YEMEN AND INDIA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

The Chaush are a Muslim community of Hadhrami Arab descent found in the Deccani region of India. The name Chaush derives from the Turkish for military personnel, as many of them served in the armies of the Deccani rulers. They also retained very close ties with the Southern Arabian peninsula, their homeland. It is recorded, that traditionally the Chaush would wear jambiyyas at their waists. This explains the practice of sending such weapons from the Yemen to the Deccan to be decorated in this manner. A number of examples of Indian decorated jambiyyas are known; amongst them this is one of the most opulently decorated of all.