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Bichwa

Type	Dagger
Place of origin	Indian subcontinent

The bichuwa or bichawa (pl. bichuwe) (Hindi: बिछुवा, Urdu: بچھوا) is a dagger, originating from the Indian subcontinent, with a loop hilt and a narrow undulating sharp blade. It is named for its resemblance to the sting of a scorpion, for which the Hindi name is bichuwa. The weapon was based on the maduvu, or horn dagger created in South India, and many bichuwa have blades which retain the shape of buffalo horns. Early examples of the bichuwa come from the medieval southern Karnataka empire of Vijayanagara. Being relatively easy to make, the bichuwa has persisted into the 20th century as a decorative dagger.

Construction and use

[edit]

The bichuwa usually has a narrow recurved blade and a simple looped handle which may be cut with chevrons. It generally measures just over 30 cm (12 in). The handle sometimes loops into a knuckleguard. The all-metal hilt is often cast in one piece. Medieval bichuwa from south India are typically decorated with the face of a protective yali (demon) on the hilt. Some have finials to the pommel or even protruding laterally as quillons or guards. A few bichuwa are forked or even double-bladed.

The weapon's small size meant it was easily concealed in a sleeve or waist band. A bichuwa was often combined with a bagh naka, either with the claws being added to the hilt of the bichuwa, or the blade being added to one of the finger loops of the bagh nakha. The former type tended to be larger than the latter. This combination weapon, known as a bichuwa bagh naka, was used by the Maratha leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to assassinate Afzal Khan in the 17th century. It is mistaken by the name "Bhavani" which was actually the name of his sword.

References

[edit]

George Cameron Stone: A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and In All Times (1934)
Dr Tobias Capwell (2009). The World Encyclopedia Of Knives, Daggers And Bayonets. Anness Publishing.

v t e Knives and daggers
List of daggers List of blade materials
Kitchen and table knives	Boning Boti Bread knife Butcher knife Butter knife Caidao Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Electric knife Fillet knife Grapefruit knife Lame Mezzaluna Parmesan knife Pizza cutter Splayd Steak knife Tomato knife Japanese kitchen knives Deba bōchō Maguro bōchō Nakiri bōchō Santoku Sashimi bōchō Udon kiri Unagisaki hōchō Usuba bōchō Yanagi ba
Other knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boot knife Bowie Cane knife Ceramic knife Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Golok Gravity knife Guna Hacking knife Higonokami Hunting knife Husa knife Ivan's Knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kard Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Marking knife Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pesh-kabz Pirah Pocketknife Phurba Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Sheath knife Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Verlängerungsmesser Warrior knife Wedung X-Acto Yarara Parachute Knife Yatagan
Daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Balarao Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dha Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Gunong Hunting dagger Jambiya Jile Kabutowari Kaiken Kalis Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Kunai Liaoning dagger Mark I trench knife Microtech Jagdkommando Parrying dagger Poignard Pugio Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō U.S. Marine Raider stiletto V-42 Yoroi-dōshi
Manufacturers	Aitor Knife Company Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Aritsugu Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Chroma Cnife Clauss Cutlery Company Cobray Company Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Dalian Hanwei Metal Dexter-Russell Ek Commando Knife Co. EKA Emerson Knives F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Gerber Legendary Blades Füritechnics Glock Ges.m.b.H. Imperial Schrade Ivan's Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives Marble Arms Medford Knife and Tool Microtech Knives Morseth Muela Murphy Knives OLFA Ontario Knife Company Opinel Randall Made Knives Ranz Cuchillos Rösle Sabatier Shun Cutlery Slice, Inc. SOG Specialty Knives Spyderco STI Knives Strider Knives Thiers Issard TOPS Knives Tramontina Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Carl Walther GmbH Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Wüsthof Yoshida Metal Industry Global Zero Tolerance Knives Zwilling J. A. Henckels
Knifemakers	Rex Applegate James Black Tom Brown Jr. Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Jack W. Crain Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Bill Harsey Jr. Phill Hartsfield Gil Hibben Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve A. G. Russell Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler
Associations	American Bladesmith Society Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association Knifemakers' Guild
Category:Knives / Daggers

