unknown dagger

[ludobarbot]

Hi guys,

I just got this dagger from my grand father who got it in war. He passed away some time ago. He was in mauritius and got it when the french and british were fighting over the island in 1746. He got it from a french soldier who gave it to him as he was passing away. The soldier got it in another war he was sent to but we don't know were. Do you know were this could come from?

[Wagriff]

Your dagger probably dates into the later 1800's and looks to be an Arab Jambiya style dagger. It could, of course, though, be older still-as these knives have changed little over the centuries and are still popular even today. It looks to be a low grade silver sheath and probably a buffalo horn grip. The markings on it are nice! Mauritius has a considerable Muslim population, but it could have come from anywhere in the Arab peninsula region, of course -as well as some areas of North Africa. The country of Yemen is strongly associated with this kind of dagger and most males over 14 there have one. Some Jambiya's sadly have grips made of Rhino horn. William

[Walkwolf]

It is likely a souvenir of the Middle East - called a 'Jambiya' - probably made
around the time that your Grandfather was there.........







Edit.......William beat me to it !

[stuka f]

I do agree with the above
Just one thing; if the grip turns out to be rhino horn,wich is hard to tell from the pic's, you got yourself a dagger of a great value, but also a prohibited item.
cheers
|<ris