"Little Sézang Talès, sent as a spy, reports that there are seven of them in the tent. They each have a sword, but no rifles. This is good news. We can hope to keep them at a distance with our weapons, if things turn bad." In the land of the gentlemen brigands, Alexandra David-Néel, 1950.
Kham Short Sword
Country of origin / Region: Tibet / Kham, Luoyu
Dating: 19th century
Materials: Wood, iron, shagreen, steel, brass, leather, fabrics
Total size: 66.5cm
Blade size: 48.5cm
Price: 1600€
The Kham region (ཁམས་), located in eastern Tibet, was historically divided into five large provinces: Chakla (ལྕགས་ལ་རྒྱལ་པོ་), Dergé (སྡེ་དགེ་), Litang (ལ ི་ཐང་), Nangchen (ནང་ཆེན་རྫོང་) and Lhato (ལ་ཐོག་). In addition to these main provinces, there were five secondary regions "Hor", located near the city of Karze (དཀར་མཛེས་).
The inhabitants of this vast land, known as Khampa (ཁམས་པ་) and Horpa (ཧོར་པ་), are renowned for their valour and martial skills. Great warriors, they excel in the art of horse riding on horseback, sword handling, archery, and the use of rifles. Tall, Khampa men measure an average of 1.80 m.
Alexandra David-Néel with a group of Hor warriors (personal collection)
The type of tibetan sword shown here is generally considered to have originated in Kham. Its distinctive features are: an iron pommel decorated with bands inlaid with brass or copper; when a guard is present, it is iron, simple, with a rim inclined at 45°; finally, the scabbard is surrounded by iron / adorned with a brass decoration on its lower part, and covered with leather.
Hilt and scabbard of a Kham sword (left: Metropolitan Museum of New York, no. 36.25.1460; right: personal collection)
During our research, we discovered photographs of another tribe, the Lhoba (ལྷོ་པ།), now considered the smallest ethnic minority in China. Located on the border between Kham and Ü-Tsang (དབུསགཙང་) , they are literally referred to as the "Southerners", by the Tibetans.
In the two photographs we recovered, probably dated from the 1950s to the 1970s, the men are carrying swords similar to the one shown above and the one proposed. Tibetans continued to carry their swords until the 1980s.
Lhoba man carrying a short sword, the second man carrying two long swords (http://www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Apr/94135.htm)
It is interesting to note the absence of a guard on the sword carried by the older man, an example that strongly resembles ours. Our short sword is in excellent condition and is distinguished by a beautiful blade with a centered point, constructed around a hairpin motif. The hilt is covered in shagreen, while the pommel is inlaid with copper and brass wire. The scabbard, typical of this style, is also intact. The upper part of the scabbard, covered with silver thread cloth, appears to be a restoration dating from the early 20th century.
Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you would like more photographs or information.