SOUTH INDIAN HOOK KNIFE C.1800

Curious example with elaborately made and decorated iron blade. The back with double scrolls. The forte laminated and decorated in floral and stipple motifs. Broad hook form blade, the last third toward the tip with the edge folded and forged, dulling it and defeating the purpose for which it was made. That sort of "disarmament" is experienced when people defeated in battle are allowed to keep their weapons for domestic use in disabling conditions to preclude reprisals. Worth some research.