Mughal Gem Set Jade Hilted Khanjar

Mughal India, 18th century
Jade, gold, silve,r precious stones, watered steel
38cm long (overall), 24.5cm long (the blade)
Stock no.: A5847

Provenance: Australian private collection since at least 1990.

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The khanjar is a double-edged dagger with a slightly recurved blade and a pistol grip hilt. The distinctive pistol-grip can be traced to the southern Deccan, where it developed from hilts in the shape of parrot heads.¹ No weapons with a pistol grip hilt appear in the Windsor Padshah-nama, considered the best source for weaponry of Shah Jahan’s reign, suggesting that they were popularised during the reign of Shah Jahan’s successor, Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707).²
This khanjar has an unusual hilt with alternating silver and gold chevron inlay. Each side of the pommel is set with a roundel of rubies and emeralds around a rose cut diamond, perhaps designed to emulate the eyes of a parrot. Between these ‘eyes’ is a smaller, oval-shaped medallion of rubies and emeralds around a teardrop diamond.
The double-edged watered steel blade is carved at forte with an arabesque.
A khanjar with a very similar hilt, featuring jade inlaid with silver chevrons and a jewelled roundel at the pommel, is published in Robert Hales’ Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour and dated to the 18th century.³

[1] Welch, Stuart Cary (ed.) India: Art and Culture 1300-1900. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985, p. 178.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Hales, Robert. Islamic and Oriental Arms and Armour. London: Robert Hales C. I. Ltd., 2013. p. 22 cat. 55.

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