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The Khukuri is effective as a chopping, throwing and slashing weapon. Because the blade bends towards the opponent, the user need not angle the wrist while executing a chopping motion. It can be used like a sword. Its heavy blade enables the user to inflict deep wounds and to cut through muscle and bone. It has been recorded as being able to cleave a person's head and halfway through the chest with a single blow[citation needed]. At the base of the blade is a notch called the cho. Its primary purpose is to serve as a blood drip during combat. The wielder could also extend their forefinger over the cho and flick the blood at their opponent's eyes in a technique called "Vishnu Finger"[citation needed]. In India the Khukuri sometimes incorporates a Mughal-style hilt in the fashion of the talwar but the plainer traditional form is preferred in Nepal. As with other blades, it is considered a taboo to draw the Khukuri from its sheath without reason, giving rise to the saying that the weapon cannot be sheathed "until it has drawn blood".
While most famed from use in the military, the Khukuri is most commonly used as a multipurpose tool and is a very common agricultural and household implement in Nepal. Its use has varied from building, clearing, chopping firewood, and digging to cutting meat and vegetables, skinning animals, and opening tins.
The Khukuri is designed primarily for chopping. The shape varies a great deal from being quite straight to highly curved with angled or smooth spines. There are substantial variations in dimensions and blade thickness depending on intended tasks as well as the region of origin and the smith that produced it. As a general guide the spines vary from 5–10 mm at the handle, and can taper to 2 mm by the point while the blade lengths can vary from 26–38 cm for general use.
A Khukuri designed for general purpose is commonly 40–45 cm (16–18 in) in overall length and weighs approximately 450–900 grams (1–2 lbs). Larger examples are impractical for everyday use and are rarely found except in collections or as ceremonial weapons. Smaller ones are of more limited utility, but very easy to carry.
Another factor that affects its weight and balance is the construction of the blade. To reduce weight while keeping strength the blade might be hollow forged, or a fuller is created. Khukuries are made with several different types of fuller including: tin chira (triple fuller), dui chira (double fuller), angkhola (single fuller), or basic non-tapered spines with a large beveled edge.
Khukuri blades usually have a notch (kauda, kaudi, kaura, or cho) at the base of the blade. Various reasons are given for this, both practical and ceremonial: that it makes blood and sap drop off the blade rather than running onto the handle;[6] that it delineates the end of the blade whilst sharpening; that it is a symbol representing a cows' foot, or Shiva. The notch may also represent the teats of a cow, a reminder that the Khukuri should not be used to kill a cow, an animal revered and worshipped by Hindus.
The handles are most often made of hardwood or water buffalo horn, but ivory, bone, and metal handles have also been produced. The handle quite often has a flared butt that allows better retention in draw cuts and chopping. Most handles have metal bolsters and butt plates which are generally made of brass or steel.
The traditional handle attachment in Nepal is the partial tang, although the more modern versions have the stick tang which has become popular. The full tang is mainly used on some military models, but has not caught-on in Nepal itself.
The Khukuri typically comes in either a decorated wooden scabbard or one which is wrapped in leather. Traditionally, the scabbard also holds two smaller blades: an unsharpened chakmak to burnish the blade, and another accessory blade called a karda. Some older style scabbards include a pouch for carrying flint or dry tinder.
The Khukuri came to be known to the Western world when the East India Company came into conflict with the growing Gurkha Empire, culminating in the Gurkha War of 1814–1816. 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 Khukuri and his heart pierced by Quincey Morris's Bowie knife.
All Gurkha troops are issued with a Khukuri; in modern times members of the Brigade of Gurkhas receive training in its use. The Khukuri gained fame in the Gurkha War for its effectiveness. 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, ours nil. Ammunition expenditure nil."Elsewhere during the Second World War, the Khukuri was purchased and used by other British, Commonwealth and US troops training in India, including the Chindits and Merrill's Marauders.[citation needed] The notion of the Gurkha with his Khukuri carried on through to the Falklands War.
On September 2, 2010, Bishnu Shrestha, a retired Indian Army Gorkha soldier, alone and armed only with a Khukuri, defeated 40 bandits who attacked a passenger train he was on in India. He is widely reported to have killed three of the bandits, wounded eight
more and forced the rest of the band to flee.
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