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | caption            =
 | origin             = [[Indian subcontinent]]
-| type               = Dagger
+| type               = [[Dagger]]
 <!-- Type selection -->
 | is_ranged          =
@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
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 }}
-The '''bichuwa''' or '''bichawa''' ({{lang-hi|बिछुवा}}, {{lang-ur|بچھوا}}) is a dagger, originating from the [[Indian subcontinent]],  with a loop hilt and a narrow undulating sharp blade. It is named for its resemblance to the sting of a scorpion, for which the [[Hindi]] name is ''bichuwa''. The weapon was based on the [[maduvu]], or horn dagger created in [[South India]], and many bichuwa have blades which retain the shape of buffalo horns. Early examples of the bichuwa come from the medieval southern  Karnat empire of [[Vijayanagara]]. Being relatively easy to make, the bichuwa has persisted into the 20th century as a decorative dagger.
+The '''bichuwa''' or '''bichawa''' (pl. bichuwe) ({{langx|hi|बिछुवा}}, {{langx|ur|بچھوا}}) is a dagger, originating from the [[Indian subcontinent]],  with a loop hilt and a narrow undulating sharp blade. It is named for its resemblance to the sting of a scorpion, for which the [[Hindi]] name is ''bichuwa''. The weapon was based on the [[maduvu]], or horn dagger created in [[South India]], and many bichuwa have blades which retain the shape of buffalo horns. Early examples of the bichuwa come from the medieval southern  [[Karnataka]] empire of [[Vijayanagara]]. Being relatively easy to make, the bichuwa has persisted into the 20th century as a decorative dagger.
 == Construction and use ==
-The bichuwa usually has a narrow recurved blade and a simple looped handle which may be cut with chevrons. It generally measures just over 30 centimetres. The handle sometimes loops into a knuckleguard. The all-metal hilt is often cast in one piece. Medieval bichuwa from [[south India]] are typically decorated with the face of a protective ''yali'' (demon) on the hilt. Some have finials to the pommel or even protruding laterally as quillons or guards. A few bichuwa are forked or even double-bladed.
+The bichuwa usually has a narrow recurved blade and a simple looped handle which may be cut with chevrons. It generally measures just over {{convert|30|cm|abbr=on}}. The handle sometimes loops into a knuckleguard. The all-metal hilt is often cast in one piece. Medieval bichuwa from [[south India]] are typically decorated with the face of a protective ''yali'' (demon) on the hilt. Some have finials to the pommel or even protruding laterally as quillons or guards. A few bichuwa are forked or even double-bladed.
-The weapon's small size meant it was easily concealed in a sleeve or waist band. A bichuwa was often combined with a [[bagh naka]], either with the claws being added to the hilt of the bichuwa, or the blade being added to one of the finger loops of the bagh nakha. The former type tended to be larger than the latter. This combination weapon, known as a ''bichuwa bagh naka'', was used by the Maratha King [[Shivaji]] to assassinate [[Afzal Khan (general)|Afzal Khan]] in the 17th century. Shivaji's weapon was named ''Bhawani'' or "life-giver", though some accounts suggest that this was the name of his sword.
+The weapon's small size meant it was easily concealed in a sleeve or waist band. A bichuwa was often combined with a [[bagh naka]], either with the claws being added to the hilt of the bichuwa, or the blade being added to one of the finger loops of the bagh nakha. The former type tended to be larger than the latter. This combination weapon, known as a ''bichuwa bagh naka'', was used by the [[Maratha]] leader [[Shivaji|Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj]]  to assassinate [[Afzal Khan (general)|Afzal Khan]] in the 17th century. It is mistaken by the name "Bhavani" which was actually the name of his sword.
 ==See also==
@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
 [[Category:Weapons of India]]
-[[Category:Indian melee weapons]]
+[[Category:Indian martial arts]]
 [[Category:Daggers]]
-[[Category:Blade weapons]]
+[[Category:Edged and bladed weapons]]