Khukuri

Khukuri
A polished tourist kukri
Type	Machete
Place of origin	Nepal
Service history
Used by	Gurkha
Wars	Anglo-Nepalese War Sino-Nepalese War Nepalese–Tibetan War Battle of Nalapani
Production history
Manufacturer	Gurkha
Unit cost	$1000
Produced	1810
Specifications
Weight	450–900 grams
Length	40–45 cm

The kukri or khukuri (Nepali: खुकुरी khukuri Hindi: kukrī) is a Nepalese knife with an inwardly curved blade, similar to a machete, used as both a tool and as a weapon in Nepal. Traditionally it was, and in many cases still is, the basic utility knife of the Nepalese people. It is a characteristic weapon of the Nepalese Army, the Royal Gurkha Rifles of the British Army, the Assam Rifles, the Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army, and of all Gurkha regiments throughout the world, so much so that some English-speakers refer to the weapon as a "Gurkha blade" or "Gurkha knife". The khukuri often appears in Nepalese heraldry and is used in many traditional rituals such as wedding ceremonies.

The kukri, khukri, and kukkri spellings are of Indian origin, the original Nepali form being khukuri.

While some western authors conjecture that the kukri was based on similar European weapons and brought to South Asia by Alexander the Great, researchers give it a much longer history tracing back to the domestic sickle and the prehistoric bent stick used for hunting and later in hand-to-hand combat.Richard F. Burton ascribes this semi-convergent independent origin to weapons from several regions such as the Greek kopis, the Egyptian khopesh, the Iberian falcata, the Illyrian sica, the Dacian falx, and the Australian tombat. In India, it has also been hypothesized that the kukri was the origin of the kopis, rather than vice versa. Similar implements have existed in several forms throughout South Asia and were used both as weapons and as tools, such as for sacrificial rituals. Burton (1884) writes that the British Museum housed a large kukri-like falchion inscribed with writing in Pali. Among the oldest existing kukri are those belonging to Drabya Shah (circa 1559), housed in the National Museum of Nepal in Kathmandu.