Editing Kukri (section)

== History ==
[[File:Gambhir Singh Rayamajhi.jpg|thumb|left|Colonel Gambhir Singh Rayamajhi Kshetri, a [[Gorkha Kingdom|Gorkhali]] Commander armed with a Khukuri in his left hand and [[Talwar]] on his right]]

Researchers trace the origins of the blade back to the domestic [[sickle]] and the prehistoric bent stick used for hunting and later in hand-to-hand combat.<ref name=Burton>{{cite book |title=The Book of the Sword |author=Richard Francis Burton |publisher=Dover |year=1987 |location=London |isbn=0-486-25434-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofsword00burt |author-link=Richard Francis Burton }}</ref> Similar implements have existed in several forms throughout the Indian subcontinent and were used both as weapons and as tools. It might have derived from the ancient Indian saber called ''[[nistrimsa]]'' (निस्त्रिंश), itself possibly based on the Greek [[kopis]] brought by [[Alexander the Great]]'s forces to India in the 4th century BC.<ref>{{cite book|author=Duncan Head|title=Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, 359 BC to 146 BC: Organisation, Tactics, Dress and Weapons|date=1982|publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|isbn=9780904417265|page=136}}</ref> [[Richard Francis Burton|Burton]] (1884) writes that the [[British Museum]] housed a large kukri-like [[falchion]] inscribed with writing in [[Pali]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Book of the Sword, by Richard F. Burton—A Project Gutenberg eBook |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61751/61751-h/61751-h.htm |website=www.gutenberg.org |access-date=25 August 2020}}</ref> Among the oldest existing kukri are those belonging to Drabya Shah (c. 1559), housed in the National Museum of Nepal in [[Kathmandu]].

The kukri came to be known to the Western world when the [[East India Company]] came into conflict with the growing [[Gorkha Kingdom]], culminating in the [[Gurkha War]] of 1814–1816.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trust |first=The Gurkha Welfare |date=2024-11-27 |title=The History of The Kukri |url=https://www.gwt.org.uk/news/the-history-of-the-kukri/#:~:text=The%20kukri%20knife%20is%20an,a%20weapon%20and%20a%20tool. |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=The Gurkha Welfare Trust |language=en}}</ref> It gained literary attention in the 1897 novel ''[[Dracula]]'' by Irish author [[Bram Stoker]]. Despite the popular image of Dracula having a stake driven through his heart at the conclusion of a climactic battle between Dracula's bodyguards and the heroes, Mina's narrative describes his throat being sliced through by Jonathan Harker's kukri and his heart pierced by Quincey Morris's [[Bowie knife]].<ref>Stoker, Dacre and Ian Holt (2009). ''Dracula the Un-Dead''. Penguin Group. p. 306.</ref>

All Gurkha troops are issued with two kukris, a Service No.1 (ceremonial) and a Service No.2 (exercise); in modern times, members of the [[Brigade of Gurkhas]] receive training in its use. The weapon gained fame in the Gurkha War and its continued use through both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]] enhanced its reputation among both Allied troops and enemy forces. Its acclaim was demonstrated in North Africa by one unit's situation report. It reads: "Enemy losses: ten killed, our nil. Ammunition expenditure nil."<ref>Reagan, Geoffrey (1992). ''Military Anecdotes''. Guinness Publishing. {{ISBN|0-85112-519-0}}. p. 180.</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=140>
File:1-4th_Gurkhas_at_kit_inspection_showing_kukris_(Photo_24-98).jpg|Gurkhas at kit inspection showing kukri in France during World War I
File:Ghurkas advance through a smokescreen up a steep slope in Tunisia, 16 March 1943. NA1096.jpg|Ghurkas in action in Tunisia, 16 March 1943
</gallery>