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The pesh-kabz or peshkabz is a type of Perso-Afghan knife designed to penetrate mail armour and other types of armor.〔''(Lexicon of Medieval Knives and Daggers )'', retrieved 5 July 2011〕〔Shackleford, Steve, (ed.), ''Blade's Guide To Knives And Their Values'' (7th ed.), Krause Publications, ISBN 978-1-4402-0387-9 (1989), p. 406〕 The word is also spelled ''pesh-quabz'' or ''pish-ghabz'' and means "fore-grip" in the Persian language. Originally from Iran, it is now widespread in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. ==Design== All pesh-kabz use a hollow-ground, tempered steel single-edged full-tang blade with a thick spine bearing a "T" cross-section for strength and rigidity.〔Paul, E. Jaiwant, ''Arms and Armour: Traditional Weapons of India'' (1st ed.), Roli Books, ISBN 81-7436-340-8, ISBN 978-81-7436-340-4 (2005), pp. 67-70〕〔Stone, G. Cameron, ''A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: In All Countries And In All Times'', Portland, Maine: Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-40726-8 (revised, 1999), pp. 493-494〕 In most examples, a pair of handle scales are fixed to the full-tang grip, which features a hooked butt. The earliest forms of this knife featured a recurved blade, suggestive of its Persian origins, but later examples may be found with both recurved or straight blades.〔Egerton, Wilbraham, (Earl), ''A Description of Indian and Oriental Armour'', London: W.H. Allen & Co., Ltd. (1896), pp. 102-109, 130〕〔Pant, Gayatri Nath, ''Mughal weapons in the Bābur-nāmā'', Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan, South Asia Books, ISBN 0-8364-2473-5, ISBN 978-0-8364-2473-7 (1989), pp. 60-68〕 The straight blade is the more common form in South Asia. In all variants the blade is invariably broad at the hilt, but tapers progressively and radically to a needle-like, triangular tip. Upon striking a coat of mail, this reinforced tip spreads the chain link apart, enabling the rest of the blade to penetrate the armor.〔〔 One knife authority concluded that the pesh-kabz "as a piece of engineering design could hardly be improved upon for the purpose".〔 The knife is typically used as a thrusting weapon. However, the wide hollow-ground blade also possesses considerable slicing performance, and as such may also be used effectively with slashing or cutting strokes. Its ability to be used as either a cutting or thrusting weapon has caused more than one authority to erroneously classify the pesh-kabz as a fighting dagger.〔〔〔〔McNab, Cris (ed.), ''Knives and Swords, A Visual History'', London: DK Publishing, ISBN 0-7566-5646-X, 9780756656461 (2010), p. 295〕 Pesh-kabz are typically around 40–46 cm (16-18 inches) in overall length, with blades of approximately 28–33 cm (11-13 inches). When compared to other similar knives with T-section blades and reinforced tips, the pesh-kabz virtually indistinguishable, save for its length of blade. The otherwise identical ''kard'' or ''bahbudi'' (antiq.) has a longer blade (though still shorter than an Afghan sword such as the ''salwar yatagan'')〔Hartrick, W. B., ''The Romance of King Edward's Swords'', The Strand Magazine, London: Geore Newnes, Ltd., Vol. 30, July–December 1905, pp. 258-259〕 and is considered a separate design,〔Balfour, Edward, ''The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Volume 1 (3d ed.), London: Bernard Quaritch (1885), pp. 162, 231〕 while the ''chura'', used by the Mahsud clan of the Pashtun Khyber tribe, is a slightly shorter version of the pesh-kabz.〔 The pesh-kabz has a full tang and is traditionally fitted with walrus (دندان ماهی ''dandān māhi'') ivory scales or handles),〔Ettinghausen, Richard, ''Studies in Muslim iconography I: The Unicorn'', Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art, Occasional Papers, Vol. 1, No. 3, (1950), p. 127: The famous author and arms collector George Cameron Stone alleged that the custom of using ivory derived from walrus for knife hilts in the Near East arose because it was less likely to split than elephant ivory, while others, such as the Jesuit explorer Father Philippe Avril state that it was used because it was believed that walrus tusk had the property of staunching a hemorrhage.〕〔Frederick, George F. (Ph.D.), ''Ivory and the Elephant in Art, in Archaeology, and in Science'', New York: Doubleday, Page & Co. (1916), p. 238〕 but other examples have been found using ivory from the tusks of the rhinoceros, or elephant.〔〔''(Gemstones: Ivory )'', retrieved 6 July 2011〕 Still other knives may be found with scales of wood, agate, jasper, rock crystal,〔 horn, serpentine (''false jade''),〔Watt, Sir George, ''The Commercial Products of India'', London: John Murray Publishers (1890, rev. 1908), p. 561〕 or metal.〔〔 The sheaths are typically constructed of metal or leather over wood, and may be inset with silver or precious stones.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pesh-kabz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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