YEMEN AND INDIA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

This sumptuous dagger illustrates the exchange between the Arabic peninsula and India.  Daggers of this design originate from the Arabian peninsula where they indicate tribal affiliation as well as being a social marker; the form of the hilt and sheath is specific to each region. It is reported that members of a Muslim community of Hadhrami Arab descent served in the armies of Deccani rulers. They were referred to as Chaush, a name deriving from the Turkish for military personnel. They also retained very close ties with the Southern Arabian peninsula, their homeland, continuing the Arab practice of wearing the dagger in the waistband. A number of examples of Indian decorated jambiyyas are known; amongst them this is one of the most opulently decorated of all. A less ornamented example was given by Mahbub `Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad, to Edward, Prince of Wales on the prince’s tour of India in 1875-6 (Meghani, 2018, p.130).