The Rampuri (रामपूरी चाकू) is an Indian gravity knife of formidable reputation having a single-edged blade roughly 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30 cm) long. Sometimes, it is the switchblade type but there are also step-lock types.[1][2] The name Rampuri comes from the town of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. The royal bladesmiths of local Nawabs of Rampur started making knives after the popularization of firearms after the 18th century.
The Rampuri is still in use today as a criminal weapon,[3] by the local Indian Mafia although locally made guns and sophisticated automatic pistols have largely taken their place. However, in mid 1990s, the Government of Uttar Pradesh banned making such knives longer than 4.5 inches (11 cm) of blade length, which led to the drop in popularity of the knife, which even made its way to crime thrillers of Bollywood in the 1960s and 1970s.[4]
References
- ^ "Terror strolls in and out". The Telegraph. 2 January 2008.
- ^ "Mutton Korma in Rampur". Indian Express. 28 August 2005.
- ^ "Police trains guns on intelligence now". Indian Express. 19 July 1998.
- ^ Goel, Vipul (12 July 2008). "Famed Rampuri knives may soon go into oblivion". TopNews. Retrieved 26 August 2018.