Martini Henry Mark II, Mfg. 1878, imported from Nepal
At long last, here are the photos. Please forgive the blur and glare, I'm
still new at the digital photography game. Total cleaning time prior to these photos was 12-16 hours
Note: Barrel date is June, 1878, so it would seem to be original.
Martini and accessories, left side
Martini and accessories, right side
Martini, bottom
Martini breech
Martini buttplate
Note that this is a Mark I pattern. The buttplate has no "broad arrow" marking, but does have a serifed "K" and a serifed "N", so may have been a British contract. Alternatively, it could have been a service replacement rather than an Enfield factory-fitted part, since the latter is quite scarce, and since this rifle did not start out life as a Mark I. If the latter is true, perhaps it was fabricated at the Allahabad arsenal in 1894, when the rifle (or at least, the stock) was reconditioned (see roundrel, below).
Martini buttstock (Allahabad Arsenal, 1894)
According to Skennerton, the Nepalese Martinis were gifted from Indian service, perhaps circa 1910-1920. Conversely, John Walter suggests 1895-1900 in his article in the 2005 edition of Gun Digest. Regardless of the date, the roundrel seems to confirm the source.
Martini buttstock, alternate view
Translation: Singh 5 No. 20
Note: Singh (literally, Lion) is a common last name in Nepal, or
could also be the name of the regiment or unit
Martini forestock, rear, left side
Martini forestock, rear, right side
Martini forestock, front, left side
Martini forestock, front, right side
Martini rear sight
Martini receiver (Mark II, mfg. 1878 at Enfield)
Note: This is glare, not uneven finish...
Note the diamond-shaped stock repair near the stock pin; it looks quite
a bit nicer than the photo indicates.
Martini receiver closeup (Mark II, mfg. 1878 at Enfield)
Martini foresight and muzzle protector (Mark II)
Note: The marking here is "71" which has been horizontally struck through.
Martini scabbard
Translation: Ga So 6
No. 26
19th century 19" long-leaf kukri, left side
19th century 19" long-leaf kukri, right side
19th century 19" long-leaf kukri, back of blade
Translation:
Shree three Chandra Ka Va (or Ba) 3/13
(Prime minister?) (Moon, a Nepalese name) (Abbreviations?) (Date?)
My impression is that shree is sort of like mister. Mister^3 (cubed!) is usually
reserved for the Prime Minister (or other honored person, like General Gahendra who was a member of an aristocratic family, and renowned as an engineer and scientist), whereas mister^5 would be royalty. The
3/13 definitely looks like a date. Keep in mind that Nepal used a first, non-Western
calendar between 880 AD and the 1760's, and then a second non-Western calendar calendar from the 1760's and 1888, different still from its third and present non-Western calendar (pre-1760's you add 880 to get the Western date, post-1760's but pre-1888 you add 76 to get the Western date, versus
subtracting 56 or 57 nowadays). Assuming that it is 1813 Nepali, it would be 1889 on our calendar. Lots of other dates can perhaps be eliminated (for example, 913 Nepali would be 1793 on our calendar, but that would place it past the 1760's and thus out of the first calendar). Some sources say the calendar switched over in the 1740's. So it's tough to say for sure. To further complicate matters, there was no Prime Minister Chandra
until 1901, which is a bit confusing; perhaps this refers to an earlier
Chandra. Altanta Cutlery did claim in their ad that the kukris are from "before 1890," and that the dates appear on the kukris, but are difficult to determine. Indeed!
I recently learned that Ka Ba was used as an abbreviation for Kali Bahadur, and a Kali Bahadur batallion was formed in 1831 or 1855 (depending on which source you go by) and is still in existence today. If Kali Bahadur was a royal or ruling family, this inscription might indicate a full name of "Chandra Kali Bahadur".
The marking closer to the handle is more lightly engraved, and says:
Wa 26
My guess is this is a unit designation of some sort.
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