created during Safavid Persia, it became widespread in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent during Mughal period.
The Jile, also known as a Gile in Afar language, in Somali known as Qolxad, is a type of dagger with a long curved blade used by the Somali and Afar people found in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea. Unique to the Horn of Africa, it is the most famous and characteristic of Afar and Somali daggers. It can be made from a variety of different materials, depending on the quality of its craftsmanship. A national symbol of the republic, the Jile-Qolxad is featured on Djibouti's national emblem and on the Djiboutian franc.
Pichangatti is a broad-bladed knife of the Kodavas of Karnataka, India. The characteristic of the pichangatti is its silver hilt with bulbous-shaped pommel in the shape of a parrot's head. The pichangatti features in the traditional male dress of the Kodavas.